July is the most boring month of the year for DX propagation. Daytime conditions on 15 are sharply off from two months ago, with most openings only marginal in signal strength. As the northern ionosphere bakes in non-stop daylight, DX signals on higher frequency bands pass right through to outer space. That ain't no fun! There is little DX activity on 10 (except for sporadic E). Summertime also takes out the low bands with static crashes and weaker signals. Though conditions are not that bad on 40, most of the activity at night has moved to 20. Most DX activity across daytime paths is GONE. I do not have a feel for propagation on any of the WARC bands, because I have not put up any antennas yet. If there remains a band that is good for daypath work, it would be 17 Meters. This news is not very useful to contesters in the IARU, who must tough it out on 15.
Since summer conditions cause deterioration on so many bands, most DX activity will be concentrated on 20 Meters. This band is reliable for nightpath work, which are accessible during daylight hours for 3 or 4 hours before dark or after dawn. Conditions into Asia are excellent for half of our morning, while the late afternoon is good into Africa. 20 is marginally open for DX during most of the day. When fluxes are low, 20 tends to close sometime after midnight. This has serious consequences for contesters who lack 40 Meter beams and rely on 20 for nighttime QSO production. We sincerely hope that fluxes are up for the IARU.
Propagation on 15 follows some of the same patterns as in late spring, but with weaker signals. It is still possible to get into Asia late in the morning. The southern part of Asia tends to come through at odd hours, since it is close to the equator and bands stay open much later there. Watch for signals from 9V, 9M, YB, HS, XX, V8 & the REALLY rare stuff. Europeans are still workable well into the afternoon. The european day is longer than ours, and at this time of the year it doesn't even get dark until midafternoon here. The sun doesn't set at all in Scandinavia.
DX conditions on 40 are so so. The sunrise peaks into Europe occur earlier in our evening, and DX windows over northern latitude paths are shorter because it is daytime over the pole. Nighttime propagation into the southern hemisphere and over east/west paths is better, so watch for Africa and the Indian Ocean in the evening; and VK/ZL/Pacific in the morning.