In a little less than two years, will Olympic ski-jumpers get blown off the hill by unexpected severe winds? Will drivers inching up canyons find themselves stalled in blizzards?
Not if a groundbreaking partnership has anything to do with it.For the first time, a joint venture between the federal government and a private company will provide precision weather forecasts for the Olympic Games, Utah's 2002 spectacular. The predictions will give planners information they need in deciding whether to delay or cancel events.
"Our job is to predict the weather in minute detail," said Mark Eubank, chief meteorologist for the private end of the deal. Eubank, the forecaster for KSL TV, is organizing a troop of 13 experts for the task.
The federal end of the project will be overseen by William J. Alder, meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service regional office in Salt Lake City. Coordinating the project for the Weather Service will be Larry Dunn, science and operations officer at the regional office.
"We'll basically be doing the general forecast and probably issuing some extra statements indicating what the weather will be on the different arteries to the venues and the park-and-ride lots," Alder said.
Meanwhile, Eubank's group will provide specific forecasts for the venues.
"In the past, all Olympic weather forecasting was done by the National Weather Service," Eubanks explained. "This is the first time that a private-sector group has ever been allowed to do forecasting for the Olympics in the United States."
Eubank said he and KSL had a waiting list for the project. Some of those signed up are retired National Weather Service forecasters while others are professional private predictors.
The team began honing its skills last December.
"Just like athletes have to test and train before the Olympics, we needed to test and train so that we're familiar with these venues," Eubank said.
To better understand winds, snow levels and other factors, the group began studying conditions for World Cup events at Snow Basin, he said.
During the Olympics, the partners will help special weather judges take account of conditions that could affect athletes, drivers or spectators. They will predict the amount of snowfall for each hour of an event, tell what force winds to expect and say whether the winds should shift.
The judges then will decide whether to postpone, cancel or move an event.
The next step in preparing for the Olympics, according to Eubank, is to "add powerful PCs and sophisticated weather data at five of the local venues and at KSL." That should be finished by this fall.
During the Winter Games, forecasters will be stationed at the venues and in an operations center established in Alder's office on North Temple.
"I want to make it work," Alder said.
E-mail: bau@desnews.com