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MASSIVE solar flare and aurora incoming!!!

C

crainbebo

A giant X5+ solar flare, the biggest since the X8.6 in May of 2024, has hit off the sun. With this, and another X1+ flare the other day, expect AM blackouts in Canada and some northerly locations, and deep Southern DX in other places. I'll be monitoring FM for rare Au DX. I expect it, much like the flares last year. Good luck y'all! Point south!

www.yahoo.com

2025's strongest solar flare triggers radio blackout in Europe, Africa

Scientists said the sun erupted Tuesday morning, unleashing a strong X5.1-class flare in an intense outburst, causing communications disruptions.
www.yahoo.com www.yahoo.com
 
It has triggered auroral-E skip in the Pacific NW. Just had a brief opening from 5:58-6:15 PT with a new station logged and several relogs.
- 91.3 KNCM Appleton MN with TOH ID. 82KW at 1182 miles.
- 93.3 KSJZ Jamestown ND with Maroon 5 and RDS. Big signal. 100KW at 1033 miles.
- 94.1 KSDN Aberdeen SD with Loudwire Nights. RDS. 59KW at 1059 miles.
- 95.5 KYNU Jamestown ND with ID and RDS, Big Dog Country. 100kw at 1051 miles.
- 107.7 KICD-FM Spencer IA with RDS "Big Country." NEW #904, 100KW at 1262 miles.
- 93.9 KSOU Sioux Center IA with RDS noted. 50KW at 1209 miles.
Also had an ID on 93.5 that I need to listen to again. Very likely KIPI SD which would also be new for the Yakima logbook.

Meanwhile, the AM is pretty wiped out. KKOH-780 not being heard, but KSFO is strong. SURPRISINGLY THERE IS BARELY ANYTHING FROM KFBK! In fact, KMAX-840 Colfax is there on groundwave. KGSV-660 all alone w/ Punjabi call-in. Same with XEKAM-950 Tijuana. XERCN-1470 Tijuana strong w/ Radio Cadena. KOHU-1360 Hermiston on 500 watt groundwave all alone.

Another update soon.

KLAA-830 Orange is very solid. Really on night pattern?
 
Very faint in Yakima on a quick drive away from city light pollution. October 2024 event in Cascade ID was far better. It was breathtaking to be Au FM DXing and seeing half of the northern sky full of pink and red. Alas, Cascade is far away from the lights of Boise.

Nothing too interesting on AM check before bed. Some southern Oregon pests were starting to show up. 1360 was a solid KFIV Modesto at that point. 790 KFPT / KABC mix, 800 had rare KBFP Bakersfield with Fox Sports. KCHJ-1010 was solid with classic Regional Mexican tunes, and so was KTNQ 1020 in L.A. XED-1050 Mexicali big, but later with KTCT mixed.
IDed the 93.5 as Rewind FM, so KITN Worthington MN. A relog on Es.

Another round of G4-level aurora expected tonight with a THIRD CME. Last night's aurora into Florida was a 'cannibal CME' - two combined from X-flares.

In fact, it was seen as far as El Salvador. That's 13 degrees north. A record?
 
This was the view from Tyler, Texas of the "Northern" lights. Credit to KYTX-DT "CBS 19" for the shot from SE Tyler.

Tyler, for those who may need the assist of a map, is halfway between Dallas and Shreveport, a tick south of Interstate 20.
 

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AM skywave seemed normal here in NJ last night/early this morning. It was bright outside, but I didn't think to check whether it was from a full moon or the Northern Lights.
 
Conditions as of 5:20PM PT in Yakima:

California and Nevada stations on much of AM, weak at times. XEW-900 noted with W Radio IDs.
Weak muffled Aurora on FM as well. Had an unid 97.3 and a 94.1 with sports play-by-play...maybe hockey? Very hard to hear as is with all auroral FM signals.
 
When they predict the Northen Lights, I usually can't see them. For some reason, it's usually overcast. I usually see it when I notice the AM DX disruption. I have heard AM groundwaves from large distances during the early part of the disruption. WWKB 1520 often is one of the first stations I hear in Michigan when it starts to recover, along with stations in the 1500s, before normal conditions gradually move down the dial. Under normal conditions, WWKB is very difficult to hear in Michigan. WWL 870 is often an early station in the recovery.
 
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AM skywave here in NJ has been weird for the past few days. The normally strong and powerful clear channels from the Northeast and Midwest are almost completely dead, while signals coming from the south, including North Carolina, Georgia, and as far away as Cuba, are still coming in fine. Even the usually strong-as-a-local WBZ has been coming in faintly.

This has also allowed the (semi-)local groundwave stations to come in much better at night than usual, without all the interference from distant stations.
 
Same here in Ohio @kevtronics. A lack of stations like WBZ, WMVP and KDKA is an immediate indicator. If they are gone or extremely weak, so are the big Chicago and New York stations.
Similarly, WLW sounding a little crisper and hearing slop on 690 or 710 at night, with no interference from skywave traffic, is just as accurate an indicator. That transmitter is about 90 miles from me and is far and away the best non-local groundwave signal.
 


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