BELLINGHAM — The steam whistle Big Ole was a big letdown for anyone listening for loud, piercing blasts in neighborhoods near Western Washington University.

The university tested the steam whistle Sunday as part of a new emergency notification system. But it was not as loud as expected, according to Paul Cocke, director of university communications.

Big Ole’s whistle, located at Western’s steam plant off East College Way, could be heard on the central campus and as far away as the Fairhaven College courtyard. But it did not reach the fringe areas of campus or deep within buildings, according to Cocke.

The sound levels ranged from 84 to 101 decibels in the central campus area.

A decibel level of 85 is similar to the sound of busy city traffic, and 100 is equivalent to listening to music on headphones at a standard volume, according to the Dangerous Decibels Web site.

There are no records of Big Ole’s historic decibel levels, but the steam whistle was supposedly once loud enough to shatter windows.

In 2002, Todd Warger, a staff member at the Whatcom Museum of History & Art, helped recover Big Ole from the Bloedel Donovan lumber mill in Port Alberni, B.C. It was later installed at the Encogen NW Cogeneration Plant on Cornwall Avenue.

While in Port Alberni, “Big Ole” was cut down a foot after the sound of its whistle reportedly knocked out the windows of nearby buildings, Warger said.

The change in its size may have impacted the steam whistle’s sound.

Western technicians are going to look at how to increase the sound levels but will not alter Big Ole, which is on loan from the museum.

Although not as loud as expected, Big Ole is still a useful emergency notification system for campus, Cocke said.