N. OF PIKE Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 So i am looking forward to the Winter Olympic Games and i had been thinking...where the hell in Russia is Sochi? After locating it (in far SW corner of the country...a stone's throw (from Georgia) and Black Sea i come to find out Sochi has a Subtropical Climate? Why the hell would Russia choose a location that is probably one of the mildest in winter olympic history is another topic. I'm trying to get some detailed stats and weather info for the area as medium term guidance is now beginning to creep into the time frame the Olympics start. The Rosa Khutor mountain (in Sochi) has a base of 3k (where many of the alpine events will finish) and a summit of 7612'. Seems to be Russia took a gamble .... host Olympic Games in subtropical climate where the main base is only 3k? perhaps im missing something. I have a busy day but will add any specific wx related data here but thought others might have some info as well. Next five days temps in Sochi (downtown) are upper 40's to upper 50's for highs.... Seems an odd place to put ski mountain nevermind let host Winter Olympics (again main base of mtn is only 3k ) so still somewhat mild wx is commonplace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottawa Blizzard Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 So i am looking forward to the Winter Olympic Games and i had been thinking...where the hell in Russia is Sochi? After locating it (in far SW corner of the country...a stone's throw (from Georgia) and Black Sea i come to find out Sochi has a Subtropical Climate? Why the hell would Russia choose a location that is probably one of the mildest in winter olympic history is another topic. I'm trying to get some detailed stats and weather info for the area as medium term guidance is now beginning to creep into the time frame the Olympics start. The Rosa Khutor mountain (in Sochi) has a base of 3k (where many of the alpine events will finish) and a summit of 7612'. Seems to be Russia took a gamble .... host Olympic Games in subtropical climate where the main base is only 3k? perhaps im missing something. I have a busy day but will add any specific wx related data here but thought others might have some info as well. Next five days temps in Sochi (downtown) are upper 40's to upper 50's for highs.... Seems an odd place to put ski mountain nevermind let host Winter Olympics (again main base of mtn is only 3k ) so still somewhat mild wx is commonplace. There's a joke going around that Putin had to search really, really hard to find a city in Russia that doesn't get snow, and found one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N. OF PIKE Posted January 19, 2014 Author Share Posted January 19, 2014 I heard that. I bet if you had a poll as to what sort of climate Sochi has, one of the last things people would think is "humid/ subtropical" Looks like 10 day weather forecast cools Sochi down to upper 40's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
needbiggerboat Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 We're talking about Vladimir Putin. There will be snow, one way or another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongBeachSurfFreak Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 They are trucking I'm snow. It's so warm you can't even make snow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turtlehurricane Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 I consider Florida sub-tropical, Sochi is solidly in the mid-latitudes. Looks like the region around Sochi is solidly snow covered right now. My guess is they put the Winter olympics in Sochi since it's a much more comfortable climate than most of Russia, which will increase the amount of people that go to the olympics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Lizard Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Sochi has indigenous palm trees. My new NatGeo has arrived, and not only are their pictures, there is a reference to 'Slavic palms'. Subtropics as a term, ok, Tulsa is in the mid-latitudes, and misses only a thousand or two thousand meter peak or two to be an Olympic city? Houston is solidly mid-latitude, and well, not even a thousand meter peak would help, I guess. Midland, TX is over a kilometer above sea level, snow is a two or three times a year event there. Sochi itself is coastal. Sochi is also land conquered from Muslims deported to Turkey less than a hundred years ago, and is a shout from Chechnya and Dagestan, and the Russians have a history of making those Islamic people very, very, upset. My new NatGeo also has topless native girls again. That is not why I read it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IrishRob17 Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 I read last year that they were storing snow, here's a more recent story about that: http://rt.com/news/sochi-olympic-games-snow-187/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N. OF PIKE Posted January 23, 2014 Author Share Posted January 23, 2014 Sochi is mid latitudes yes , but you can't deny it is not a very snowy place. I think Sochi averages like less than 10" of snow a year. I think other issues aside, holding winter games at such a mild location is a risk that many international competitors probably weren't thrilled about. If its mid 40's @ 3k base i wouldn't think ski conditions would be ideal. So yes, "Gauranteed snow" but not of good quality conditions , at least no Olympic quality (unless they luck out wx wise). You can dump a ton of snow (kept) in warehouses on trails lmao, but i temps are mid 40's by day it won't be ideal, nevermind if they get one of their frequent winter rainers. Due to elevation diff on Rosa Khutor mtn alot of rain/snow lines