Tokyo Games Committee Sees Limited Cooling Effect from Fake Snow

September 15, 2019

Tokyo- An experiment by the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic organizing committee found on Friday that artificial snow sprayed onto uncovered spectator seats as an antiheat measure had a limited cooling effect.

Shredded ice from a snow-making machine failed to reach some of the seats because of winds in the experiment, conducted during a canoe sprint test event at Sea Forest Waterway in Tokyo's Koto Ward.

The snow also made some of the footing wet and slippery, with some people falling.

There was no change in the temperature or the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature, a heat index that takes into account not only temperature but also other factors like humidity, before and after the experiment.

"The snow didn't make the air feel cool," a committee official said, adding it could be used in fun events.

The committee will consider whether to introduce snow-making machines during the Tokyo Games, including the possibility of introducing them at other competition venues, officials said. Jiji Press