We made it through January pretty well, with fluxes in the 200's much of the month. This kept the high bands open later in the evening, resulting in better than expected northern latitude propagation. European Russia remained workable on 10, with excellent polar openings on 20 late in the evening. We can expect an early spring.
HIGH BANDS: 20 will resume all-night propagation very soon, opening to at least half the world starting around mid-afternoon. Work the more distant parts of the world at sunrise peaks (our end or theirs), which on 20 occur around an hour after actual sunrise. 15 will stay open later into the evening, with plenty of polar propagation. Later in spring it will also become an all-night band. 10 Meters will be excellent for at least the next three months, with increasing morning and evening polar propagation as spring progresses.
LOW BANDS: The east coast has Europe on 80. We can work the louder eastern Europeans (the ones with linears), but new countries have been hard to come by this season. During Pacific DXpeditions it is a good idea to check 80 at our sunrise. 40 has been very good, and should not be neglected after all-night propagation returns on 20. Grey-line paths are excellent to remote points of the globe.
LONG PATH: During peaks in the sunspot cycle long path propagation is reliable on 20 all year long. The morning path to southern Africa has been out of season lately, but should return shortly. The other 20 meter circuits are wide open. Long path is usually your best route to countries anywhere near the Indian Ocean. Many exotic countries are workable if you catch LP openings habitually, especially the morning ones.