Do You Believe in Miracles? Preserving and Highlighting the Work of the NWS Olympic Support Unit at the 1980 Winter Olympics

During the XIII Olympic Winter Games in February 1980 at Lake Placid, NY, the National Weather Service (NWS) Olympic Support Unit (OSU), consisting of three NWS meteorologists, one State of NY meteorologist, and one college intern provided decision support weather services to 30,000 and 50,000 people attending, supporting, and participating in the Games. From their small forecast office in the 1932 Olympic Arena, they issued winter watches and warnings, prepared daily weather forecasts for the region and each venue, gave daily weather briefings and took observations before and after each competition. Their forecasts were critical to Olympic venue managers making artificial snow, the first time it was done at an Olympic Games, and trucking it to cross country ski trails due to the lack of natural snow, emergency medical staff worrying about spectators getting frostbite while waiting for hours for shuttle buses, and transportation officials worrying that remote parking lots would turn into mud fields if the Olympic Thaw continued too long. The remoteness of Lake Placid as well delays in construction of Olympic facilities, communication line issues, security, and transportation problems provided many challenges for the OSU before and during the Games. For example, when OSU members arrived in January, their forecast office was smaller than expected and there were no phones, windows, door, furniture, electricity, or heat. It is thought that the 1980 Games was the first Olympics in the U.S. in which the NWS provided on-site weather decision support.

The NOAA Heritage Program has funded a project to preserve the history of the NWS Olympic Support Unit and to highlight the work of the Unit in a special exhibit. The history of the Unit will be preserved by 1) archiving and cataloging OSU artifacts, archival document materials, and photographic images of the activities of the OSU and 2) collecting oral histories from the three meteorologists still alive, the wife of the deceased meteorologist, and the intern. These artifacts and first hand reports will be preserved, inventoried, and archived for future generations interested in the history of not only of the 1980 Winter Olympics but also the National Weather Service.

The special exhibit titled, Foretelling the Future: The National Weather Service at the 1980 Olympic Winter Games will highlight the Olympic Support Unit and how their work was instrumental in ensuring a safe and successful Games. The exhibit will be on display to the public during 2020, the 40^th anniversary of the 1980 Winter Olympics at the Lake Placid Olympic Museum. The museum is located in 1980 Olympic Ice Arena, where the underdog USA hockey team, made up of college players, defeated the four-time defending gold-medal winning Soviet team in a game that will be forever remembered as the “Miracle on Ice”. The mission of the museum is to educate the “world about the Olympic movement and Lake Placid's rich winter sports' history in order to promote the values of Olympism to the broadest possible audience.” The museum has hosted other special exhibits over the years including one in 2018 commemorating the 60th anniversary of Whiteface Mountain’s opening and exploring its history through interactive activities and graphic text panels.

The project is a partnership between the National Ocean Service’s Coast Survey Development Laboratory, the NWS Weather Forecast Office in Burlington, Vermont and the Lake Placid Olympic Museum.