MOSCOW Tue Dec 24, 2013 9:03am EST
A man walks past a shop with an Olympic logo in the Black Sea resort town of Sochi December 21, 2013.
Credit: Reuters/Maxim Shemetov
<span id="articleText"/>MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian meteorologists have no concerns about a shortage of snow for the Winter Olympics in February but believe avalanches and poor visibility could disrupt the Sochi Games.
<span id="midArticle_0"/>The slopes where ski races and other mountain events will be held, high above the sub-tropical Black Sea shore, should have two to seven meters (6.5 to 23 feet) of snow, said the head of Rosgidromet state forecasting Alexander Frolov.
<span id="midArticle_1"/>Frolov also told a news briefing there was "a risk that a two, three-day cyclone may set in and significantly complicate our lives. Then the avalanche danger will increase and we will have to ... interrupt the Games".
<span id="midArticle_2"/>Avalanches are common in winter and emergency services in Russia fire artillery rounds at the slopes to force the snowpack to come down safely.
<span id="midArticle_3"/>"The second risk for us is low visibility when the cloud cover comes down," said Frolov.
<span id="midArticle_4"/>President Vladimir Putin has staked his personal and political prestige on a successful Games in a location where most of the venues have had to be built from scratch.
<span id="midArticle_5"/>Sochi Games chief Dmitry Chernyshenko has said the weather is viewed as a bigger potential problem for the organizers than security or infrastructure of a Games that has cost Russia around $50 billion.
<span id="midArticle_6"/>Unusually warm temperatures last winter prompted organizers of Russia's first post-Soviet Olympics, and first Winter Games, to store about 450,000 cubic meters (16 million cubic feet) of snow in the mountains just in case.
<span id="midArticle_7"/>(Reporting by Polina Devitt, writing by Alexei Anishchuk, editing by Tony Jimenez)
<span id="midArticle_8"/>
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Credit: Reuters/Maxim Shemetov
<span id="articleText"/>MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian meteorologists have no concerns about a shortage of snow for the Winter Olympics in February but believe avalanches and poor visibility could disrupt the Sochi Games.
<span id="midArticle_0"/>The slopes where ski races and other mountain events will be held, high above the sub-tropical Black Sea shore, should have two to seven meters (6.5 to 23 feet) of snow, said the head of Rosgidromet state forecasting Alexander Frolov.
<span id="midArticle_1"/>Frolov also told a news briefing there was "a risk that a two, three-day cyclone may set in and significantly complicate our lives. Then the avalanche danger will increase and we will have to ... interrupt the Games".
<span id="midArticle_2"/>Avalanches are common in winter and emergency services in Russia fire artillery rounds at the slopes to force the snowpack to come down safely.
<span id="midArticle_3"/>"The second risk for us is low visibility when the cloud cover comes down," said Frolov.
<span id="midArticle_4"/>President Vladimir Putin has staked his personal and political prestige on a successful Games in a location where most of the venues have had to be built from scratch.
<span id="midArticle_5"/>Sochi Games chief Dmitry Chernyshenko has said the weather is viewed as a bigger potential problem for the organizers than security or infrastructure of a Games that has cost Russia around $50 billion.
<span id="midArticle_6"/>Unusually warm temperatures last winter prompted organizers of Russia's first post-Soviet Olympics, and first Winter Games, to store about 450,000 cubic meters (16 million cubic feet) of snow in the mountains just in case.
<span id="midArticle_7"/>(Reporting by Polina Devitt, writing by Alexei Anishchuk, editing by Tony Jimenez)
<span id="midArticle_8"/>
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