Is Edmonton or Red Deer better for the northern lights?

Edmonton sits closer to the oval, at 60.0 degrees geomagnetic against 58.7. Darkness, cloud and your dates decide the rest; the tables on this page show both towns month by month.

Which has longer nights in December, Edmonton or Red Deer?

Edmonton, with 15.0 hours of civil night on December 15 against 14.8 in Red Deer.

What Kp do Edmonton and Red Deer need?

By SWPC's rule of 66 degrees at Kp 0 and 2 degrees per step, Edmonton needs about Kp 3 and Red Deer Kp 4 for the average oval edge to sit overhead.

When is it too light for aurora in Edmonton and Red Deer?

Edmonton: never, every night has civil darkness. Red Deer: never, every night has civil darkness.

Which is clearer, Edmonton or Red Deer?

Edmonton, with 67% mean cloud in the months with 4 hours or more of civil night against 67% in Red Deer (NASA POWER, 2001 to 2020).

Comparison

Edmonton vs Red Deer for the northern lights

Answer

Edmonton sits 1.3 degrees higher on the IGRF-14 dipole, 60.0 against 58.7. By SWPC's oval-edge rule Edmonton needs about Kp 3 for the average edge to sit overhead and Red Deer Kp 4. On the map Edmonton is also closer to the pole, by 1.3 degrees.

60.0° / 58.7°

dipole latitude

Side by side

Computed figures for both towns
Figure	Edmonton	Red Deer
Dipole latitude	60.0°	58.7°
Kp for the oval edge overhead	Kp 3	Kp 4
Civil night, December 15	15.0 h	14.8 h
Dark-season days	365	365
Nights with no civil darkness	0	0
Dark-month cloud, NASA POWER	67%	67%
Solar midnight, December 15	01:29	01:30

Edmonton sits at 60.0 degrees geomagnetic, inside SWPC's 60 to 75 degree band, where aurora can be seen on more than half of all nights. No storm is needed: by SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 3. Red Deer sits at 58.7 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 4, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less.

Civil night month by month

On December 15 Edmonton has 15.0 hours of civil night and Red Deer 14.8. Across the 15th of each month, Edmonton is darker in 5 months and Red Deer in 5. The widest gap comes in June, when Red Deer has 0.4 more hours.

Hours of civil night on the 15th of each month, 2026
Month	Edmonton	Red Deer	Difference
January	14.5 h	14.3 h	+0.2 h
February	12.8 h	12.7 h	+0.1 h
March	10.9 h	10.9 h	+0.0 h
April	8.6 h	8.7 h	-0.1 h
May	6.4 h	6.7 h	-0.3 h
June	5.0 h	5.4 h	-0.4 h
July	5.7 h	6.1 h	-0.4 h
August	7.8 h	8.0 h	-0.2 h
September	10.1 h	10.1 h	+0.0 h
October	12.2 h	12.1 h	+0.1 h
November	14.0 h	13.9 h	+0.1 h
December	15.0 h	14.8 h	+0.2 h

Difference: Edmonton minus Red Deer. Each figure links to that town's month page.

Season and midnight sun

Edmonton has some civil darkness every night of 2026, and clears Glow's 4-hour dark-season bar every evening. Red Deer has some civil darkness every night of 2026, and clears Glow's 4-hour dark-season bar every evening.

Distance, cloud and time zones

The two towns are 144 km apart by great circle. In the dark months both average about 67% cloud in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record. Edmonton's best month by civil night times clear sky is January. Red Deer's best month by civil night times clear sky is January. Time zones: America/Edmonton and America/Edmonton.

For tonight, open the live pages for Edmonton and Red Deer, which carry the live OVATION cell.

Questions

Is Edmonton or Red Deer better for the northern lights?: Edmonton sits closer to the oval, at 60.0 degrees geomagnetic against 58.7. Darkness, cloud and your dates decide the rest; the tables on this page show both towns month by month.
Which has longer nights in December, Edmonton or Red Deer?: Edmonton, with 15.0 hours of civil night on December 15 against 14.8 in Red Deer.
What Kp do Edmonton and Red Deer need?: By SWPC's rule of 66 degrees at Kp 0 and 2 degrees per step, Edmonton needs about Kp 3 and Red Deer Kp 4 for the average oval edge to sit overhead.
When is it too light for aurora in Edmonton and Red Deer?: Edmonton: never, every night has civil darkness. Red Deer: never, every night has civil darkness.
Which is clearer, Edmonton or Red Deer?: Edmonton, with 67% mean cloud in the months with 4 hours or more of civil night against 67% in Red Deer (NASA POWER, 2001 to 2020).

Sources and verification

IGRF-14 coefficients, NOAA NCEIhttps://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/IAGA/vmod/coeffs/igrf14coeffs.txt
SunCalchttps://github.com/mourner/suncalc
GeoNameshttps://www.geonames.org/export/
NASA POWER climatologyhttps://power.larc.nasa.gov/docs/services/api/temporal/climatology/
NOAA SWPC, Tips on viewing the aurorahttps://www.spaceweather.gov/content/tips-viewing-aurora

Quoted figures last checked against their sources on 2026-09-30; next review 2026-12-31. Computed figures come from SunCalc and the IGRF-14 dipole as described in the methodology. Every quote is listed in the sources ledger.