Why do AM radio stations broadcast farther at night?
The short answer is because of the nature of the ionosphere of the Earth. The ionosphere consists of several different layers of gases that have become conductive from the bombardment of the atoms by: solar radiation, by electrons and protons emitted by the sun, and by cosmic rays.
These layers, sometimes called the Kennelly-Heaviside layer, reflect AM radio signals, thus enabling AM broadcasts to be received by radios that are a long way from the transmitting station. At night, the ionosphere layers partially dissipate and become an excellent reflector of the short waveband AM radio waves.
Source: The Handy Science Answer Book.