Forecasters confident of weathering all storms

Challenges, techniques

However, challenges remained: For some events, the forecasters needed to practice new techniques, while the venues are scattered across Shaanxi, which means that predicting the weather is a very complicated business.

Wu, from the Weinan Meteorological Service, said for the beach volleyball games, the forecasters measured the temperature of the sand for the first time, but they had to overcome technical difficulties to improve the accuracy of their results.

"Sand hotter than 45 C will burn the players, so reports on sand temperatures are a great focus of attention," he said.

Initially, the sand was placed on a lawn in the sun so the temperature could be gauged, but the results were inaccurate by between 2 and 6 C. The forecasters realized that the lower temperature of the grass base was affecting the accuracy of the readings. In response, they placed a sensor at each of the four corners of the playing area and began recording more accurate temperatures.