dilly84 Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Agreed. It would be hard to believe that sound would travel that slow and again, I guess many people are reporting the booms at different times. I tried to look up some mining locations in Western Ohio and Pennsylvania in theory that maybe someone was doing some blasting. One mine in Pennsylvania released a public notice that they would be blasting. Unfortunately my research stopped there when they said they would be testing on 2/27-2/28 and they would not blast during the night. But, all of this is very weird indeed. Yea I meant to put western OH in my post. Definitely an odd occurance.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dilly84 Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 I assume there would be no possible relation to the surprise asteroid which flew past earth yesterday within the distance of the earth to the moon since that would be above our atmosphere. http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20110209/sc_space/carsizeasteroidtopassclosebyearthwednesday Nah it was only the size of a small car and it was like 63000 miles away. There was one a couple weeks ago only 3400 miles away and didn't have any weird happenings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KokomoWX Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Randolph County, Indiana Homeland Security & Emergency Management We have seen some reports on our private Facebook accounts of loud booms or explosions occurring today around the County. We are aware of one at noon and 730 this morning. Are there any others? IDHS has contacted us for more information. We have ruled out stone quarries and dynamite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indystorm Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Are there any seismological reports from the Geological Survey? Even if it wasn't an earthquake due to shifting rocks I would think their instruments would detect vibrations since so many people are reporting that houses shook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGorse Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Are there any reports of people hearing sounds in any other part of PA or NJ? Since Allentown is so close to the NJ border, it would make sense that if people heard it in the midwest, people hear it in NJ and the rest of PA. I live in southern NJ and did not hear a boom or feel any shaking. I did not know about the Allentown gas explosion until I got into work this afternoon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dilly84 Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Randolph County, Indiana Homeland Security & Emergency Management We have seen some reports on our private Facebook accounts of loud booms or explosions occurring today around the County. We are aware of one at noon and 730 this morning. Are there any others? IDHS has contacted us for more information. We have ruled out stone quarries and dynamite. Interesting that there was one a noon. Didn't hear or feel that on over here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeNJWx Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 This sounds silly, but I wonder if it could actually be true. Perhaps the atmosphere is favorable for transmitting sound west of the explosion (ducting?). I haven't looked at wx obs or timing, so I don't know if this is reasonable, but that would be something if the sound traveled across states. Sound can and does duct under certain conditions... Southeast New Jersey has experienced booms in the past found to have been caused by military exercises 1000 miles offshore. I've heard them, which they do sound and even feel like an earthquake, shaking the house, rocking lamps, etc. The same principle can be applied to radio signals which will also "duct" between temperature inversions skipping over entire regions, only to be "dumped" into another area hundreds or even a thousand miles away, with no trace of signal between locations. When these signals arrive at the other end of the duct, they can be just as, or nearly as strong as when they left the transmitter. Unfortunately, at-least as far as supporting radio propagation, the monitoring devices in place reported no such phenomena last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hckyplayer8 Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Are there any reports of people hearing sounds in any other part of PA or NJ? Since Allentown is so close to the NJ border, it would make sense that if people heard it in the midwest, people hear it in NJ and the rest of PA. Roughly 45 mins West of A-town. Nothing here on any of the dispatch boards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWeatherPimp Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 wright-pat is the first thing that comes to mind. anyways i heard about it when i was talking to a friend on the phone this morning. He asked if we felt some kind of big rattle like an explosion this morning. I told him he was probably dreaming....then i saw this stuff. weird Our EMA and the State EMA have already been in contact with Wright Pat and not them. Several agencies around us reported getting several 911 calls reporting it. Whats weird is they are all at different times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yak Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 The Allentown explosion was heard roughly ten miles away in each direction in the Lehigh Valley. Pretty big but there is no way it would shake a house in Ohio, IMO. My best guess would be possibly an exploding meteor disintegrating before it fell to Earth. It would not have to be huge to make that kind of racket and might not have been observed visually that easily during daylight hours. Any reports of meteors? