China mobilizes meteorological services for Winter Olympics

The China Meteorological Administration (CMA) has mobilized meteorological services for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games to ensure the events run smoothly and safely. The Games will take place from 4 to 20 February 2022, in the municipality of Beijing and the neighbouring Hebei province, in China. The Paralympic Games are from 4 to 13 March.

There is a dedicated web portal, with weather information and forecasts (temperatures, humidity and wind speed) for all the venues and events.

Weather is a key factor. Accurate and reliable forecasts and warnings of temperature, humidity, visibility and wind extremes affect event scheduling, athletic performance and course conditions. They are also ensuring the safety of athletes, support staff, spectators and transit operations.

Very short-term forecasting and nowcasting are important, especially for the outdoor events. In addition, the snow-making and snow-storage processes need accurate high-resolution short-term forecasting and nowcasting of low-level and surface temperature, humidity and wind.

The Beijing urban area will be the site of the opening and closing ceremonies, all ice competitions and the big air snowboarding events. All alpine skiing and sliding events will be held at the Haituoshan mountain area in the Yanqing district of Beijing city (~60 km north-west of central Beijing). The Nordic skiing and ski-jumping events will take place in Chongli county of Zhangjiakou city, in Hebei province (~100 km north-west of central Beijing city).

Dedicated multi-element weather stations and four new wind stations have been set up. During the service period, teams will carry out regular inspections, maintenance, real-time monitoring and emergency repairs to ensure optimal operation of all meteorological equipment.

China’s Fengyun satellite is helping with the meteorological services.

As its second Olympic Games, Beijing will be the first city to have ever hosted both the Summer and Winter Olympics.

WMO Bulletin article on Enhanced Weather Research and Forecasting in Support of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.