McConnell adding extra safety measures with extreme heat expected for Blue Angels airshow

WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE) - The Blue Angels are some of the most talented pilots in the world, and they are coming back to Wichita this weekend for the first time since 2007, with tens of thousands of people expected to attend.

However, the airshow will also come with some extreme heat.

“It went down, it was so nice for a little while, and we got spoiled, and then it goes back up and then you're hot again,” said Wichita resident Sheryl Lathrom.

Sheryl and her son Joel spend as much time as they can at places like the library downtown trying to stay out of the recent brutal heat.

"I've been having to do yard work recently, and I've had been having to work through the heat. And it slows you down and it sucks the life out of you," said Joel.

With even worse heat on its way for the weekend, McConnell Air Force Base says it’s planning extra carefully for the biggest local airshow of the year, Frontiers in Flight featuring the Blue Angels.

Organizers say there are lots of changes this year with the expected heat. First, they say people can bring their own drinking water in a non-glass bottle, and there will be free water refill stations throughout the area.

With the heat even more intense radiating off the tarmac and no natural shade, the base says it’s installing multiple cooling tents and will have medics on standby just in case, something resident Seth Fowler thinks is a good idea.

“I grew up here, but just being away for a couple years with dry heat and then coming back into the humidity, triple-digit plus humidity, it's been it's brutal,” said Fowler.

Last weekend, the Blue Angels performed a similar airshow in Colorado Springs with lower temperatures than Wichita is expecting, and well over 100 people ended up sick from the heat, with several of them taken to the hospital.

“Probably not [going] with how hot it's been. But that is something that we would be interested in going to if it were just a little cooler,” said Fowler.

However, people like Joel disagree, saying the show will be worth every second of enduring the heat.

“I'd definitely go, because that's something I'm interested in, and I'd be willing to suffer through the heat,” said Joel.

Organizers say the number one thing this weekend will simply be to stay hydrated, and if you start to feel symptoms from the heat, don’t hesitate to ask for help.