Last night on the AM broadcast band, the stations up and down the East
Coast that traditionally boom in were not so strong.

The Canadian station on 740 which is usually all there is had some
obvious competition from stations in the SW... Texas/Oklahoma? Also the
stations from upstate New York which normally boom in had other signals
fading in and out against them.

And WGN which is not all that reliably received here in Washington DC
was booming in real strong.

Is this possibly related to the strong weather that has been moving
through the midwest (and is due to hit here on the E Coast tonight)? Or
is it just a sign of the end of Winter MW propogation?

Tim.

There is/was a strong cold front running from the SW (Kansas?) up towards
the NE (Michigan?) so I would guess that the cold front caused some type of
ducting? The temperature differences on either side of this particular
frontal boundary is/are quite large.

Although ducting of this type, as I understand, is a phenomenon which more
commonly occurs on UHF/VHF frequencies.
Perhaps someone with more knowledge/experience will chime in with their
comments in regards to MW frequencies and approaching cold fronts.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Last night on the AM broadcast band, the stations up and down the East
Coast that traditionally boom in were not so strong.

The Canadian station on 740 which is usually all there is had some
obvious competition from stations in the SW... Texas/Oklahoma? Also the
stations from upstate New York which normally boom in had other signals
fading in and out against them.

And WGN which is not all that reliably received here in Washington DC
was booming in real strong.

Is this possibly related to the strong weather that has been moving
through the midwest (and is due to hit here on the E Coast tonight)? Or
is it just a sign of the end of Winter MW propogation?

Tim.

Is this possibly related to the strong weather that has been moving
through the midwest (and is due to hit here on the E Coast tonight)? Or
is it just a sign of the end of Winter MW propogation?

Good question-- my state (Minnesota) was on the northern edge of that storm
path, and the storm has passed well to our east now. I'll do some checking
around on the MW broadcast band after it gets dark here (around 6:50 local
time) and report back if I can't hear the usual stalwarts from the Midwest
and South, or if I hear stations that usually don't come in to my area.

Jackie

In article .com,
wrote:

Last night on the AM broadcast band, the stations up and down the East
Coast that traditionally boom in were not so strong.

The Canadian station on 740 which is usually all there is had some
obvious competition from stations in the SW... Texas/Oklahoma? Also the
stations from upstate New York which normally boom in had other signals
fading in and out against them.

And WGN which is not all that reliably received here in Washington DC
was booming in real strong.

Is this possibly related to the strong weather that has been moving
through the midwest (and is due to hit here on the E Coast tonight)? Or
is it just a sign of the end of Winter MW propogation?

Nothing obvious in the solar data to explain it.

Maybe the whether makes changes in ground conductivity that results in
the reception change.

Do weather changes affect the ionosphere in the lower layers that are
responsible for night time propagation?

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

Telamon wrote:

In article .com,
wrote:

Last night on the AM broadcast band, the stations up and down the East
Coast that traditionally boom in were not so strong.

The Canadian station on 740 which is usually all there is had some
obvious competition from stations in the SW... Texas/Oklahoma? Also the
stations from upstate New York which normally boom in had other signals
fading in and out against them.

And WGN which is not all that reliably received here in Washington DC
was booming in real strong.

Is this possibly related to the strong weather that has been moving
through the midwest (and is due to hit here on the E Coast tonight)? Or
is it just a sign of the end of Winter MW propogation?

Nothing obvious in the solar data to explain it.

Maybe the whether makes changes in ground conductivity that results in
the reception change.

Do weather changes affect the ionosphere in the lower layers that are
responsible for night time propagation?

I rather doubt it as the D layer (lowest of the ionosphere) begins about 30
miles up.

dxAce
Michigan
USA

"Telamon" wrote in message
...

Do weather changes affect the ionosphere in the lower layers that are
responsible for night time propagation?

I've wondered the same thing. If we're technically at "solar minimum" in
terms of solar activity, and yet our reports show something of a change in
reception/propagation, I have to wonder how much geophysical events effect
MW propagation.

