RATING THE SKIP SEASONS

RATING THE SKIP SEASONS

Here is a summary of all of the seasons of FM Sporadic E-skip, from every location I have ever received it from. The first season of skip I ever experienced was the summer of 2007 in Green River, Wyoming. I have seen skip every year since, progressively getting better at the hobby of FM DXing. With life changes, however, I have seen skip from numerous locations over the past 19 years. 

Rating past seasons well after the fact was a difficult task. I am mostly basing the following information on memory and the amount of logs in a given summer to justify these ratings. Needless to say, 2021's epic skip will be hard to repeat, and I don't think we'll see anything like it in a long while. I have broken the seasons down to "years," although skip primarily happens from May through August. Some locations overlap due to moving in the middle of the skip season, so some locations will have the same season.

Seasons are rated as follows:

Excellent - Dozens of logs over the period April through September. On a scale, this would be A+ to A-.
Good - a decent amount of logs, but nothing spectacular. On a scale, this would be B+ to B-.
Mediocre - A few openings, but generally a lousy year, or one or two very strong openings. On a scale, this would be C+ to C-.
Poor - Few to no openings or a poor showing of skip after one or two large openings. On a scale, this would be D+ through F.
N/A - Not enough data from this season to properly rate it

These ratings are my personal observations, mostly from memory. They do not take into account any other DXers.

GREEN RIVER

YEAR

RATING

NOTES

2007

N/A

I discovered skip by accident by listening to my pirate radio station across town. Suddenly skip overwhelmed the dial, and I was blown away by it.* I mislabeled it as "Aurora-DX" and was chastised by experienced DXers via email. Because of this, I didn't check FM much, unless again, my pirate radio station was toppled. My first station via skip was WAKW, Cincinnati, Ohio, 101.9 from a distance of 1321 miles.

2008

Poor

I only saw a couple of openings this year, if that, but I was starting to understand skip better. I rediscovered it while driving home from Utah and listening to an interesting program. The station identified itself as WQUB 90.3 Quincy, IL. I believe I saw more openings in 2007 as I still didn't know what was causing Sporadic E at this point and didn't know when to check the dial. In 2008, the hate mail was coming in regarding my logs, and I again put off FM dxing for most of the year.

2009

Mediocre

In 2009, I had two locations going simultaneously, Green River and Salt Lake City, Utah. I was often back and forth between the two locations, and saw many more openings in 2009 than in 2008 or 2007. The big one came on 7-9-09 from Texas, where I mopped the floor with logs. I caught over 30 in one day. Part of this was because Green River had so few skip logs that most everything was new. I do recall catching the last of US analog television this year, including KPRC-2 Houston on rabbit ears from my backyard.

2010

Good

I moved back to Green River in late Spring of 2010 and was able to see a significant chunk of the season there. With the FM-6 outdoors on the roof of my parents' house, I also saw an out-of-season skip that year. 2010 had a few strong openings but it appeared they were spaced out quite a bit between them, meaning days elapsed with no skip.

2011

Poor

2011 was the last year I lived in Green River, and I saw the start of the season there in May. I moved to Sheridan and started a new job there, so the antenna went with. I had to rate the season poorly for Green River, as I didn't see the majority of it there. See Sheridan's 2011 log for more. This would be the final season for Skip in Green River.

SALT LAKE CITY

YEAR

RATING

NOTES

2009

Good

My first season of skip in Salt Lake City, Utah, saw me living in a house in South Salt Lake, near 700 E 3300 South. This is the year I purchased the Sony XDR-F1HD from Jim T. of WTFDA fame. I remember it costing $100. In 2009, Sony was still making the XDR-F1HD. I had learned (thanks to the hate mail) what skip was by this point and was ready to see it for myself. Aside from troposcatter logs, skip came roaring in, and I remember many openings lasting long hours. This was the year that skip went past midnight, and I was often so exhausted I couldn't do it anymore. I was getting the same stations in the same area, so I went to bed. I often remember days just taking a nap and waking up to skip rolling in.

