FORT CAVAZOS, Texas — It's the talk of the town for Central Texans! Overnight blasts with a sound so loud, it's rattling homes and keeping people up in the evening.
Whether it's Fort Cavazos training or SpaceX testing, lots of people are wondering why the booms seem louder than usual.
Ashley Mungia-Baird is an admin for the Facebook group, Temple City Watch.
"There was a lot of pending posts late last night like, 'What's that booming noise,'" Mungia-Baird said. "'There's so much noise, I've never heard rumblings like this.'"
Mungia-Baird grew up in Temple and now lives right on Fort Cavazos.
"When you live right here, everything shakes," Mungia-Baird added.
Mungia-Baird says loud booms are not out of the ordinary in Central Texas.
"If you're not familiar with the military installation or things like that, you are going to kind of be thrown off," Mungia-Baird said.
Still, people near and far were startled by the noises overnight.
"People were saying as far as Academy," Mungia-Baird said. "They could feel the shakes and rumbles."
The booms are not anything new, but could cold weather play a factor in why they are traveling so far?
THE QUESTION
Does sound travel further in cold weather?
OUR SOURCES
Trey Cade, Director of the Institute for Air Science at Baylor, and Tom Rheinlander, Director, Fort Cavazos Public Affairs
THE ANSWER
Yes, sound does travel farther in cold weather.
WHAT WE FOUND
Cade says sound traveling faster through cold air is a myth. It actually travels slower.
"What that does is it creates a situation where sound can travel farther," Cade said.
A shallow layer of cold air at the surface is what makes sound travel far.
"You got really cold air at the surface and you got warmer air above it," Cade said. "It's traveling slower through the cold air, faster through the warm air above, so that actually makes the sound waves refract more towards the ground."
When a layer of snow or ice is on the ground, sound also travels further.
"That can basically make the ground more reflective of sound waves," Cade added.
Wind plays a factor too.
"Those waves are going to get pushed, you know, in different directions," Cade said. "That can direct sound waves either towards you or away from you."
This can all cause the rumbling at your home.
"Thunder can be very loud and cause vibrations and shaking in your home," Cade said. "It's just sound waves. It's just air molecules vibrating and bumping into each other. It may surprise you or catch you off guard. Just realize it's just because you have the unique situation in the atmosphere that sets up to where you can hear those sounds better."
As for what those sounds are, Fort Cavazos sent 6 News the following statement:
"There is scheduled daytime and nighttime live-fire artillery and tank gunnery training from Jan. 8 until Mar. 3. This training is important for soldiers and units to meet their training and readiness objectives. We appreciate our local communities and partners supporting our ability to accomplish our mission, so that we can continue to stand ready to defend our country’s interests around the world should the moment arise," said Tom Rheinlander, Director, Fort Cavazos Public Affairs.
More stories from 6 News: