In this article the statistical characteristics of the VHF radar returns, which are assumed to comprise components generated from the atmospheric isotropic turbulences plus anisotropic irregularities are theoretically studied. By employing a theory of the random variable, the analytic form of the amplitude and phase probability density functions of the VHF radar echoes are derived. After a somewhat tedious and complicated calculation it shows that the conventional Rayleigh distribution, the Rice distribution, and the Hoyt distribution are closely related to the derived generalized probability density function. The Nakagamimparameter corresponding to this generalized probability density function of the VHF radar signal amplitude is derived as well. It indicates that the magnitude of Nakagami m parameter is governed by the radar echo parameters, that is, 2S2, σ2, and μ, where 2S2is the power of the radar echo component scattered from the isotropic turbulences, μ and σ2are the mean and variance, respectively, of the radar signal component generated from the anisotropic irregularities. After examining the general behavior of the derived Nakagamimparameter in more detail, it is found that no matter what theSvalue is, the magnitude of Nakagamimparameter,m, is always in one of the following three categories, depending on the relative changes between μ and σ. Namely,m= 1 if σ2= (2½‐ 1)μ2; 0.5