The present spell of unsettled weather is likely to remain the main driver of weather-related propagation modes for the next week. Low-pressure systems are following the jet stream across the Atlantic and over the UK, which is a typical track for this time of the year. This means that we should expect to experience the odd example of rain scatter for the GHz operators, and the occasional strong winds will start to test that we have our antennas in good order after the quieter weather of summer.

​

This is not to say that there won’t be any Tropo, but we will have to look carefully for it. In a mobile weather pattern, such as this, the periods of high pressure tend to act as separators between the lows and, as a result, they usually move with similar speed.

​

This makes them short-lived and thus not particularly good at establishing strong inversions for Tropo. There are two low-grade possibilities, one around Tuesday 16th as a weak transient ridge moves across the country, and the second as another weak ridge moves across on Friday 19th.

​

The meteor scatter situation is still pretty much in a random activity state, although there was a minor shower of the Epsilon Perseids, which peaked on the 9th and may have a few left in the tail-off, but in general it’s more realistic to assume we’re dealing with random activity. Aurora on the other hand has been putting in an appearance lately, so keep a watch on the Kp index for values climbing above Kp=5 to have a look.

​

EME now, and Sunday 14th marks the Moon’s maximum declination – that is, it is at its highest point in the sky. Perigee, when the Moon is at its closest point to Earth, was passed on September 9th so path losses are increasing. Sky noise is low and will remain so until 20th-22nd when the new Moon is very close to the Sun.

​