As an aside, Southern Minnesota (where I live) just got slammed with a late
winter storm, so I'm very curious as to how (or if) the storm might've
affected what I will hear tonight.

I'm going to turn on the radio right now, and "see" what I can hear... if
there is a departure from my usual MW reception at this time of year, I'll
report back.

Jackie

In article ,
"Buzzygirl" wrote:

"Telamon" wrote in message
...

Do weather changes affect the ionosphere in the lower layers that are
responsible for night time propagation?

I've wondered the same thing. If we're technically at "solar minimum" in
terms of solar activity, and yet our reports show something of a change in
reception/propagation, I have to wonder how much geophysical events effect
MW propagation.

As an aside, Southern Minnesota (where I live) just got slammed with a late
winter storm, so I'm very curious as to how (or if) the storm might've
affected what I will hear tonight.

I'm going to turn on the radio right now, and "see" what I can hear... if
there is a departure from my usual MW reception at this time of year, I'll
report back.

Well, the only other thing I can think of is a change in ground
conductivity with the weather.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

It's possible that the presence of strong ionization in the atmosphere
caused by violent winds could steer or even absorb or wipe out signals.
Also, the earth's magnetic field is becoming weaker and erratic. The field
is going to affect how signals propogate, and if the field changes because
of the solar wind, that will also affect it.

All life all holiness come from you O Lord
http://home.earthlink.net/~damienmj/index.htm
http://home.earthlink.net/~damianomj/swallowindex.htm
wrote in message
oups.com...
Last night on the AM broadcast band, the stations up and down the East
Coast that traditionally boom in were not so strong.

The Canadian station on 740 which is usually all there is had some
obvious competition from stations in the SW... Texas/Oklahoma? Also the
stations from upstate New York which normally boom in had other signals
fading in and out against them.

And WGN which is not all that reliably received here in Washington DC
was booming in real strong.

Is this possibly related to the strong weather that has been moving
through the midwest (and is due to hit here on the E Coast tonight)? Or
is it just a sign of the end of Winter MW propogation?

Tim.

In article . net,
"Verstaldin" wrote:

wrote in message
oups.com...
Last night on the AM broadcast band, the stations up and down the
East Coast that traditionally boom in were not so strong.

The Canadian station on 740 which is usually all there is had some
obvious competition from stations in the SW... Texas/Oklahoma? Also
the stations from upstate New York which normally boom in had other
signals fading in and out against them.

And WGN which is not all that reliably received here in Washington
DC was booming in real strong.

Is this possibly related to the strong weather that has been moving
through the midwest (and is due to hit here on the E Coast
tonight)? Or is it just a sign of the end of Winter MW propogation?

It's possible that the presence of strong ionization in the
atmosphere caused by violent winds could steer or even absorb or wipe
out signals. Also, the earth's magnetic field is becoming weaker and
erratic. The field is going to affect how signals propogate, and if
the field changes because of the solar wind, that will also affect
it.

All life all holiness come from you O Lord
http://home.earthlink.net/~damienmj/index.htm
http://home.earthlink.net/~damianomj/swallowindex.htm

The lower ionosphere goes as low as 50 km to the top of the
stratosphere where it's possible the jet stream could affect it. Our
weather in the troposphere can't though.

My compass is still working so the earths magnetic field is still OK.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

Buzzygirl wrote:
"Telamon" wrote in message
...

Do weather changes affect the ionosphere in the lower layers that are
responsible for night time propagation?

I've wondered the same thing. If we're technically at "solar minimum" in
terms of solar activity, and yet our reports show something of a change in
reception/propagation, I have to wonder how much geophysical events effect
MW propagation.

Well, there are obvious winter/summer and day/night effects. In fact
the warm front preceding the storm system produced temperatures in the
mid-80's here, in what is still technically winter! Does that mean that
my expectations of "summer" vs "winter" MW propogation should change
when the temperature goes up and down?

And I've wondered if solar activity/storms etc. affects weather and
storm patterns on earth. I have some anecdotal experience (gees, that
was a big solar event, and hey we had bad thunderstorms last night
too!) but I don't believe just that. Somebody somewhere must've done a
more global study.

Tim.