Special Olympics Yukon
Cold Weather Policy
Date: November 2022
Program cancellations will occur when temperatures outside (including wind chill) drop to:
- Indoor Programs including Swimming: -35 degrees C (including wind chill)
- Cross Country Skiing: -25 degrees C (including wind chill)
In order to make a cancellation decision due to weather, Special Olympics Yukon uses the Environment Canada website or phone app:
- Website: https://weather.gc.ca/city/pages/yt-16_metric_e.html
- Phone app: WeatherCAN (available on Android and Apple devices)
Cold Weather Procedures
Special Olympics Yukon community programs will follow the steps below when a program cancellation occurs because of cold weather.
For a weekday program (Monday-Friday):
- SOY Program Staff will use the Environment Canada Current Conditions online at 12:00pm to determine if programs that day are running.
- SOY Program Staff will contact the head coach of the affected programs to notify them of the cancellation.
- The head coach must notify all athletes and coaches in the program no later than 2 hours before the program is intended to start via a communication method of their choice. The head coach should notify athletes and coaches in the program how they intend to communicate this at the program stakeholder meeting.
- Athletes & caregivers can call the SOY office to determine if the program is cancelled after 12:00pm on the day.
For a weekend program (Saturday-Sunday):
- The head coach will use the Environment Canada Current Conditions 2 hours before a program is scheduled to start to determine if the program is running that day.
- The head coach will contact athletes, coaches, & program staff to cancel the program. The head coach should notify athletes and coaches in the program how they intend to communicate this at the program stakeholder meeting.