The Doppler spectral width of backscatter from the SuperDARN HF radars has been routinely used to identify the ionospheric cusp. The probability distribution of spectral width values has been described as Gaussian (normal) in the cusp and exponential equatorward of it. Here we re-examine the empirical distributions and show that they are better described by a log-L¿vy distribution in both the cusp and non-cusp regions, with the same L¿vy index a ≈ 1.85 but varying L¿vy location parameter. The spectral width distribution may also be log-L¿vy at other magnetic local times, but with generally different parameters.