Topband: Noise during SP

[w0uo at citbroadband.com]

All:

I have been interested in the number of SP posts on 3830 that indicate either quiet or normal conditions.  That certainly was not the case here.  

At this location, the contest started out fairly quiet, but by 0400Z I was hearing steady static crashes at S9 (with RF gain set so ambient noise was S0), which continued until my sunrise.

There was a large storm, shaped like a giant comma, from northern Nebraska up to southern Minnesota and Wisconsin, then back down the east side of the Mississippi Valley almost to New Orleans.  

My questions. Why the difference in perception of conditions?  Does the physical distance from the storm determine the noise level at a particular location? (further away not necessarily quieter).  What are the parameters?

73 de Jim
WØUO