Potential Impacts of El Nino On the 2010 Winter Olympics

With the 2010 Winter Olympics being held in Vancouver, BC let’s take a look at the potential impact that El Nino might have on snow conditions. El Nino tends to cause temperatures to be warmer than normal in the Pacific Northwest plus it contributes to a weather phenomena called the “Pineapple Express”. This could wreak havoc on the snow quality at Cypress Mountain who will host freestyle skiing (aerials, moguls, and ski cross), and all 2010 snowboard events (half-pipe, parallel giant slalom, snowboard cross) and at Whistler Blackcomb who will host all alpine ski events plus bobsleigh, luge and skeleton. During a Pineapple Express event, warm moist air from Hawaii slams into the Pacific Northwest causing heavy rain and snow levels to rise as high as 10,000 ft in the middle of winter. If enough cold air is present and the snow levels stay below ski area levels, heavy snows can be expected. Whistler’s elevation ranges from 2,140 ft at Whistler Village to 7,160 ft at mountain top level. Lower parts of the mountain will be prone to experiencing periods of rainfall more frequently during El Nino due to warmer than average temperatures. Annual snowfall totals for the higher elevations of Whistler actually are greater than normal during El Nino years. The average annual snowfall for the 1982-2008 period was 398″, but the average annual snowfall for El Nino years during that same period was actually 408″. So, even though there’s lots of talk of gloom and doom for the 2010 Winter Olympics due to El Nino, there may actually be significant snowfall this winter given past weather history (if you don’t mind the occasional heavy rainfall mixed in to slush up the snow). But hey… after all, we are talking about relatively low altitude mountains along the Pacific coast and sloppy, concrete-like snow comes with the territory.