What if we have a light winter in 2034?

SALT LAKE CITY — The Winter Olympic Games kick off this week, and Milan, Italy, has been dealing with warm winter temperatures similar to what we’ve been experiencing here in northern Utah.

According to weather.com, there will be several days during the games that will have high temperatures in the 50s. Aside from the warm temperatures, Utah hasn’t gotten much snow this season, and we’ve hit a record-low snowpack for the end of January. This leaves many people wondering what would happen if we have another winter like this when we host the Olympics in 2034.

However, officials aren’t worried.  They have plans in place in case the snow is a no-show.  For starters, they will take advantage of snow makers.  Most ski resorts in Northern Utah have snow-making capabilities and they’ll be out in full force at the Olympic venues if Mother Nature doesn’t cooperate.

Secondly, officials plan on keeping a snow reserve.

“We will stockpile snow from the previous year,” Fraser Bullock, 2034 Winter Games President, said.

Back in 2001, they practiced stockpiling snow for the 2002 Winter Games, and it worked.

“That year in 2001 was actually warmer. So we actually went through the exercise to prove that it works, and so we’ll be ready for 2034,” Bullock said.

Back then, piles of snow were created at high elevations near Strawberry Reservoir and covered with insulated blankets so they didn’t melt. Luckily, Utah had a great winter in 2002. But if the venues would have needed it, dump trucks would have delivered snow from the stockpiles to the ski resorts.

For 2034, Bullock said they might try and store the stockpiles closer to the resorts for easier distribution.

But even with solutions for low snow totals, officials still are hoping for as much of the real stuff as possible that year.

“We can still host the games and the competition we just want it to be beautiful Utah as we’re used to seeing it. That’s the only thing that we’re keeping our fingers crossed for,” Bullock said.