HALIFAX — An eerie high-pitched howl that croons from an under-construction convention centre during high winds is turning heads in Halifax.
Social media has been abuzz about the unearthly keening at the Nova Centre in the downtown core, sparking the hashtag #HalifaxHowl and drawing comparisons to a banshee — a wailing female spirit that warns of death.
But local meteorologist Richard Zurawski says the phenomenon is not unusual and can be heard in many structures, such as suspension bridges.
Zurawski says if winds pass through the unfinished structure at the right speed, intensity and wave length, it creates standing waves.
He says it's the standing waves Haligonians are hearing, and different wave sizes generate eerie harmonics.
Zurawski says once the Nova Centre — which has many windows left to be installed — is complete, the haunting howl will stop.
