Tropospheric Conditions Affect UHF & VHF Signals Across the Coast

Often in the spring and fall television and radio signals on the MS Gulf Coast can be adversely affected by a meteorological event known as tropospheric ducting. Here is a technical explanation for what is causing spotty signals in our area and a website that will help you predict when your signal may be disrupted (link here).

Over-the-air television signals can be affected by atmospheric conditions, particularly tropospheric ducting, which occurs when temperature and humidity layers in the atmosphere bend VHF and UHF radio waves beyond their normal range. This can cause distant TV stations to interfere with local broadcast signals, resulting in pixelation, audio dropouts, channel loss, or intermittent reception. When fronts push through our area that change air temps from hot to cold or cold to hot this ducting typically occurs.

Viewers experiencing reception issues can try using an outdoor antenna (if they are currently only using an indoor antenna) and checking antenna positioning (should be pointed towards McHenry) and connections as they wait for atmospheric conditions to clear.

To keep on top of local news, weather and events our WXXV News 25 livestream is available on wxxv25.com, over the FREE WXXV News 25 app or via our Roku, Fire TV and Apple TV apps.

Models currently show the tropospheric conditions clearing by this Saturday October 17, 2026 as the front pushes through. https://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo.html (visit link and click on model graphic to advance time period shown).