After several citizen noise complaints this past summer, the city of Bainbridge Island has received answers to worries about increased airplane traffic over Bainbridge Island.

According to the Port of Seattle’s Noise Programs Office, aircrafts depart to the north or to the south depending on the current wind conditions.

“It can change every day,” said Perry Cooper of the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. “But typically in poor weather traffic is going south.”

During the summer months, Cooper explained, airplanes are flying in the opposite direction, to the north, since the weather conditions are mild and clear.

In this warmer season, Bainbridge Island is situated in a location that experiences three main veins of traffic overhead.

Airplanes departing Seattle fly over the central and southern portions of the island, and arrival flights stream over the northern tip of the island.

As citizens may have noticed, traffic has decreased dramatically since the summer months when complaints were received.

In contrast to June through August, during the wet season, there are no main streams of traffic flying over the island. Airplanes coming from SeaTac Airport is sporadic as the majority of traffic is directed over the Seattle area, Vashon Island and the peninsula.

Island residents can visit www.portseattle.org/Environmental/Noise/Noise-Abatement/Pages/Aircraft-Monitoring-System.aspx to track flights in near-real time via an online application, WebTrak. Through this application, residents can see departing and arriving flights and their recorded noise levels.