2010

Good

Mid-season in 2010, I moved from Salt Lake City to Green River, where I saw the first month of openings. 2010 was the year of Texas openings, and as with 2009, they lasted hours, and I was exhausted after each opening. June had a few as well. 2010 also had some out of season skip to Texas. Even though Salt Lake has a crowded dial, in 2010, it was not nearly as bad as it is now. More translators have signed on, and IBLOK is king there. Most of my skip logs in 2010 from Utah were in early June (the first two weeks).

SHERIDAN

YEAR

RATING

NOTES

2011

Good

In April, I applied for and got a job in Sheridan, Wyoming. I moved to the city in May of that year, and used my FM-6 indoors for most of the skip season. My 2001 Subaru Outback also took up skip duties. I purchased a small analog TV for the bedroom and was able to see Canadian and Mexican TV via skip using rabbit ears or a simple speaker wire dipole. Because it was my first year in Sheridan, the openings brought dozens of new logs, and as with 2009-2010, the openings were quite long and strong. I was working as a news director for the local radio station cluster, and even saw a skip override one of ours. Most of the skip in Sheridan this year happened in June and July, and a few logs were captured in August.

2012

Mediocre

2012, I was incredibly busy with work, often outside a lot during the summer. I still saw a few openings in June and July, but 2012 was not on the scale of 2011. July 24, 2012, was still a massive day, though, with Texas all over the dial. A blessing about Sheridan was the uncluttered dial (then), which has become worse due to Sheridan Media's monopoly on HD-translators. I'm glad I don't live there anymore. 2012 saw the demise of the Subaru Outback and the purchase of a 2010 Subaru Impreza with RDS.

2013

Poor

2013 was a downer year, for several reasons, not the least of which was a lack of skip. There were at least three openings in May, particularly a big one to Oregon, which I recall was able to log a station on my Grundig G8 indoors. June was slow, as was July. I believe the season tanked after a certain point and never recovered.

2014

Mediocre

2014 was a little better, judging by my count of dates. There was a significant opening on June 17 in Arizona; however, the dates indicate there weren't that many openings this year. By the end of the season, I was living in a trailer and had the FM-6 outdoors, again. It came in handy for meteorscatter, but was out there a tad too late to enjoy Es.

2015

Poor

The last season in Sheridan before the move to Minnesota. I had the FM-6 outdoors and saw the start of the 2015 season. I would move to Minnesota in early June, so most of the season would be missed.

SAINT CLOUD

YEAR

RATING

NOTES

2015

Mediocre

In June of 2015, we moved to St. Cloud, Minnesota, and tropo became very apparent. A majority of my logs from 2015 were via tropo. Still, skip happened, and the season was "just okay". I was kind of limited by an antenna not designed for FM, and being unfamiliar with the dial. 2015 saw over 200 logs; however, mostly tropo.

2016

Mediocre

The last season in St. Cloud (officially), although due to geocaches nearby, some DXing of skip continued whenever I was close enough to both the twin cities and St. Cloud. 2016 saw skip go late into August, which is rare, to me anyway. There were a few openings in the year, spaced out widely, so this year was between poor and mediocre. I would've rated it a D+ or a C-. In August of 2016, we moved to Blaine, Minnesota.

TWIN CITIES

YEAR

RATING

NOTES

2017

Poor

Because we moved to Blaine in August of 2016, we didn't get to see any season there until this year. 2017 was a hell of a year for tropo, since every log was pretty much new, but for skip it was a fairly average season, with most openings in May and June. July had a very poor showing for skip this year. The antenna was outside, separate from the TV antenna. Tropo was strong, but skip was few and far between.

2018

Mediocre

2018's skip season started in late May, with a couple of openings sprinkled throughout, mostly in June and July. A poor to mediocre season at best. We moved to Coon Rapids, Minnesota, this year. In Coon Rapids, I had my 4-element Stellar Labs antenna on a keyboard stand on my patio. It now sits on a mast higher off the ground.

2019

Poor

2019 was one of the poorest years for skip in the Twin Cities. I can count a handful of openings this year. I remember being very depressed by the state of 2019's skip. We don't talk about 2019, no, no.

