What the Helen of Troy is This

Photo by Erin

Many, many rounds of cannon fire/booms reported to us this morning. This comes up every few months, just enough time to forget why it’s happening for a minute :)

From a previous discussion revealed by old guard alum:

“The Old Guard’s Presidential Salute Battery conducts rehearsals (aka Blank-Fire Crew Drills) on Thursday mornings starting at 0700 in Arlington National Cemetery and on Ft. Myer. These drills are used to rehearse for upcoming ceremonies and certify new Soldiers on the ceremonial 105mm howitzer cannons. They do the drills before the cemetery opens for the day. The modified howitzers can only fire blank rounds; no projectiles.

During changes in the seasons (usually late spring or early fall), the sound from the blank shots tends to travel further and more residents hear it. Not sure if it has something to do with the changing temp… foliage…?”

I know it’s not Thursday but this is still my guess.

Doug also notes: “So this has to be the answer, the cadence is def cannon-salute-esque

Gotta be some sort of weather/atmospheric situation this am that’s making the noise carry more than usual though”

And Brad shares the article “Here’s Why Sound Carries Farther on Cold Days”

Photo by Chris Alexander

Update: “Last night’s lighting outage at the Washington Monument was caused by the failure of the timeclock that turns the lights on each evening and off in the morning. While the faulty part is being replaced, the lights will be operated manually to ensure the monument is lit each night.”

8:49pm The National Park Service reported: “The exterior lights of the Washington Monument are currently out. We are investigating and will have them restored as soon as possible.” (more…)