Winter Es

Don't ask me why, as I do not know, but there is a small uptick in Es propagation in mid-winter. Do not be too surprised to copy Europeans on 10m and 6m, and possibly 4m too. I think Es can remain good until the end of January (ish). Remember that Es can occur at any time of year but is most common in the northern hemisphere in May, June and July. 

FT8 can be good for this as even very short openings are caught and FT8 is well monitored. As you know, Es signals can be very strong.