...IN BOX_ INSIGHTS and INNOVATIONS Weather Services, Science Advances, and the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games BY PAUL JOE, CHRIS DOYLE, AL WALLACE. STEWART G. COBER, BILL SCOTT, GEORGE A. ISAAC, TREVOR SMITH, JOCELYN MAILHOT, BRAD SNYDER, STEPHANE BELAIR, QUINTON JANSEN, AND BERTRAND DENIS T he Olympics inspire great- ness. "Swifter, Higher, Stronger" applies not only to the athletes but sets the tone for everyone associated with the games, including the weather service provid- ers. The Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games of 2010 will be hosted by the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, from 12-28 February and 12-21 March, respectively. Al- pine and Nordic events will be held on Whistler Mountain, at the new Whistler Olympic Park in the Callaghan Valley and at Cypress Mountain on the North Shore Mountains just north of the City of Van- couver (Fig.l). The challenges for winter weather forecasting and nowcasting in complex terrain within a coastal region require Olympian efforts and innovations to overcome. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded the games to Vancouver on 2 July 2003. En- vironment Canada (EC), with its federal mandate to AFFILIATIONS: JoE. DOYLE. WALLACE, COBER, SCOTT. ISAAC, SM!TH. MAILHOT. SNYDER, BELAIRJANSEN. AND DENIS—Environment Canada. Toronto and Vancouver. Canada CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Paul Joe. Environment Canada, 401 Burrard St.. Vancouver. BC. V6C 3S5. Canada E-mail: paul.joe@ec.gc.ca DOIMO.1175/2009 BAMS2998.1 ©2010 Amerkan Meteorological Society Olympic Aulostation Network lympic Autostation FiG. I. The forecast domain of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. The map shows the locations of the Olympic Autostation Network (OAN) sites. Including primary, video, and cooperative stations, more than 50 OAN sites have been established. The small diamonds are cellphone tower locations and are not part of the OAN. provide weather warning services, was chosen by the VancouverOrganizingCommittee(VANOC) to provide weather services specifically to support the safety of the athletes, officials, and spectators and to ensure the fair- ness of the sporting events. Initial elation of the EC staff assigned to organize the weather support for the games turned to focused and detailed planning as there was an immediate realizationof the work required tohuild the weather support system to meet the essential federal mandate and the needs of the games. WARNING AND SPORT MANDATES. The EC team first assembled information on what was accomplished during prior Olympic weather support AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL 5OCIETY JANUARY 2010 BAtli | 31