It is now the dead of winter, so nighttime MUF's and noise levels are at their lowest. This is peak season for lowband work. There is more activity than last year, and conditions are better with louder signals. Those with good setups for transmitting and receiving on 160 are doing very well this season.
Conditions peak at the European sunrise, which now occurs after our midnight.
The louder EU stations are able to work stateside without benefit of the sunrise phenomena, especially on 80. The East Coast enjoys excellent conditions to Europe on 40 with high activity well before sunset. Most of the rest of use the band peak following the EU sunrise. There is another interesting opening to Europe at our own sunrise. At this time of year, the grey line tilts toward the northeast in the morning.