Cloud processes over the 2010 Winter Olympic venues

In preparation for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Environment Canada expanded its observational network along the Sea-to-Sky corridor (Highway 99 in British Columbia), to support weather forecasting operations and research in this mountain region. Tropospheric profiling was enhanced here by using Microwave Profiling Radiometry, UHF Wind Profiler, K-band Micro Rain Radar, and C-band Doppler weather radar. A dedicated weather radar in the Sea-to-Sky provided local analyses in the main valleys around Whistler. Operational weather radars at Mount Sicker and Aldergrove provided a mesoscale context over the venues. Radiometry observations generated profiles of vapor density, of cloud liquid water content, and of temperature. These facilitated monitoring the growth and depletion of ice particles and super-cooled droplets in winter environments. This analysis leaded to a technique for nowcasting cloud-phase dynamics. A 915 MHz wind profiler was located upstream of the Olympic venues, at the junction of three valleys. Analyses of these wind profiler observations provided insight on the precipitation phase and topographic influence over the local winds. The objective here is to demonstrate how remote-sensing retrievals enhanced the diagnosis and nowcasting of winter weather over complex terrain. For that, we present multi-sensor analyzes on the cloud and precipitation processes occurred at the Sea-to-Sky one winter prior to the Games and during the actual 2010 Winter Games.