bisect the upper/lower mtn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cfa Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Sochi's winters are fairly similar to Norfolk's, so the fact that it's hosting the Winter Olympics is a little surprising. But it beats Moscow or Yakutsk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Marusak Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Sochi is mid latitudes yes , but you can't deny it is not a very snowy place. I think Sochi averages like less than 10" of snow a year. I think other issues aside, holding winter games at such a mild location is a risk that many international competitors probably weren't thrilled about. If its mid 40's @ 3k base i wouldn't think ski conditions would be ideal. So yes, "Gauranteed snow" but not of good quality conditions , at least no Olympic quality (unless they luck out wx wise). You can dump a ton of snow (kept) in warehouses on trails lmao, but i temps are mid 40's by day it won't be ideal, nevermind if they get one of their frequent winter rainers. Due to elevation diff on Rosa Khutor mtn alot of rain/snow lines bisect the upper/lower mtn. isn't that a similar problem that everyone was worried about with whistler-blackcomb? and then it came to fruition for a few days when a very mild system coming onshore in the lower mainland and the south coast of BC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msp Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 I consider Florida sub-tropical, Sochi is solidly in the mid-latitudes. Looks like the region around Sochi is solidly snow covered right now. My guess is they put the Winter olympics in Sochi since it's a much more comfortable climate than most of Russia, which will increase the amount of people that go to the olympics. I had assumed that it was also because most places in Russia mountainous enough to hold the downhill skiing events are inaccessible and/or too cold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonger Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Is the Olympic village up in the mountains? It seems like it's the Sochi winter games, but the location of events is WAY outside the city. Blah... Would have rather seen this in the real heart of Russia.... This is just a big advertisement for touring tropical Russia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSheridan12 Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 Sochi's winters are fairly similar to Norfolk's, so the fact that it's hosting the Winter Olympics is a little surprising. But it beats Moscow or Yakutsk. Norfolk did just get 10" of snow...according to 1 report at least Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Marusak Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 btw, if the wunderground site is close to correct, there is an airport there in sochi that could be used for forecasts/model data/obs in town: URSS also synoptic locations are in the mtns near Krasna (syn code 37107) and airports near kopinari (south end of the sea) UGKO as well on the east side of the mountains near Teberda (37193) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N. OF PIKE Posted February 22, 2014 Author Share Posted February 22, 2014 Well the mild weather has been a bit of an issue w the down hill, and ya the mountains are a half hour from Sochi. It does seem like it was sort of an advertisement for vacationing there, thou that is not in and of itself a huge offense imo. However, the venue is not ideal since the mountains are Half hr away and its often mild and wet in town. If i was attending a Winter Olympics i wouldn't wish to do it where there are palm trees....personally i would not think it would seem "right". I'd rather have a ski town/village. (But i love snow so perhaps im in minority) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Global_Warmer Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 I doubt they thought it would end up like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Smith Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Actually, the conditions have not been all that bad for most of the alpine events, they seem to have done a pretty good job of building up large snow bases then maintaining them as best they could through a few difficult days mid-way, both ends of the program have enjoyed clear if rather mild conditions. Given the range of possible weather they could have seen in the alpine there, I think they got better than average and certainly not the worst-case scenario that we faced in Vancouver where normally reliable and excellent snow turned into soupy crap in the mildest February on record at the venues, even in Whistler the conditions were pretty close to being the worst ever seen in February although not much different from Sochi. I hope this place in South Korea (2018) has better luck, that also sounds a bit close to the equator for this sort of thing. There is a fairly routine Winter Olympic curse on the weather, Lake Placid 1980 had to cope with a very low snowfall winter, Calgary 1988 also had the mildest February on record or close to it. Nagano 1998 had too much snow. I think the best luck they had was with the better than average conditions in Utah in 2002. Lillehammer Norway did pretty well with their weather in 1994. Torino, IIRC, had about their normal conditions in the mountains. There's always going to be a distance between the alpine and the hockey/skating/curling cluster of events because it's rare for the arena capacity to be located near the base of ski hills. Visitors usually want to concentrate on one type of event anyway so I'm not sure if the distance is really much of an issue if there's a reasonable transportation network. Anyway, it's too bad the infrastructure is so expensive