Heavy snowfalls may disrupt Sochi Games: official

The Olympic rings are on display near a newly-built railway station "Adler" in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, December 24, 2013.  [Photo/Agencies]

MOSCOW - No shortage of snow has been forecast for the upcoming Sochi Winter Olympics, but the potential heavy snowfalls may cause real problems, a Russian official said Tuesday.

"There will be enough snow, that issue doesn't disturb us," head of the Russian Weather Service, Rosgidromet, Alexander Frolov told reporters.

On the contrary, he said, there are concerns that heavy snowfalls could seriously disrupt the competitions in Sochi.

He warned that weather in that subtropical zone is very volatile and snowstorms there, once started, might last for two or three days in a row.

Still, Frolov said, the meteorologists forecast the nasty weather to come to Sochi for no longer than a couple of days during the period of February 7-23, when the Games take place.

In December, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry has once issued an avalanche warning in Sochi, anticipating blackouts, disruption of communications, housing services and transportation in that mountainous area.