ST. LOUIS, Missouri - Steve Fossett's balloon is being tossed up and down by turbulent winds as he passes over the Andes Mountains. Such turbulences, called mountain waves or lee waves, form above and downwind of an obstacle and are normal and common to all mountaneous areas of the world. However, they are characterized by rather strong up and down drafts, causing some concern that if Fossett goes into a really fast updraft, the balloon envelope could rupture. Therefore Fossett emailed his Mission Control the he is wearing his parachute. Fossett added, "Good thing there are mild winds tonight for crossing the Andes."

Fossett crossed the border of Chile into Argentina at approximately 3 a.m. CDT (08:00 UDT). He is currently about 175 miles (281 km) west-northwest of Salta, Argentina, and is expected to fly over this city at around 6 a.m. CDT (11:00 UTC). His current speed is about 45 mph (72 km/hr). Fossett is attempting to keep his balloon at an altitude of about 28,000 feet (8534 m). If all goes well, Solo Spirit will be out of mountain terrain and heading over the high plateaus of Argentina by around noon CDT (05:00 UTC).

And the forecast? If you have a look at our 500hPa pressure map for South America (which is showing troughs and ridges at Fossett's flight level), you will see that he might get into troble soon. At the moment is drifting ESE on the northern flank of a trough. Eventually this will lead him to the southern flank of a south Atlantic ridge - and might move him west again, towards Argentina.

Current Balloon Locations and Time:

LATITUDE: 24° 7.91' S
LONGITUDE: 66° 25.95' W
HEADING: 107.5°
BALLOON DATE: 2001-08-16T08:57:00 UTC