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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- When it comes to Nordic skiing events at the Olympics, every second -- and every degree of temperature -- counts.
That's why Canada, host of the 2010 Winter Games, is bringing in University of Utah experts to train its team of forecasters in the science of reading and predicting snow temperatures.
Organizers of the Vancouver games will call on University of Utah meteorology professor John Horel.
Horel says slight temperature changes determine the choice of wax for cross-country skiers.
Horel helped develop high-tech modeling techniques used at the 2002 Salt Lake Games. It was the basis for similar work at the 2006 Winter Games in Italy.
Sensors placed about a meter apart over the entire course provide a temperature map and help predict how snow conditions will change throughout the day.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
