Are sounds louder in cold weather?
Tonight in particular (when it is -10F/-23C), it seems like the everyday noises outside are a lot louder. The planes overhead coming in for landings that are normally not even noticeable sound more like they did when I lived 5 miles from the airport in Eagan. The closest arterial road to our house, that I normally can't hear at all, sounds noticeably louder.
Most of the information I can find about sound and cold temperatures are just talking about how the speed of sound is slower in cold air. They don't say anything about whether a slower speed sound wave will sound 'louder', or travel further. Even Wikipedia doesn't seem to have the answer.
Strange.
Friday, February 17, 2006
Sound on Cold Days
Posted by Steve Eck at 10:11 PM
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3 comments:
http://www.wxdude.com/ColdWx.html has the following explanation. The same probably applies for airplanes - you're probably hearing them once they get below the inversion and you're probably hearing more of them because you can hear the ones that are further away.
"Nick,
There are railroad tracks about six miles. from my house. On most nights throughout the year, I don't hear the train when it passes. However, on the cooler nights of our winter, I can actually hear the train. Does sound travel faster in cooler weather? Or, is it perhaps because, for once, there is less humidity in the air?
Heather
Hollywood, FL
Heather,
Your question intrigued me so much that I checked with our severe weather expert Dr. Greg Forbes on this and he was able to shed some light on the phenomenon you describe.
Usually energy in the form of sound waves travels upward and is dispersed. That’s why we don’t hear sounds more than about six miles away. (By the way, this is also why we don’t hear thunder from far away lightning.) On cold winter nights there is often a temperature inversion, with a layer of warm air above and cold air trapped near the ground. That inversion also traps the sound waves near the ground and allows them to travel horizontally much farther than usual. That’s why you hear the train better on a cold night!"
Cool! Thanks for digging that up explanation. I'm glad I posted something about it.
I found this little discussion searching for just what you are talking about. I can tell you my experience is that usually I noticed that louder sounds at night. The only thing I can think of is that it's colder. Does seem to happen in the winter moreso too. Certain nights the trains are 5x louder than other nights when I can't hear them. It's not like it's the coldest day of the year or anything but it's chilly.
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