2020

Poor

2020, the year of the pandemic, was another skip-poor year; however, there were a few lengthy openings, including a couple in July to North Carolina. As with most years, Texas gained a bunch of new logs, particularly with an opening on June 3rd. Skip started in May, but was done by late June. 2020 saw the first use of the Jensen HD Radio, which improved loggings due to its lightning-fast RDS.

2021

Excellent

The mother of all skip seasons. 2021 will be hard to beat, and probably won't be. I had vastly improved my technique and purchased a new Sony XDR-S3HD. This allowed the ailing XDR-F1HD to take a break while the new radio and the Jensen could suffice. I also dabbled more in the use of the SDR this year, and had help from many friends in the Twin Cities and beyond. 2021 was one for the record books, and I look back on it fondly as the best year of skip I've ever seen.

2022

Good
2022's skip season started slowly. The first opening happened in the second week of May, and was in Mississippi. It consisted of one relog. The second opening happened on the 18th of May and brought a slew of relogs (and only two new logs) to MS, AL, TX, and LA. It lasted about 2 hours in the evening, but was hampered by the fact that I went out to eat.
-There was a large opening on 6-3-22, which the whole country was able to get in on. The opening was to Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Montana, Virginia, South Carolina, Nevada, and Georgia, with a new state, Missouri, having been added. This opening lasted roughly 3 1/2 hours and has almost made up for the piss poor showing of the skip season so far. 18 new logs. There were a couple of brief stints into FM after this opening with relogs. This is one of the top openings of the year.
- There was another massive opening on 6-12-22 that I missed due to being in Duluth. I saw skip -in- Duluth, but I was at the mercy of being too damn close to the towers there, and couldn't really get much. I did manage two XLators from Colorado on my unattended recordings. That's a shocker. Skip was to the south for about an hour, and of course, my recordings ended when it started, because of course. This is another season where skip happens when I least want it to. -There was another opening on 6-18-22 that I was present for. About two hours worth of Florida, Georgia, and Alabama, etc. A skimpy offering, it only generated 5 new logs and about 6 or 7 confirmed relogs.
- On 6-24-22, one of the best openings of the season happened over two bursts. It brought new logs to TX, GA, MS, and especially LA. So far, only one opening to the west has happened.
- On 6-28-22, another large opening happened that started early in the day and didn't quit until nearly 2 pm.
- On 7-2-22, a shorter opening occurred to the same areas as always, LA/TX/GA, etc., but netted more Arkansas. Come on, where's our Western US opening, DX Gods?
- There was a short opening on the 4th of July to Arizona and NM. Much the same area as previous openings and the same stations were in, except stuff clobbering local iblok.
- There was another short opening on the 5th of July, the first of this direction for 2022, to Quebec/ME. Three new logs.
- A longer opening occurred during the evening of 7-6-22, to TX, NM, AZ, CO, and a 2nd round to LA. 8 logs. At this point in the season, the rating is teetering between mediocre and good. These frequent openings are welcome, but they're short and to areas already logged out.
- 7-10-22 was an opening to the east coast (finally) to an area where my logs are sparse. 7 new ones. PA/MD/VA. Plus a straggler in Texarkana. 20,000 miles to an oasis.
- 7-11-22 was another opening to the east coast to the same area as 7-10, with some GA and more VA thrown in. Also, some Jersey. A nice hour or so of skip in the car (grrrr). Hi team, where's our Western US opening again? 16 new logs outta this one.
- 7-15-22 - an extremely brief opening to the east coast (again), but 3 new logs out of it. We hope this isn't the end. Also, a count of the FMs on 7-17-22 showed we've received 1,090 unique stations from the Twin Cities.
-7-18-22 during midday, there was a large opening to the south, and I wasn't able to get in until the last moments. 2 new logs, TX and LA. Fucking Walmart. At least tropospheric ducting has been decent, and Shoreview IBLOK being off helps.
Also of note, a massive balls-to-the-wall trops opening occurred 7-18-22 into the afternoon of 7-19-22. Lots of new NE, SD, and WI logs. A few new MN ones too. Trops are exhausting. Later on 7-19-22, a massive hour-long opening to GA, SC, TN, and VA happened, including a short skip to IN. Dafuq!
-A large opening, what would be the last big one of the season, happened on 7-22-22 for several hours to the southwest. Some new logs in NV, UT, and TX. It was nice to hear Utah again. No Wyoming this season. Current FM count: 1148.

