Editor's note: "Natural Facts – Q&A" is a special series that answers questions on natural conditions involving winter sports. In this episode, China Meteorological Administration sheds light on the importance of weather to alpine skiing.

The Winter Olympics men's downhill was postponed due to bad weather – the first delayed event of this year. While the new date has not been announced, we can see there's a strong link between nature and sports. Let's see what the China Meteorological Administration has to say about it.

Q: How obvious are weather changes in alpine mountains? 

A: The weather changes during alpine skiing can be huge due to the geographic factors. Alpine skiing takes place on mountains, and the elevation drop can be big. Built on the Xiaohaituo Mountain, the starting point in the National Alpine Skiing Center is about 2,190 meters and the end point at about 1,390 meters. Generally speaking, the temperature drops by 0.6 degrees Celsius every 100 meters above sea level, hence the temperature difference from the top to the end can be nearly 5 degrees Celsius. The speed and safety of the athletes can be affected if the weather is harsh. 

Q: What kind of conditions affect the competition?

A: An event can be affected if the temperature is lower than -15 degrees Celsius and the wind speed is above level five (8.0-10.7m/s); or the visibility of the whole track is lower than 500m, or the visibility of part of the track is less than 200 meters; or the daily snowfall is larger than 5 centimeters; or there are mixed rain and snow, or ice rain.

Q: What happens when the temperature gets too low?

A: Take the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games as an example. A strong cold air had swept the area since the night of February 10, and the temperature dropped to -15.3 degrees Celsius by next morning, with a level 7 (13.9-17.1 m/s) wind speed. For the sake of the athletes' safety and the competition fairness, the organizing committee postponed the men's alpine skiing competition on February 11, and changed it to February 15. So the alpine skiing competition is really weather-dependent.

(Cover image designed by CGTN's Feng Yuan)

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