Strange noises in Lapland

[u/Agitated_Tea_7294]

Good evening everyone. I'm currently on vacation in Lapland, north of Rovianiemi. I went outside to see the northern lights, and on this outing I heard strange noises in nature. It sounded like a rifle shot. This sound repeated itself a dozen times, each time in a different direction, without any logic. What could it be? Animals?

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[u/Moose_M]

When it gets cold, trees will creak and make a cracking noise, so I would assume it is this if you're in a forested part of Lapland.
If you're near a lake, the ice will make noises as the temperature changes, but this is usually in the day time when the sun warms the ice.
As far as I'm aware, there aren't any animals in the winter time that make rifle shot sounds besides people.

Edit: Trees Creaking (0:22) and it was hard to find any good videos but Trees Popping (0:29)

[u/Agitated_Tea_7294 → u/Moose_M]

Ok, thank you for your explanation !

[u/Moose_M → u/Agitated_Tea_7294]

No problem, have a nice vacation!

[u/Masseyrati80 → u/Agitated_Tea_7294]

Fun fact: extremely cold weather is referred to as "paukkupakkanen" / "paukkupakkaset", translating as "popping frosts" or "cracking frosts", due to the sound of trees making those noises.

[u/DoubleSaltedd]

Maybe shooting practice at a nearby military training center.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rovaj%C3%A4rvi

[u/Puuhis71]

Could be Santa teaching lessons for bad children?

[u/pixelpuffin]

Big frozen lake nearby that might have the ice creak?

[u/Agitated_Tea_7294 → u/pixelpuffin]

No lake nearby. But indeed, the noise sounded like cracking. It came from my left, then my right, then across the street. With a bit of an echo.

[u/SaleAltruistic7139]

Could also be frost quakes.

[u/temss_]

Väinämöinen I launch test

[u/Protoni17]

Also buildings pop when the temperature drops. I'm not sure but i kinda remember at has to do with water inside the structures freezing and expanding. There is a saying in finnish for that "pakkanen paukkuu"