page_title: Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta
section_title: Albuquerque box
hierarchical_section_title: Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta / Albuquerque box
caption_attribution_description: English: The weather pattern for the "Albuquerque Box" effect when conditions are optimal, determined by the Dawn Patrol. This image shows the optimal track the balloons follow. In some instances, balloons were able to land and depart again on the same day (a rare occurrence for ballooning). In More recent years, the box effect has been less prominent, with winds being all north or south. Due to FAA restrictions when flying south , balloons must land before I-40 (most likely in homeowners yards or parking lots) or continue flying to the Albuquerque International Sunport. they cannot fly south of the airport due to the Isleta Reservation. When flying north or flying south landing before the park, Corrales provides excellent landing spots due to the few houses and large yards. landing in Rio Rancho is harder however due to the rapid housing expansion and the city lies on a mesa, higher than the park. Balloonists cannot fly towards the mountains due to the Sandia Reservation. Watching clouds roll into Albuquerque throughout the year also show the box effect. Clouds move in at a lower altitude, then get pushed up and over itself due to the Sandia Mountains.
context_page_description: The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is a yearly hot air balloon festival that takes place in Albuquerque, New Mexico, during early October. The Balloon Fiesta is a nine-day event occurring in the first full week of October, and has over 500 hot air balloons each year far from it humble beginnings of merely 13 balloons in 1972. The event is the largest balloon festival in the world, followed by the Grand Est Mondial Air in France.
context_section_description: The success of the Fiesta depends in part on the cool Albuquerque morning temperatures in October and the Albuquerque box. The "box" is a set of predictable wind patterns that can be exploited to navigate the balloons. At low elevations the winds tend to be northerly (from the north), but at higher elevations they tend to be  southerly. Balloonists use these winds to navigate in a vertical box: they ascend slightly from the launch park, move south, ascend further, move north, descend, and repeat the box or land back in the launch park or quite nearby.  During events involving on-field targets, such as the "Key Grab" (where pilots attempt to grab prizes, including a set of keys to a new vehicle, from atop tall, flexible poles), it's not uncommon to see the same balloon make 5 or 6 passes at the targets, simply by working the "Box" to keep returning to the field.
caption: Diagram of the Albuquerque Box Effect when conditions are optimal
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