Propagation News – 19 April 2026
Compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO on 16 April, 2026
Last week was characterised by a low Kp index and an equally low solar flux index.
The Kp index was predominately below 2 all week thanks to a lack of Earth-directed CMEs, or coronal holes. Unfortunately, that is about to change.
The solar index has been consistently around the 100 mark, dipping as low as 93 on 11 April and only as high as 105 on 16 April. This has meant settled ionospheric conditions that have not been outstanding but have at least been reliable.
The maximum useable frequency, or MUF, over a 3,000km path has reached 24MHz at times, but often battling to reach 21MHz.
This is a taste of things to come over the next few years as we descend towards sunspot minimum.
The settled conditions mean, however, that there has been DX to work.
The CDXC Slack group reports FT8 and CW contacts with 3X3A in Guinea on the 17, 15 and 12m bands. 3B9G in Mauritius has been logged on the 15m band using CW.
D60DX in Comoros was worked on the 15m band using CW. Other DX includes 9V1DW in Singapore on the 17m band and TN8GD in Republic of the Congo on the 20m band using CW.
Now the bad news. A very large coronal hole on the Sun is rotating to become Earth-facing.
A high-speed solar wind stream flowing from this zone reached the Earth on Friday, 17 April. Active Kp4 and minor G1 geomagnetic storming may be possible today, 19 April. So, we can expect reduced MUFs and poorer HF conditions.
DXpeditions active this week include V47EM on St Kitts and Nevis; OX3LX from Greenland; T31TTT in Central Kiribati; TX9W from the Marquesas Islands; D60DX in Comoros and 3X3A in Guinea.
NOAA predicts that the solar flux index will climb next week, perhaps reaching a high of 145 by Thursday, 23 April.
After the geomagnetic disturbances from the coronal hole die down, we may have two or more days of settled conditions before more disruption around Saturday 25 April. This is coupled with a predicted Kp index of 4 – just in time for International Marconi Day!
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VHF and up propagation news from G3YLA and G4BAO
The main note on the weather influence is that once high pressure becomes established at this time of the year, it can be remarkably persistent.
In this case, the high pressure that is now developing over the UK may remain in control until the end of the month.
Tropo will therefore be a mode of choice, but a cool north or northeasterly flow over the eastern side of the country will mean that western Britain fares best for any lift conditions.
Over eastern areas a cool northerly breeze will bring cloud and a few showers.
The prospects for aurora are still worth checking out by noting the Kp index for values above 5 and preferably above 7.
As we reported earlier, the effects of a large coronal hole may be reaching us today, 19 April. So, check the Kp index and listen for fluttery signals on the HF bands.
Then get ready to turn your VHF beams northeast.
As for meteor scatter, we are now coming up to the peak of the April Lyrids on Wednesday, 22 April. We should see some activity increase to beyond the random fare of recent weeks.
In contrast, rain scatter may not be a good option with high pressure, or just isolated showers, not offering much for the microwave bands.
We are rapidly heading towards May when the prospects for Sporadic-E start to be worth checking.
In the coming week there are not too many suitable jet streams, which can be good regions to check for Sporadic-E. To get into practice for the new season check the Sporadic-E blog on propquest.co.uk for a jet stream map and look for spikes in the foEs trace on the graphs.
The site is currently being worked on, so apologies for any dropouts.
An update on EME prospects now. Moon declination reaches a maximum high on Tuesday, 21 April. Moon perigee, its closest point to Earth, is today, 19 April, so path losses will be at a minimum.
Sky noise is slightly higher on Tuesday, 21 April, but this is minor and returns to low again on Friday, 24 April.
Category: GB2RS Propagation News