There were a couple of openings in August that were very poor, netting one or no logs. Tropo, on the other hand, has been extremely good in the month of August.

There was a New Year's Eve-day opening around 10 am that netted two new MS logs. This is the first time the RSP2 has been used for skip, and it succeeded in getting both stations.

2023

Below Average

The 2023 skip season started in late April for some of the United States on 4-30-23, with openings to the Caribbean and other points south. This is domestically. Europe was on fire as always throughout most of May. The East Coast saw skip on 5-1-23. Here, there was a skip on 5-9-23 for 10 minutes. It never made it beyond 88.1 and was an Irish preacher. Paths at the time were to MS/AL/GA. This was the first skip of '23 heard on the RSP2 Pro and the Sony.

-On 5-10-23, Randy in NV had skip to Kansas. Kansas was getting California stations.
-On 5-19-23, a large opening occurred for the south and some other places. LA heard MN, OH, and PA, among other places. Lloyd Van Horn has this opening documented. Skip was reported in MN but did not show up on the SDR.
-5-22-23 - East coast skip from MA to Florida. Just Bryce.
-5-23-23 - began with a lengthy opening for the East Coast, again. FL to PA, OH to LA.
-In the evening of 5-23, around 6:45 pm, we started receiving skip. It was WMYZ-88.7 from the Villages, FL. Another local was heard on 91.9. A new log was dug from recordings - WMFT 88.9 Tuscaloosa, AL. The first skip of the season, and the RSP2's third log via skip. The first two logs occurred out of season in 2022. From here on out, I will only be tracking my openings.
-From 9:30 am to noon on 5-31-23, the dial was loaded with Florida, Texas, Georgia, and even a strange log to Ohio. This was the first recorded opening of any size for us. This was also the first major opening of the season and went to the top of the dial multiple times. 8 new logs. One of the poorest months for skip I've ever seen.
-6-2-23, a short wrong-way opening to Colorado/New Mexico happened around 7 or 8 pm. Two new logs. Lots of relogs. The band didn't get out of the toilet, though.
-6-10-23 - a short late-night opening to the west, starting with Kamiah, Idaho, and extending to Portland. This was one of the first openings recorded via SDR Console. RDS was captured from two Portland stations. Oregon is a new state.
-6-11-23 - What might go down as a record skip opening happened between 3:30 pm and 8:30 pm across most of the country. This opening started in Texas and yo-yo'ed between there, New Mexico, and Arizona. It concluded in the usual spot, Alamosa, Colorado. The largest opening this season so far, it took up over 200 GB of IQ recordings and took multiple days to go over.
-6-14-23 - Another opening to the same area as 6-11, with a weird log to Mississippi thrown in. Not as long or strong as 6-11, and recorded remotely using SDRUno.
-6-22-23 - a smaller opening to MS, LA, and Texas (again) occurred. Roughly 15 new logs to an area already well logged out. Started around 1 and was done by 4 pm. This opening was the first we've done that was mostly unattended recordings.
-6-28-23 - A stupid opening to the east (FL, NC), which Pat in Woodbury enjoyed but didn't quite make it here. One new log. This opening was well after 9 pm.
-6-29-23 - Another stupid easterly opening during early afternoon to the same spot as 6-28, except I was able to hear some of it. One new log. (FL, GA, TN, NC) - June has been very disappointing here. Past years have been better.
-7-2-23 - Another Texas opening. There were two openings this day. Later in the evening, Idaho made an appearance. This opening didn't get out of the toilet band.
-7-8-23 - A decent opening to the Pacific Northwest, saw the first snags by the auto-logger, which went online late June, early July. A couple of new logs, but mostly repeats.
-7-9-23 - a massive opening to the southeast, southwest, and even an Idaho spur. This one lasted a few hours and was in different "rounds". The auto logger caught some 43 new logs from this one.
-7-17-23 - a smaller opening to FL, AL, GA. Some relogs of the 9th's opening (roughly 27 new logs from this one).
-7-20-23 - one of the largest and most widespread openings this season. Started in FL/GA/AL, ended in Canada and Idaho. Lasted several hours. Over 30 new logs.
-7-29-30 - brief skip - no new logs
-7-30-23 - Multiple openings during the day, starting in AZ, going to TX, ending in FL again. Common pattern this season. About 18 or 19 new logs from this last hoorah. Skip has been dead since 7-30-23.