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indystorm Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 We've had massively cold high pressure over the area. Any reports of gravity waves? And I don't know if they are capable of affecting the atmosphere or ground enough to produce sound or shaking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue60007 Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Our EMA and the State EMA have already been in contact with Wright Pat and not them. Several agencies around us reported getting several 911 calls reporting it. Whats weird is they are all at different times. This seems like multiple events, perhaps from meteors or military activity scattered over the area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue60007 Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 http://advanceindiana.blogspot.com/2008/04/mystery-explosion-in-kokomo.html <div>--</div><div><br><div>http://www.nationalterroralert.com/2008/04/17/mysterious-lights-loud-explosion-remains-mystery-kokomo-indiana/</div><div><br></div><div> Some reports of flashes you had on your Facebook Brandon might be due to the use of flares. </div> </div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue60007 Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 OK, let me try posting those links again, something got goofed http://www.nationalterroralert.com/2008/04/17/mysterious-lights-loud-explosion-remains-mystery-kokomo-indiana/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yak Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 The Allentown explosion was heard roughly ten miles away in each direction in the Lehigh Valley. Pretty big but there is no way it would shake a house in Ohio, IMO. My best guess would be possibly an exploding meteor disintegrating before it fell to Earth. It would not have to be huge to make that kind of racket and might not have been observed visually that easily during daylight hours. Any reports of meteors? Edited to add that me thinks this is indeed going to turn out to be more celestial and terrestrial and probably meteor related. http://www.examiner.com/paranormal-in-dayton/loud-booms-reported-southwestern-ohio-and-indiana "There has also been one report of a bright blue flash being seen going across the sky from Arcanum at approximately 4:45 am. Are the two related? I think so" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWeatherPimp Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 Edited to add that me thinks this is indeed going to turn out to be more celestial and terrestrial and probably meteor related. http://www.examiner....hio-and-indiana "There has also been one report of a bright blue flash being seen going across the sky from Arcanum at approximately 4:45 am. Are the two related? I think so" It was definitely not falling ice, I went out and checked for one, and no way that falling ice, no matter how much weight, etc. it could have had, would have shaked my house to the extent that it did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catoctin wx Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Our EMA and the State EMA have already been in contact with Wright Pat and not them. Several agencies around us reported getting several 911 calls reporting it. Whats weird is they are all at different times. a lot of the time the military will deny that it was them at first so that they don't reveal something they are working on. In my experience, they eventually own up to it (although they may change the source of the sound to protect the project), but it sometimes takes a day or two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWeatherPimp Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 We believe we have our answer: Experts are guessing what we all heard and felt this morning "may" be what is known as a cryoseism, more commonly known as a frost quake. Cryoseisms typically occur when temperatures rapidly decrease from above freezing to subzero, in the first cold snap of spring. They usually occur between midnight and dawn, during the coldest part of the night. Frost quakes are often misinterpreted as minor to moderate earthquakes, but have been known to cause structural damage. Frost quakes are very common in Canada and in the Great Lakes. Frost quakes tend to be very common following significant ice storms. Cryoseisms are often mistaken for minor or intraplate earthquakes. Although the outward signs often appear similar to those of an earthquake, with tremors, vibrations, ground cracking and related noises such as thundering or booming sounds cryoseisms can be distinguished from earthquakes through meteorological and geological conditions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wishforsnow Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 That sounds like a Darwin Award right there! They never had a chance to propagate. They never found any evidence of the two kids. The explosion vaporized them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catoctin wx Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 We believe we have our answer: Experts are guessing what we all heard and felt this morning "may" be what is known as a cryoseism, more commonly known as a frost quake. Cryoseisms typically occur when temperatures rapidly decrease from above freezing to subzero, in the first cold snap of spring. They usually occur between midnight and dawn, during the coldest part of the