Storm delivers fresh helping of snow to Beijing, challenges to Winter Olympics
By
Courtney Travis, AccuWeather senior meteorologist &
Renee Duff, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Published Feb 10, 2022 3:32 PM EST
|
Updated Feb 13, 2022 9:46 AM EST
Rocky Anderson, former mayor of Salt Lake City, talks about what it took to put on such a massive international event, as well as his concerns for winter sports in a changing world.
The Beijing area was whitened by snowfall over the weekend, providing a welcome boost for the outdoor competitions in the ongoing Winter Olympics but also posing problems for the athletes.
AccuWeather meteorologists have been discussing the potential for accumulating snow to impact China's capital for the past week, and that potential came to fruition as snow began to fall in Beijing early Sunday morning, local time. The last time accumulating snow fell on the city was on Jan. 22, when less than an inch was recorded.
United States' Megan Nick trains before the women's aerials qualification at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, China. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
"A wave of cold Siberian air pushed into the Olympic venues over the weekend, accompanied by some snow," AccuWeather Meteorologist Tony Zartman said. The fresh injection of cold air brought high temperatures tumbling down to below freezing levels.
Snow moved into parts of the region on Saturday, local time, including in Zhangjiakou, where the mixed team snowboard cross event took place and continued through Sunday when it picked up in intensity as well.
For athletes who have been used to an entirely artificial snow base so far for the Winter Games, the transition to competing on real snow proved to be challenging. An artificial snow surface requires athletes to prepare differently for the competition, from equipment changes to anticipating a different snow surface, according to The New York Times.
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Skiers found it more difficult to make it down the slopes due to the fresh snowfall and also faced significantly reduced visibility during events on Sunday, according to The Associated Press (AP).
The second run of the two-leg giant slalom was delayed by a little over an hour as workers used snow blowers and shovels to clear some of the snow from the course, The AP reported. In the men's cross-country ski race, leaf blowers were utilized to attempt to clear the ski tracks.
“It was a hard day, with the conditions, with such a long wait between the two runs,” Marco Odermatt of Switzerland told The AP. “It was more than five hours for me, it was such a long time to re-think everything and it was hard to stay focused. I tried to sleep some minutes in between."
Other skiers reported big snowflakes flying in the air as they made their way down the slopes at The Ice River at the Yanqing Alpine Skiing Center.
Italian skier Luca de Aliprandini told The AP that he was "hoping for the sun, like on all the other days" but that the weather turned out to be "a shame" because you "couldn't see anything."
A course worker stands in the finish area of the men's giant slalom course as the snow comes down at the Alpine ski venue at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022, in the Yanqing District of Beijing. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
The snowy weather on Sunday also forced the cancellation of a women's downhill training run, The AP reported.
The recent snow is not the only challenge that Mother Nature has thrown at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Wind gusts up to 40 mph (60 km/h) blew over the National Alpine Ski Center on Sunday, Feb. 6, forcing officials to postpone the men's downhill event by one day.
With the exception of these disruptions, the weather in the region has been fairly tame up until this weekend, with mainly dry and mild weather being the theme during the first week of the Olympics. Temperatures generally averaged about 2 degrees Fahrenheit (about 1 degree Celsius) above normal, with high temperatures many days surpassing 40 F (about 5 C).
Located in the northeastern part of China, it is the climatological norm for Beijing to have drier conditions during the winter. In fact, less than 1 inch (25 mm) of rain or liquid snow equivalent is normal for the entire winter.
Scientists fear that fresh snow will become a rarity at future Winter Olympics. A recent study found that global warming is likely to make only four of the previous 21 Winter Games host cities climate-reliable for hosting the games again by 2050.
For the latest weather news check back on AccuWeather.com. Watch the AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, Frontier, Spectrum, fuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios. AccuWeather Now is now available on your preferred streaming platform.
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News / Winter Weather
Storm delivers fresh helping of snow to Beijing, challenges to Winter Olympics
By Courtney Travis, AccuWeather senior meteorologist & Renee Duff, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Published Feb 10, 2022 3:32 PM EST | Updated Feb 13, 2022 9:46 AM EST
Rocky Anderson, former mayor of Salt Lake City, talks about what it took to put on such a massive international event, as well as his concerns for winter sports in a changing world.
The Beijing area was whitened by snowfall over the weekend, providing a welcome boost for the outdoor competitions in the ongoing Winter Olympics but also posing problems for the athletes.
AccuWeather meteorologists have been discussing the potential for accumulating snow to impact China's capital for the past week, and that potential came to fruition as snow began to fall in Beijing early Sunday morning, local time. The last time accumulating snow fell on the city was on Jan. 22, when less than an inch was recorded.
United States' Megan Nick trains before the women's aerials qualification at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, China. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
"A wave of cold Siberian air pushed into the Olympic venues over the weekend, accompanied by some snow," AccuWeather Meteorologist Tony Zartman said. The fresh injection of cold air brought high temperatures tumbling down to below freezing levels.
Snow moved into parts of the region on Saturday, local time, including in Zhangjiakou, where the mixed team snowboard cross event took place and continued through Sunday when it picked up in intensity as well.
For athletes who have been used to an entirely artificial snow base so far for the Winter Games, the transition to competing on real snow proved to be challenging. An artificial snow surface requires athletes to prepare differently for the competition, from equipment changes to anticipating a different snow surface, according to The New York Times.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
Skiers found it more difficult to make it down the slopes due to the fresh snowfall and also faced significantly reduced visibility during events on Sunday, according to The Associated Press (AP).
The second run of the two-leg giant slalom was delayed by a little over an hour as workers used snow blowers and shovels to clear some of the snow from the course, The AP reported. In the men's cross-country ski race, leaf blowers were utilized to attempt to clear the ski tracks.
“It was a hard day, with the conditions, with such a long wait between the two runs,” Marco Odermatt of Switzerland told The AP. “It was more than five hours for me, it was such a long time to re-think everything and it was hard to stay focused. I tried to sleep some minutes in between."
Other skiers reported big snowflakes flying in the air as they made their way down the slopes at The Ice River at the Yanqing Alpine Skiing Center.
Italian skier Luca de Aliprandini told The AP that he was "hoping for the sun, like on all the other days" but that the weather turned out to be "a shame" because you "couldn't see anything."
A course worker stands in the finish area of the men's giant slalom course as the snow comes down at the Alpine ski venue at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022, in the Yanqing District of Beijing. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
The snowy weather on Sunday also forced the cancellation of a women's downhill training run, The AP reported.
The recent snow is not the only challenge that Mother Nature has thrown at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Wind gusts up to 40 mph (60 km/h) blew over the National Alpine Ski Center on Sunday, Feb. 6, forcing officials to postpone the men's downhill event by one day.
With the exception of these disruptions, the weather in the region has been fairly tame up until this weekend, with mainly dry and mild weather being the theme during the first week of the Olympics. Temperatures generally averaged about 2 degrees Fahrenheit (about 1 degree Celsius) above normal, with high temperatures many days surpassing 40 F (about 5 C).
Located in the northeastern part of China, it is the climatological norm for Beijing to have drier conditions during the winter. In fact, less than 1 inch (25 mm) of rain or liquid snow equivalent is normal for the entire winter.
Scientists fear that fresh snow will become a rarity at future Winter Olympics. A recent study found that global warming is likely to make only four of the previous 21 Winter Games host cities climate-reliable for hosting the games again by 2050.
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For the latest weather news check back on AccuWeather.com. Watch the AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, Frontier, Spectrum, fuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios. AccuWeather Now is now available on your preferred streaming platform.
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