because for snow conditions, it would be hard to beat Panorama in eastern BC and there's a fully developed alpine resort there, with the sort of snowfall climatology that almost guarantees good conditions all winter, but the nearby town (Invermere) has only your normal small-town arena. Surprising that the U.S. has not put Colorado forward as a hosting site, they've got the big arena in Denver and the ski resorts around Vail with almost that same high probability of good snow conditions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Global_Warmer Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 SSTS are 20C about 150 miles SE of South Korea. Up to 10-15C along the coasts. Wiki says the flow is generally West or NW in winter which comes from a pretty cold region. So snow in the mtns is not an issue. Current S. Korea snow cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottawa Blizzard Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Personally I think Quebec City would be a good place for the winter Olympics. The things is that, except for those from Canada, the northern US, northern China and most of Russia, most athletes have no experience with cold as severe as that city gets. I personally hope Oslo gets the 2022 Olympics. Norway is perfect. Reasonable climate, plenty of snow, and one of the least objectionable places politically in the world. Sapporo, Japan is also a good city for winter games. I believe they hosted the winter games in 1972. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonger Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Personally I think Quebec City would be a good place for the winter Olympics. The things is that, except for those from Canada, the northern US, northern China and most of Russia, most athletes have no experience with cold as severe as that city gets. I personally hope Oslo gets the 2022 Olympics. Norway is perfect. Reasonable climate, plenty of snow, and one of the least objectionable places politically in the world. Sapporo, Japan is also a good city for winter games. I believe they hosted the winter games in 1972. That's the thing, most winter Olympic cites are borderline cold..... This was the warmest venue ever selected, supposedly there were no canceled events, but skiers complained that the snow was granular and slow. Calgary was probably one of the most guaranteed cold locations I can think of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginx snewx Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Calgary had snow issues too. The Sochi ski area is stunningly beautiful. Who cares if the indoor events were held on the coast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew-Northern Italy Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 There is to say that Sochi's area has had a very mild february compared to norm, as the entire Europe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N. OF PIKE Posted February 24, 2014 Author Share Posted February 24, 2014 Thing is Calgary and Vancouver had bad luck, Sochi mtns no matter how beautiful are just too mild on average for the world class conditions to hold Olympic Games. Yes its beautiful but the conditions of snow are not world class. World class mtn dont get that much rain and ave 100" only of snow per year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottawa Blizzard Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 That's the thing, most winter Olympic cites are borderline cold..... This was the warmest venue ever selected, supposedly there were no canceled events, but skiers complained that the snow was granular and slow. Calgary was probably one of the most guaranteed cold locations I can think of. Thing is Calgary and Vancouver had bad luck, Sochi mtns no matter how beautiful are just too mild on average for the world class conditions to hold Olympic Games. Yes its beautiful but the conditions of snow are not world class. World class mtn dont get that much rain and ave 100" only of snow per year. Yes, Calgary had the misfortune to have a major Chinook right around the time of the Olympics. For North America, I would think that a city like Burlington, Vermont, Montreal or Quebec City would be good. For Russia, perhaps Moscow or Yakutsk (just kidding about the latter). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongBeachSurfFreak Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 I noticed the vegetation was typical of lower elevation locations even at the top of the down hill events. Large tall deciduous trees Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ice1972 Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Sometimes the weather just won't cooperate too....what if the Winter Olympics had been in Lake Tahoe thus year? This place is a lock it would seem for snow cover and a lot of it but look what happened this year out there...nada snow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N. OF PIKE Posted February 26, 2014 Author Share Posted February 26, 2014 Sometimes the weather just won't cooperate too....what if the Winter Olympics had been in Lake Tahoe thus year? This place is a lock it would seem for snow cover and a lot of it but look what happened this year out there...nada snow well they have made it clear it is not chosen due to the best snow UTAH or Central Colorado are prob most consistent snowy places in US....and safe from "torches" maybe Jackson Hole Wyoming would do very well in US as well. Burlington,VT wouldn't work...those mountain i don't think have the vertical profiles to host olympics ...plus they are subject to "torches" or freezing rain storms ....just not consistent very good snow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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