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John Horel, Jonathan Slemmer*, Mike Splitt

Explore the intricate interplay of local terrain and weather systems in the Wasatch Front region, crucial for the Olympics. Learn about common weather phenomena like dense fog, strong winds, and snowfall disparities between valleys and mountains. With detailed information on historical weather patterns and monitoring techniques, prepare for the unique challenges posed by microclimates during the Olympic Games.

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John Horel, Jonathan Slemmer*, Mike Splitt

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  1. Local Microclimates of the Wasatch Front and Olympic Venues John Horel, Jonathan Slemmer*, Mike Splitt NOAA Cooperative Institute for Regional Prediction,* CWSU ZLC

  2. Has “this” ever happened before? Overview • What is the “normal” weather for February/March? • Interplay of synoptic/mesoscale weather systems and local terrain • Preparing for media and public interest in the weather during the Olympics • Monitoring weather during the Olympics: www.met.utah.edu/olympics Is it very common to have so many hours in a row of …?

  3. Olympic Climate Information

  4. March SLC February/March 500 mb Height Zonal Average Removed SLC February

  5. Dense fog • Downslope winds • Gap flows Local Weather Hazards • Orographic snow • Lake effect snowbands

  6. What’s the difference in precipitation between the valleys and mountains? Annual Precipitation: NRCS (in)

  7. How does snowfall vary during the winter ? Monthly Snowfall: 1948-2000 Snowfall (Inches)

  8. How often do strong fronts move through the Wasatch Front? February- 1+ strong front per year March- 2+ strong fronts per year

  9. How often is there heavy snowfall? During the Olympic period, 2 periods of 7 consecutive hours of moderate/heavy snowfall

  10. How often is there strong wind? During the Olympic period, 2 years with more than 24 consecutive hours of winds > 20 mph

  11. How often is there dense fog/stable conditions? 1 Occurrence of 13 consecutive hours of dense fog

  12. What’s the chance for fog during Opening/Closing Ceremonies? Higher chance of stable period for Opening Ceremonies than Closing Ceremonies

  13. Was the fog last winter unusual?

  14. Is this year unusually cold? For the Olympic period, 18 of 24 h were below freezing during 1989; 3 of 24 h during 1992

  15. The Olympic region Park City Alpine GS, Snowboard GS Snowboard Half Pipe Snowbasin Downhill, Combined, Super-G Utah Olympic Park Bobsled, Luge, Skeleton, Ski Jumping, Nordic Combined Deer Valley Alpine Slalom, Aerials, Moguls Soldier Hollow: Cross Country, Biathlon, Nordic Combined

  16. OGP SB2 SWI SNI SB1 • Wildcat-SWI • MidBowl- SNI • Strawberry Base- SB2 • Ogden Peak- OGP • Strawberry Top- SB2 Snowbasin- Downhill Venue SBB • Mt. Allen- SBB • John Paul- SBW • Shooting Star- SSS • Base- SBE SBB SBW SBB SSS SBE SBE SBE

  17. Park City- Snowboard/Grand Slalom • Base- PCB • Eagle- PCS • Summit- PCT • Jupiter- PKC • Golf Course- SNC PKC PCS PCB PCT SNC

  18. Deer Valley: Aerial/Slalom/Moguls • Burns- DVE • Bald Eagle- DVB • Bald Mtn- MBY • Empire Peak- EMP • Daly West- SNV MBY EMP DVB SNV DVE

  19. Utah Olympic Park C99 • Venue Stations • Bear Upper- WBU • Bob Lower- WBE • Bob Upper- WBS CLK WBU WBE WBS

  20. Wind Variations on the Ski Jump Slope

  21. Wind Variations on the Ski Jump Slope

  22. Wind Variations on the Ski Jump Slope September 28-29 2001 Top-bottom- Black; Blue; Green; Red Upslope Downslope

  23. Stadium Soldier Hollow- Cross Country/Biathlon Venue WMH • Venue Stations • Stadium- WMP • Whale’s Tail- WM2 • West Slope- WMH • Valley- WMG WM2 WMP WMG

  24. Snow Temperature Photo: Al Bello/ALLSPORT)

  25. How cold will it feel at the venues?

  26. Monitoring Weather Conditions during the Olympics

  27. Monitoring the Weather During the Olympics • 24/7 Monitoring of weather observations • Special weather summaries • 12-h snowfall/precipitation totals from venues • Daily summary of weather at venues and Olympic region • Weather history of the Olympics • Evaluation/validation of model guidance • Impact of weather upon the Games

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