Is Saskatoon or Lloydminster better for the northern lights?

Lloydminster sits closer to the oval, at 60.2 degrees geomagnetic against 59.4. 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, Saskatoon or Lloydminster?

Lloydminster, with 14.9 hours of civil night on December 15 against 14.8 in Saskatoon.

What Kp do Saskatoon and Lloydminster need?

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

When is it too light for aurora in Saskatoon and Lloydminster?

Saskatoon: never, every night has civil darkness. Lloydminster: never, every night has civil darkness.

Which is clearer, Saskatoon or Lloydminster?

Saskatoon, with 64% mean cloud in the months with 4 hours or more of civil night against 65% in Lloydminster (NASA POWER, 2001 to 2020).

Comparison

Saskatoon vs Lloydminster for the northern lights

Answer

Lloydminster sits 0.7 degrees higher on the IGRF-14 dipole, 60.2 against 59.4. By SWPC's oval-edge rule Lloydminster needs about Kp 3 for the average edge to sit overhead and Saskatoon Kp 4. On the map Lloydminster is also closer to the pole, by 1.1 degrees.

59.4° / 60.2°

dipole latitude

Side by side

Computed figures for both towns
Figure	Saskatoon	Lloydminster
Dipole latitude	59.4°	60.2°
Kp for the oval edge overhead	Kp 4	Kp 3
Civil night, December 15	14.8 h	14.9 h
Dark-season days	365	365
Nights with no civil darkness	0	0
Dark-month cloud, NASA POWER	64%	65%
Solar midnight, December 15	01:02	01:15

Saskatoon sits at 59.4 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. Lloydminster sits at 60.2 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.

Civil night month by month

On December 15 Saskatoon has 14.8 hours of civil night and Lloydminster 14.9. Across the 15th of each month, Saskatoon is darker in 5 months and Lloydminster in 5. The widest gap comes in June, when Saskatoon has 0.4 more hours.

Hours of civil night on the 15th of each month, 2026
Month	Saskatoon	Lloydminster	Difference
January	14.3 h	14.4 h	-0.1 h
February	12.7 h	12.8 h	-0.1 h
March	10.9 h	10.9 h	+0.0 h
April	8.7 h	8.6 h	+0.1 h
May	6.7 h	6.5 h	+0.2 h
June	5.5 h	5.1 h	+0.4 h
July	6.1 h	5.8 h	+0.3 h
August	8.0 h	7.8 h	+0.2 h
September	10.1 h	10.1 h	+0.0 h
October	12.1 h	12.2 h	-0.1 h
November	13.9 h	14.0 h	-0.1 h
December	14.8 h	14.9 h	-0.1 h

Difference: Saskatoon minus Lloydminster. Each figure links to that town's month page.

Season and midnight sun

Saskatoon has some civil darkness every night of 2026, and clears Glow's 4-hour dark-season bar every evening. Lloydminster 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 259 km apart by great circle. In the dark months both average about 64% cloud in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record. Saskatoon's best month by civil night times clear sky is January. Lloydminster's best month by civil night times clear sky is February. Time zones: America/Regina and America/Edmonton.

For tonight, open the live pages for Saskatoon and Lloydminster, which carry the live OVATION cell.

Questions

Is Saskatoon or Lloydminster better for the northern lights?: Lloydminster sits closer to the oval, at 60.2 degrees geomagnetic against 59.4. 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, Saskatoon or Lloydminster?: Lloydminster, with 14.9 hours of civil night on December 15 against 14.8 in Saskatoon.
What Kp do Saskatoon and Lloydminster need?: By SWPC's rule of 66 degrees at Kp 0 and 2 degrees per step, Saskatoon needs about Kp 4 and Lloydminster Kp 3 for the average oval edge to sit overhead.
When is it too light for aurora in Saskatoon and Lloydminster?: Saskatoon: never, every night has civil darkness. Lloydminster: never, every night has civil darkness.
Which is clearer, Saskatoon or Lloydminster?: Saskatoon, with 64% mean cloud in the months with 4 hours or more of civil night against 65% in Lloydminster (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.