Previous studies have interpreted the occurrence patterns of impulsive events in the high-latitude dayside ionosphere in terms of transient processes occurring near the dayside magnetopause. In particular, the fact that most impulsive ground magnetometer events occur prior to local noon has been interpreted as evidence for a dawn/dusk asymmetry in transient processes at the magnetopause. In this paper, we seek to raise the awareness of the community that the high-latitude distribution of the Hall conductivity also influences the signatures observed by ground magnetometers. In particular, we will show that impulsive event occurrence patterns bear a striking resemblance to reported statistical patterns for the Hall conductivity. We suggest that this similarity be taken into account when interpreting occurrence patterns for impulsive ground events. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1996