2024

Very poor

OUT OF SEASON SKIP- January saw a large opening to the southwest. Some new ones came out of this. Out-of-season skip is super rare.

May overall - Terrible. The worst May I've seen since 2009. Skip was waking up and happening (sometimes a couple days in a row) for some, especially out on the west coast, but the rest of the country largely got the shaft, except the east coasters (who usually get the best skip anyway). The first really catch of the season was a relog on the auto-logger, KUHF 88.7 Houston, on 5-29-24 at 7:28 pm. This was the first unaided skip catch for the auto-logger.
Two openings occurred at the beginning of June that filtered into FM here, but of course, everyone else and their brother got in on. Those happened on June 3, and June 4. Up to this point, there have not been more than 30 seconds of skipping this season. Still a turd sandwich.
June openings:
6-9-24 - About 10 minutes or less - never got beyond 93.1. Two new logs. Both Texas.
6-12-24 - Maybe 10 minutes or less - never got beyond 93.1 - One new log on top of KFAI
6-14-24 - An opening that peaked at 95.1, but was in an area already logged out. Three new logs + eight relogs. Blah!
Interesting note - all three of these openings happened around noon local time.
6-16-24 - about an hour. Never got out of the toilet band (beyond 92.9). Two new logs. 9 relogs.
6-21-24 - about half an hour - never got out of the toilet band (again) - 1 new log, a handful of relogs.
6-22-24 - the largest opening of the season. Lasted roughly 2 hours and started in SC. It ended in Louisiana. 8 new logs, about 31 logs total.
The last two openings of June 2024 were on June 26 and 27. June 26th started in Florida and ended in Texas. June 27 was mostly Texas with a few other catches. Both of these openings had a short skip. They were the biggest openings of the season at the time.
July has been just as bad as the rest of the season. Of course, the West Coast gets babied, and the bragger from SoCal has had more skip than probably all of us. July 9th had the biggest opening of the month, mostly to the southeast. Some states that are rarely heard from were heard from that night, including Ohio and West Virginia. July 10th was another opening to nearly the same place, with some other exceptions like Arkansas and Louisiana. There was not a single skip opening after 7/10 worth of salt. Some of the southern half of the US saw some on 7/30. Even 6 meters has been quiet. This season is a turd.

---Some midnight skip occurred on 8-5-24 to Louisiana, the first time I've ever seen skip go beyond midnight. The logs are updated to the point where the skip season is over now.

2025

May: D-
June: B-
July: B
August: C
Overall:
Average

Skip season began for some in April, but larger parts of the country saw the first openings in early May, including a half-hour turd opening here in Minneapolis on 5/6/2025. That opening was to FL/GA and was two relogs on 88.7. Poowee skip. Skip the next day was largely south of here, although Pat in Woodbury briefly had Louisiana.
The first opening of significance happened on May 24, in the early evening, and lasted about an hour and a half in two waves. It started in North Carolina and was full of stations I've already heard dozens of times before, with a few new ones sprinkled in. The second half of the opening shifted from SC to Georgia and Florida (as it always does). 9 new logs and over 20 total stations heard (one of the new ones was a Franken-FM from Atlanta). Bleh. May gets a D rating. Thankfully, it hasn't been just the upper Midwest getting shit skip this year. For the vast majority of the country, the openings were weak or didn't last long. The west seemed to get babied again toward the end of May. Overall, May was lousy.

