How far away can we hear lightning on 175 khz?

[abcfox]

On the Superradio II on 530 I can hear lightning from many storms up to 150 miles but only heavy thunderstorms can be heard beyond this distance

How far can I hear lightning during the day at 175 khz on a typical 70s LW/SW/FM/MW with dedicated LW ferrtte loop.

I am currently hearing crackles on 175 khz whilst the radio is plugged in to mains and the nearest storms are 200-220 miles away but it's nighttime now. AFAIK it sounds like lightning or it could be RFI. I am more interested in groundwave reception concerning lighnting.

 

[jwt873]

Day/Night makes a huge difference at 175 kHz. Signals travel much farther at night... That includes lighting crashes.

Out of interest, I'm listening on 175 kHz right now using a Wellbrook loop. There is active lighning about 270 miles to the south of me. Not hearing much more than the normal static/hiss.

For info.. If you're not aware, there's a good lightning web page at Blitzortung. It shows where lighting is happening pretty well real time. Blitzortung.org - Live Lightning Map

If you're really interested in detecting lightning there are dedicated lightning receivers. Blitortung uses a network of them tied together through the internet. Lightning & Thunderstorms - Cover Your Area

 

[oldradioguy2010]

During daytime hours I listen to KVTA 1590.
I am on the Ventura County coast but when thunder storms are up in the desert and mountains I pick up lighting and I am at least 60+ miles from the storms. So my answer is over 60 miles.
Enjoy.


DW
So. Cal

 

[oldradioguy2010]

Sorry this is on my car radio.

DW
So. Cal

 

[w2dsx]

I've always been impressed by what you can see on the Blitzortung network: Lightning & Thunderstorms - World Map

Many of the stations routinely cross the Atlantic and there's one that gets hits from North America to Tasmania. Nice DX! They use some frequencies lower than 175, but not by much. Antenna makes a big difference, look at what they use if you browse their website.

 

[abcfox]

Day/Night makes a huge difference at 175 kHz. Signals travel much farther at night... That includes lighting crashes.

Out of interest, I'm listening on 175 kHz right now using a Wellbrook loop. There is active lighning about 270 miles to the south of me. Not hearing much more than the normal static/hiss.

For info.. If you're not aware, there's a good lightning web page at Blitzortung. It shows where lighting is happening pretty well real time. Blitzortung.org - Live Lightning Map

If you're really interested in detecting lightning there are dedicated lightning receivers. Blitortung uses a network of them tied together through the internet. Lightning & Thunderstorms - Cover Your Area

Perhaps the Wellbrook is very good at suppressing atmospheric noise?

 

[jwt873]

Perhaps the Wellbrook is very good at suppressing atmospheric noise?

You know, that could be.. The antenna does knock down atmospheric noise. I use it for receive on 80 meters.

So.. I tried again using my 128 foot inverted vee. Still quite a bit of lightning activity to my south. I hear a few more 'scratchies', but nothing that really stands out.

 

[oldradioguy2010]

ABCFOX I was wondering, why did you settle at 175kc, ( kHz I am old school).
Is that a better freq. for monitoring?
We are due this weekend for thunder storms in so. cal mountain and desert.
I shall give it a shot.

DW
So. Cal