night. Frost quakes are often misinterpreted as minor to moderate earthquakes, but have been known to cause structural damage. Frost quakes are very common in Canada and in the Great Lakes. Frost quakes tend to be very common following significant ice storms. Cryoseisms are often mistaken for minor or intraplate earthquakes. Although the outward signs often appear similar to those of an earthquake, with tremors, vibrations, ground cracking and related noises such as thundering or booming sounds cryoseisms can be distinguished from earthquakes through meteorological and geological conditions. wow, that's pretty badass. never heard of something like that before Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWeatherPimp Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 http://www.maine.gov/doc/nrimc/mgs/explore/hazards/quake/quake-cryoseism.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weatherzen Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Learn something new everyday! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWeatherPimp Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 I am absolutely fascinated . This truly is a very rare phenomena that scientists and meteorologists alike no very little about. I am saving all of my weather station's data from the past 24 hours and am going to try to find some ground temperature data. I am also measuring our current water content/ice & snow depth, etc. Amazing, absolutely amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWeatherPimp Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 Just some more information I found: AKA an ice quake, or a frost quake. No, not tremors in glaciers and ice sheets; these are 'earthquakes' caused by the freezing of the ground, and as such are highly localized, and are non-tectonic. They can be very loud, and may in some cases be accompanied by electrical discharges1, but they are generally very mild, as earthquakes go. As the ground freezes the water in the soil expands, causing pressure to build. This pressure can expend itself in loud pops and bangs and tremors and jerks. These effects are usually in the IV to VI range of Modified Mercalli Scale for Earthquake Destructiveness -- the 'noticeable vibration' to 'minor furniture-joggling and window-breaking' range. These occur at or near the surface of the Earth, allowing them to be very obvious to those nearby, and completely unfelt by people a 'short' distance (perhaps a mile or so) away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 I didn't feel anything here. Never heard of a frost quake. Fascinating stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEMIweather Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 That's pretty sweet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckeye Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Wow, now that you bring this up....i recall this same thing happening a few winters back southeast of columbus and Jym Ganahl talking about it on the news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyewall Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Cool but that doesn't explain the blue flash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWeatherPimp Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 Here is a news release that I put together real quick from our office for the local media outlets: During the early morning hours of Thursday, February 10th, 2011, many residents across Randolph and Darke Counties reported feeling a loud explosion, some saying it felt like an earthquake. After making dozens of phone calls, and doing plenty of research, nearly every possible logical option was ruled out including an earthquake, sonic booms, an explosion, etc. Speaking to several experts, they seemed perplexed as the reports of this explosion like shaking were fairly widespread with varying reports of when the shaking actually occurred. Continuing to do research and speaking to experts, it was finally concluded that a very rare phenomena occurred across a large portion of Central and Eastern Indiana and into Western Ohio. This phenomena is called a Cryoseism, more commonly known as a "Frost Quake." While meteorologists and scientists no very little about these Frost Quakes, they more commonly occur across portions of Greenland, Iceland, Canada and the Upper Great Lake states. Frost quakes are similar to earthquakes in that they often do shake the ground and have been known to cause structural damage. Frost quakes are recorded locally but very rarely are they recorded by more distant seismograph stations. Frost quakes are often caused by a sudden drop in temperatures, usually well below zero, and occur due to a layer of melting ice or snow which causes a high soil moisture content. It is theorized that Frost Quakes occur more commonly following a significant ice or sleet storm. As the ground freezes the water in the soil expands, causing pressure to build. Frost quakes occur in a very localized area and it appears that literally dozens if not hundreds of frost quakes occurred across Indiana and Ohio during the early morning hours of Thursday as temperatures fell well below zero. Luckily, no reports of damage, at least to my knowledge, have been reported. Brandon Redmond Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWeatherPimp Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 Cool but that doesn't explain the blue flash. Transformer blowing because of the frost quake? - I'm telling you this was some serious serious shaking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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