Blast window forecast
When will the noise of a blast carry to the neighbours? The next 48 hours, rated for each direction where people live.
Neighbours to the:
Why the same blast is loud one day and quiet the next Inversions and wind bend sound back to the ground.
Sound bends toward slower air. On a sunny afternoon the air cools with height and a blast's noise curves up and away. On a clear, calm morning or evening, warm air sits on cool air near the ground and the noise curves back down, often several kilometres away. Wind does the same toward the side it blows to. Blasting codes and guidance (US Bureau of Mines RI 8485, mining regulators) say the same: avoid inversions and wind toward neighbours.
For quarries, ranges and event organisers Hourly, site-specific forecasts with alerts are in development.
This free page uses a global forecast on a 100 km grid every 6 hours. The service in development adds hourly 3 km forecasts, the site's terrain and your neighbours' exact locations, a daily email or text with the best blasting window, and validation with microphones at your site.
Limits A planning aid, not a measurement or a compliance assessment.
- It rates whether the air helps sound travel, not how loud a given blast will be: that depends on the charge, delays, stemming, terrain and distance.
- The thresholds are a first estimate and are being calibrated against measurements. Local effects (valleys, sea breeze, fog) are not resolved.
- Follow your permit, your blasting plan and your regulator. Research prototype by Mach Corridor.
Method: engine/sound.py. Data: NOAA GFS. Privacy.