June, on the other hand, was much better, with openings on the following days:
June 3 to GA/VA/TN - a few new logs
June 4 to VA, NC, SC - several new logs
June 12 to Quebec - short but interesting opening
June 14th to FL, GA, AL
June 17th to FL
June 18th to Texas (This one saw a 250w xlator via skip, the first (but not last) xlator of the season)
June 19th to TX, NM, AZ, ID, CO, OK, and a stray Alberta path. Up to that point, this was the biggest opening of the season. A decent opening with several new logs.
June 25th to TX, GA, FL, SC, NC
June 26th - the biggie - to AR, LA, TX, NM, AZ, UT, NV. This one lasted over 3 hours and had 2xEs for others across the US. It was an opening that almost the entire country saw.
Also of note, this month has been particularly good for Ms catches. Several new logs were obtained by meteor scatter, which is unusual for this location.

As of this edit, all logs up to 6/19 are online.

July started ho hum, but gained huge steam right away with a lengthy opening to Texas and New Mexico (basically only those two states) around 11:30 a, quitting around 1 pm. This opening was notable for snagging a 250w translator in Amarillo.

What can I say about July 4th that hasn't been said already? July 4th is going down in the record books. There will likely never be an opening like that again for years to come. July 4th rivaled anything that came before it this year, and I haven't even touched the recordings. The whole day took up just under half a terabyte of IQ recordings. It started before 9:30 a and didn't quit until much, much later in the day. This was the best day the auto-logger has ever seen since it went live (about two years now). The logger was a champ, as skip started before I woke up for the day, but already, when I started focusing on the opening, I could see this one was different. July 4th had skipped on nearly EVERY channel. Translators and several weaker locals fell. I wouldn't be surprised to see skip come up over Shoreview. Other dxers in the area had a very, very good day as well. The opening didn't quit fully until after midnight, with a few hours' lull in between. It started on the southeast coast near NC, SC/GA/FL and gradually moved west to Texas, where it ended. Round two came to the west, and you'll hear it here first... after trying since 2017 to get Casper, Wyoming - it happened on July 4th. Casper, Douglas, Kaycee... and I haven't even reviewed the tape yet. It will take weeks. Hell, going through 6/26 took a week or so.
7/5, there was a brief opening to the Northeast. This was one of the few times I've turned the antenna in the attic to the east, and it seemed to do well, getting at least two new stations from that direction (VT/NH).
After 7/5, it got quiet for a while. There were a few days where the logger, parked, got new Ms logs (7-9, 7-10, 7-12), but while others were getting fart power skip, nothing was happening here. On July 15th, the whole eastern part of the country (except Minnesota) was getting a decent opening, and it looked like we were going to get skunked. That is, until about 8 pm when skip reared its head to Arizona. I saw two new logs live, but the recordings are weeks off from review (see 7/4 above).

As of this writing, recordings up to 7/3 have been reviewed. The online log is a bit slower to catch up, and I've got to figure out a better system for next season, because I hate having such a delay. - Oh, and make sure you have everything backed up. Due to stupid Windows XP not playing nice with Windows 11, I almost lost all of 7/4's recordings that were on the SSD drive. Thank you, chkdsk, for getting everything to work again. I now have Microsoft OneDrive, and I will put it to good use.

July was good for Ms too, and I'm really shocked at how well the antenna in the attic has done. It helps to park the logger. Ms is not possible with a scanning auto-logger.

July crapped out after 7-4, with the openings on the 5th and 19th, and that was all she wrote for that month. There were some good days with tropo and Ms during July, but it was largely a dud. Without July 4th (which still isn't finished), it would've been a crappy month.

August is not usually a good skip month, but the Perseids this year were outstanding. New logs were had on the following days: 8/1, 8/3, 8/6, 8/10, 8/11, and 8/12. There was also some tropo on 8/9 and 8/10, along with some rare Wisconsin catches on 8/14 (including an xlator in Rochester, MN). And then.... then the big boy happened. 8/13 was a huge skip day. Probably the last hoorah, as they say. Skip started on 8/13 around 9:15 am, and didn't quit until after 2 pm (in waves - literally and figuratively). This opening, like 7/4, will take a LONG time to go through.

Logs as of this update - 8/17/2025 - are up to 7/3 on the website. I am still going through 7/4 and haven't even touched the later July openings. Expect to see all of this done within the next few months (hopefully).

