Sochi is warmer than past Winter Olympic host cities—the seaside park will feature palm and magnolia trees—but organizers dismiss concerns about having enough snow for the games.
To be safe, Russian officials have been packing reserve snow into underground storage facilities for over a year. They expect to have 250,000 cubic meters saved up by the games—an emergency backup supply in case the 430 snow machines that are being installed don't suffice.
"For the competition, anyway, the snow is always artificial," Chernyshenko said. The snow machines Sochi installed operate in 50 degrees fahrenheit or below.
"Mr. Putin told me Sochi has the best snow in the world, and I have no reason not to believe him," former Olympic ski champion Jean-Claude Killy, chair of the International Olympic Committee coordination commission for the Sochi games, told reporters last year.
“[Putin] has found one of the only places in Russia where there is no snow in the winter. He has decided to build these ice rinks in the warmest part of the warmest region. Sochi is subtropical. There is no tradition of skating or hockey there. In Sochi, we prefer football, and volleyball, and swimming. Other parts of Russia need ice palaces — we don’t.”
In terms of annual temperature range, Sochi is closely analogous to Portland, Oregon, as can be seen in the paired tables reproduced here. In the United States, the notion that Portland has a subtropical climate would seem quaint if not ludicrous.
Is Sochi too far south/too warm for Winter Olympics?
It's further north than Salt Lake City (it's at the same latitude as Toronto).
Its climate looks similar to Vancouver, above freezing temperatures and more likely to rain than snow. Like Vancouver, I believe all the outdoor events are going to be held in the mountains outside the city.
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The Winter Olympic Opening Ceremony is on February 7, 2014.
And yes, that music is back.
Which athletes will you be cheering for?
Let the countdown begin!
After the Buffalo-Montreal game this past Saturday, skiing and snowboarding from Blue Mountain was on and the CBC Olympic tune was played. I was glad to hear that and on Monday phoned the CBC to ask about it. I was told that it will be the music for the Sochi Olympics! Thank goodness none of that CTV garbage theme music.
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It's further north than Salt Lake City (it's at the same latitude as Toronto).
Its climate looks similar to Vancouver, above freezing temperatures and more likely to rain than snow. Like Vancouver, I believe all the outdoor events are going to be held in the mountains outside the city.
The closest city I can match to it climate-wise in North American is Virginia Beach, VA.
Portland is not even close, outside of similar temperatures.
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Just curious how you came to that conclusion, precipitation levels etc.?
Precipitation trends is a better metric, although Virginia Beach doesn't really fit this. They have the same climate classification (humid sub-tropical) which is the most important thing. The winter temperatures are very similar, the number of precipitation days are identical. Average yearly highs and lows are almost identical, and month to month they are very close.
Really, there's no place like Sochi in North America for real comparison. Virginia Beach was just the closest I could find. Really, it's not that close.
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"For thousands of years humans were oppressed - as some of us still are - by the notion that the universe is a marionette whose strings are pulled by a god or gods, unseen and inscrutable." - Carl Sagan Freedom consonant with responsibility.
One year From Sochi 2014
or something...
must show all Flames games nationally when they play on Saturdays, Mondays, and Wednesdays !!!
