(meteorobs) Sporadic E outburst?

Way up north in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, I monitor on an ongoing basis for radio meteors using a digital FM receiver tuned to 92.1, a rock station in Calgary 300 km to the south. I have been receiving more or less continuous reception for the past six plus hours (Oct. 23 2000 UT to the present, Oct. 24 0300 UT), and my recording log (Radio Sky Pipe) has a very erratic signature. I've seen such a signature before on occasions when I have been absent from the room, and from previous discussion on this list I understand this is most likely caused by an effect known as the Sporadic E layer in the ionosphere. However, previous episodes only seemed to last an hour or so, while this one shows no signs of abating, from mid-afternoon to a couple hours after sunset. Is this unusual?

Also, in scanning the dial I have identified stations in Calgary, Drumheller, and Red Deer, all to the S or SE between 150 and 300 km distant, but I have been unable to pick up known stations in Lethbridge at 600 km to the SSE, or Athabasca only 100 km north. My Yagi antenna is pointed roughly SSE at an elevation of ~30°; does that account for the directionality of the anomalous signals? And is 300 km < E < 600 km a normal range for this effect?