Friday, February 12, 2010

Vancover weather has caused higher costs to the venues.

Weather's Great In Vancouver, Just No Snow (click here for video)




...Vancouver has had record high temperature with the average temperature in January reaching 7.2 degrees. This has meant that in the resort of Cypress Mountain there is a distinct lack of snow. The resort, which is the highest if the North Shore Mountains, is due to hold the freestyle events and the snowboarding but so far has had almost no natural snowfall.

The organisers have resorted to using snow cannons when possible and bringing in snow from other areas, sometimes as far a s 150km away, using helicopters and trucks. This new snow is being laid down on top of over 1000 bales of straw that are replacing the base that should have built up since the beginning of the season...

Vancouver, British Columbia was chosen for the Winter Olympics 2010 because it normally has huge deposits of snow and ice. In the judgement of the Olympic Committee the outdoor venues were safe for competition.

Well, due to Climate Change the venues are under supplied with snow and ice.

Go figure, huh?

All this while people have died in the USA in Maryland while on the highways and caught under nine feet of snow and ice. I guess we know where the Arctic Ocean went.

There are some weather systems coming to Vancouver this week, but, that does not make up for the time previous to this week when the snow was already suppose to be there. What luck, the skiers didn't have good snow pack to begin with and now they have the worst weather high carbon dioxide levels can provide.

FOG happens because warm and cold air mix. Below is from Wiki. Fog is found in valleys because cold air sinks.

"The foggiest place in the world is the Gran Banks off the island of Newfoundland, the meeting place of the cold Laorador Current from the north and the much warmer Gulf Stream from the south. The foggiest land areas in the world are Menomonie, Wisconsin, Point Reyes, California, and Argentia, Newfoundland and Labrador, all with over 200 foggy days per year. Even in generally warmer southern Europe, thick fog and localized fog is often found in lowlands and valleys, such as the lower part of the Po Valley and the Arno and Tiber valleys, as well as on the Swiss plateau, especially in the Seeland area, in late autumn and winter."

Snow, fog, rain wreak havoc with Olympic downhill courses, and the elements are not done yet (click here)

February 11th, 2010

Whistler’s weather is living up to its billing

WHISTLER, British Columbia — The weather is living up to its billing in Whistler: The Olympic downhill courses are now home to snow, fog and rain.

The difficult conditions already have claimed two downhill training sessions. The opening men’s practice was canceled Wednesday and the women wiped out Thursday.

More rain is forecast through the weekend, raising fears that one of the Olympics’ signature events — the men’s downhill — could be postponed.

With its location near the Pacific Ocean, Whistler has a long history of bad weather. The World Cup ski circuit visited Whistler for three consecutive years in the mid-1990s and failed to get off a single race each time.