Update as of 9/3 - All of 7-4, and afterwards (sans IQ review after 7-4), is now complete and online. This took almost two months to complete the review of the recording. 8/13 was one of two "last hoorahs" for August. 8/13 was another opening that lasted many hours, and was generally to the same place, Texas and New Mexico. This one may not have as many new logs as 7-4 had (which ended up being about 110), but it was long. The second last hoorah happened on 8/22, but I was camping and couldn't do anything about it except park the logger. The campsite had literally zero cell phone service. I know I got at least two new logs from 8/22.

Trops have been nonexistent this year, and hopefully, late September brings us at least something. Otherwise, September has been boring for FM. Sufficient to say, I think the skip season is done. I would give it a B- or C+. The massive opening in July really saved it, but without it, it would've been worse than 2024.

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2026

Out of season skip again on 1-6-2026, with a massive opening to the East Coast. The first opening, the TEF got a real taste of skip. 

MAY 2026 - D.
There were openings for six days in a row toward the end of the month of varying quality. Most were piss-poor five-second flashes or a minute or two into FM and gone. The first station received via skip for the summer of 2026 was Kamiah, Idaho, KIYE 88.7. The first new log of the season was KXEH 88.7 Victor, MT, from the same opening on 5/17/26. The biggest opening occurred on May 21 and lasted roughly two hours. It was to FL, GA, and TN. Mostly an area logged out. I am still reviewing the tape for this one. Skip took a massive dump after May 21. 5/21's opening had 5-6 new ones, but again, the recording hasn't been fully reviewed yet. There was the second-largest opening of the season on May 31st, which initially looked like a bust. It was to Louisiana, and briefly Texas and Alabama. No new logs seen live, but recordings will need to be gone over.

JUNE 2026
In progress. So far, a lengthy opening happened on 6/1/2026 in the evening, which was strong in spurts, was to AZ and NM. It lasted roughly an hour. Most of the upper western part of the country (OR/WA) saw skip to the central US, and a few of the southern guys got us. We got them. The typical stations were in (KNAU, KXFR), but at least two new ones were seen live, both from AZ. Some good RDS from this one, but it never really got beyond 94.7 MHz. The following day, a LONG but frustrating opening in three phases happened. It started in the Upper East Coast (NH) and migrated to Texas at the same time. It then ended in NC, where it always does, with Snow Hill being the last holdout (as usual).  I got my first DTV VIA SKIP on 6/2/2026. I did get my FIRST DTV VIA SKIP on this day, WDPN DT-2. It didn't fully decode, but got the 10 subchannels to show up in the insignia.  There was a brief puff of skip on 6/3/2026 to Virginia. That day, Pat had Florida o'plenty, but of course, the NW metro got shit on. The rest of the country had a good day on the 3rd.

The next day, 6/4/2026, the West Coast got a shit ton of skip, and of course, you know who was bragging about it. Brief opening on 6/4 to TX/LA blah. There may be more on the recording, but doubtful. 

Two meteor scatter logs were seen on 6/5/2026, one to Seattle and one to Quebec. Seattle is new and rare.

On the morning of 6/6/2026, another FL/AL/MS/GA opening occurred in largely the same area as 5/21, except it was much stronger and lasted nearly three hours. 37 logs were seen live that day, and who knows what is on the recording. This one made it to the top of the dial briefly. 3 new logs were seen live that I'm aware of. The recordings will take a long time to go through. 

On the morning of 6/8, for a little over an hour and 45 minutes, one of the strongest openings of the season so far started very early, around 8:20 AM, according to my parked auto-logger (thank God for that). 28 were seen live, and 8 of them were new from that batch. Again, the recording will reveal more. This one made it to the top of the dial and stuck there for a while. The TEF saw stuff the RSP didn't. Nice. This was the widest opening so far of the season, and I think two or three clouds were contributing, because the catches ranged from KY to OK. The Nissan saw skip for the first time on this day (and so did the SDR at the same time). A fun opening. Those are rare. A YUUUUUGE opening happened the evening of 6/8. ONE THAT DWARFED JULY 4, 2025!!! HOLY SHHH! This is the longest, strongest, weirdest, funnest opening I've ever seen in the Twin Cities. It started in VA and hung around PA/MD/DC/NJ/OH/IN/VA/NC/SC, then migrated to GA/FL/MS/AL/TN/AR/LA, and ended in TX, with some stragglers from NC hanging around well after 9:30 PM local. I also heard a super short skip. Missouri and Illinois were there, along with a short skip to Erie, PA. Wow. That's going to be hard to top. I think it lasted over two hours. 140 or more stations seen live, and over 400 GB of HDD space burned. 

