In 1989, before I learned more about DX characteristics, there was a whopper of a Tropo opening---I caught ch 14 Houston from south Florida, along with 14 Monroe LA.
I saw the news on ch 9 Orlando (I think it was) and they were reporting Aurora Borealis very far south IIRC. I thought that the freak conditions were Aurora-induced, but was corrected later.
cd