VANCOUVER - Before leaving Moscow to cover the 2010 Winter Olympics, TV host Andrew Farmer checked on the weather in the host city.

He and his crew could not believe their luck: No snow. Warm, rainy weather. For Mr. Farmer, it was a fond reminder of the climate of his native England.

"We cheered in the office," said the sports anchor for RT, a globally broadcast English-language channel in Russia.

Standing yesterday in drizzly Robson Square in the heart of downtown Vancouver, Mr. Farmer said he was okay with the absence of snow in the host city for the globally watched winter sporting event.

Yesterday, after all, Vancouver had temperature highs on par with or above those of such places as London, Belfast and Madrid, not exactly winter sports capitals.

Instead of snow, there is rain, overcast grey skies and mild temperatures. Given that these are the Winter Olympics, it might be a disappointment for some but for not Mr. Farmer and his crew.

"We're not bothered one bit," he said. "We've had five months of snow and ice in Moscow. We're actually delighted it's quite mild here - and there's rain."

Can you hold a Winter Olympics in a city where there's no sign of the key thing associated with winter, namely snow?

Mayor Gregor Robertson gamely says it shouldn't matter. "Right in the city, I don't think we need snow to have the Olympic spirit. Vancouver will be a tremendous host city regardless of what the weather is," he said.

Of course, many events will be held in snowy Whistler - a counterbalance image-wise to warm, wet Vancouver. And even in the latter, Mr. Farmer said, the rush of competition will render the snow issue moot, since many sports are played indoors.

"People won't worry whether it's raining on the roof outside. It's all to do with what's going on inside, and that's where I think the buzz will be," he said.

In Vancouver, there's not much likelihood of snow any time soon. At best, the city may get one day of white stuff between now and closing ceremonies on Feb. 28, and that's far from a sure thing, says meteorologist Matt MacDonald of Environment Canada.

The average Vancouver temperature during the Olympic period, from Feb. 12 to 28, is 4.8 degrees, Mr. MacDonald said. The average number of days with rain are nine.

"We're experiencing temperatures that are a degree or two above average, but this is pretty much what Vancouver looks like in the winter," he said. "We have one of the mildest climates in Canada."

Vancouver's snowless situation is linked to its sea-level location.

But Olympic historian Kevin Wamsley says a city doesn't really need to be dusted in snow to host the Winter Games.

There has to be snow, real or man-made, in certain outdoor venues - such as Cypress Mountain, home of snowboarding and freestyle skiing events, where it is being brought in by truck and helicopter from elsewhere in B.C. And the city has to be ready to host such indoor sports as figure skating and hockey. But snowy ambience is not a requirement.

"Otherwise," Mr. Wamsley said, "[the International Olympic Committee] would not have selected Vancouver."

The former co-director of the International Centre for Olympic Studies in the Ontario city of London had some first-hand experience with the Vancouver climate during a visit last week.

"It was more like mid-April [in London]," he said of the temperatures.