WeatherBank First Private Weather Company In History To Forecast For Olympic Games

EDMOND, Okla., October 17, 2000—For the first time in history, a private weather company will provide weather forecasting services to the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

“Normally, the National Weather Service is the sole provider of weather support for the Olympic games on American soil,” said Steven A. Root, WeatherBank president and CEO. “This time, the NWS will still be involved in issuing public weather forecasts, but WeatherBank will provide specialized support for four of the five outdoor Olympic venues,” Root said.

“WeatherBank’s meteorologists will be on site at Park City, Deer Valley and other locations to provide continual weather updates and daily reports of forecast conditions to the Salt Lake Olympic Committee,” Root said.

Root, Joseph R. Nicholls, Mathew J. Rehwald and Ryan E. Wright will join others in providing weather forecasts that define temperatures, possibility of precipitation, wind speed, visibility and other factors for each hour over a 36–48 hour period. Each man is responsible for a specific venue and will be working on site from 4 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day of the Olympic and Paralympic games, Root said.

Collectively, these four meteorologists have more than 75 years of experience in forecasting weather for the mountain areas of Utah. In addition, WeatherBank’s meteorological team has provided weather forecasting and consulting services to the Deer Valley and Park City Mountain resorts since the early 1990s, Root said. This experience will help ensure accurate forecasts in a region where weather forecasting is more art than science.

WeatherBank is located in Edmond, Okla., an Oklahoma City suburb. The company has one of the largest meteorological teams of any private weather company, operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, serving clients in all industries, including energy, transportation, emergency management, broadcasting and others. Get more information about WeatherBank’s products and services on the World Wide Web at http://www.weatherbank.com.

###

[Return to WeatherBank News Releases]