On June 10th, probably the best opening of the season (so far) happened and lasted half of the day. It started in the northeast, anywhere from Quebec down to Virginia, and then after I got off work, it was so jumbled that it was swapping between two or three different directions - south, east, and west. A couple of rare western catches, including Montana and two in Alberta, were had on this day, but the main path was Mississippi and Alabama. I swear, I logged the entire state of Alabama in this opening, and it will be hard to get new ones from that direction. Un-freaking-real opening. I had to stop recording on the 10th because I didn't want to run low on HDD space. It has taken me forever just to get through 5/21's review. 37 new logs seen live (not counting recordings) and over 130 total stations seen. Not July 4, 2025, numbers, but for as twisty as this open was, that's impressive. The limited recordings I did do should have some new nuggets. This opening was known for strong RDS, and the main logger had a field day. The TEF did a damn good job, too. June 10, 2026, will be in the history books. 

On June 11th, another skip opening happened in the same area, but it was largely a repeat and not as strong. I didn't bother recording since the stations were all the same as the previous days. I've heard Florida this year more times than any other state.

Almost every day in June has had a skip of some form for parts of the country, and the strongest openings I've ever seen have happened in the first 10 days. 

After June 11th, things got really quiet. REALLY, REALLY QUIET. 

On 6/18/2026, there was a super short opening to Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. One new log from this, KMPB Breckenridge. Beyond that, the usuals - Tucson, Las Cruces, and Roswell. There were only two of us logging it, but I saw four stations. More than anyone else at that point. Kinda neat, I guess. 

Other parts of the country, mostly OH, NJ, and the entire East Coast, got a larger opening on 6/20/2026, but do you suspect it reached Minnesota? Of course not. Another one-way opening where they could hear us, but we couldn't hear jack shit. That's been an ongoing pattern this season that has been extremely frustrating. Skip stops before it gets strong in Minnesota. Meanwhile, six meters can blaze away for hours, but like May, we get table scraps for FM. If it weren't for 6/10, this month would've really sucked. July had better make up for the sudden disappearance of skip on the 11th.  Recordings were completely reviewed through the end of May, and logs are updated to that point as of this post. I know the atmosphere has to recharge, but why does it die before it makes it here? The northern half of the country is getting ripped off this year. 

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Radios used for skip:

GREEN RIVER:
Numerous car radios, and eventually the Sony XDR-F1HD

SALT LAKE CITY:
A Subaru Outback and a Sony XDR-F1HD. Plus, a Grundig G8.

SHERIDAN:
Sony XDR-F1HD, Subaru Outback. Subaru Impreza. Numerous car radios. Grundig G8. Grundig S30.

ST. CLOUD:
Subaru Impreza. Sony XDR-F1HD. Grundig G8.

TWIN CITIES:
Primary: RSP2 Pro by SDRPlay and Sony XDR-S3HD, TEF-6686
Secondary: Sangean HDR-14, Sony XDR-F1HD, Subaru Impreza, Toyota Corolla, 2015 or 2018 Nissan Rogue, 2023 Mazda CX-5, Jensen HD Radio, RTLSDR, others. See my gear!

* - When I first started DXing FM, I thought skip was related to solar flares and called it "aurora dx". I received a few emails (nasty-grams) from seasoned DXers telling me how wrong I was, and how I was making a mockery of the hobby of FM DXing. It wasn't until 2008, after hearing from a few experts, including members of the WTFDA, that I found my footing and figured out what skip was. My first skip was received in a company vehicle for the city, a 1990s Chevrolet pickup truck.
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WDPN RF2 Willmington, DE (transmitter in PA near Philly) is the DTV via skip log for me. Captured on 6/2/2026. 

Common pattern for the 2026 skip season. Everyone and their brother getting skip and it dies before it hits us.