Aurora by month
Northern lights by month
Answer
Civil night by month and town
Each month in one line
- JanuaryJanuary comes right after the December solstice, so the far-north towns still have their longest nights.
- FebruaryFebruary nights shorten fast in the far north as the March equinox approaches.
- MarchMarch holds the spring equinox, one of the two seasons SWPC calls best for aurora watching.
- AprilApril is the last month with usable darkness at the highest-latitude towns before the midnight sun.
- MayMay closes the aurora season at the far-north towns.
- JuneJune brings the solstice and the shortest nights of the year at every Glow town.
- JulyJuly is still midnight-sun season in the far north, with darkness returning late in the month.
- AugustAugust reopens the dark season across the far north.
- SeptemberSeptember holds the fall equinox, the other season SWPC calls best for aurora watching.
- OctoberOctober brings long nights to the far north while the equinox effect fades.
- NovemberNovember nights approach their longest in the far north.
- DecemberDecember holds the solstice and the longest nights of the year at every Glow town.
Reading the matrix
Read across a row to see one town's year. Tromsø's row runs from its longest nights in December to zeros from May to July. Minneapolis stays between about 7 and 14 hours all year. Read down a column to compare towns in one month: in December the far-north towns lead the lower 48 by about 2 to 5 hours, and in June the lower 48 are the only towns with any civil night on the 15th.
The shading scales with hours out of 24, so the summer gap in the far north is easy to spot. Every cell links to that town's month page, where each night is listed with its moon-free minutes and the civil and astronomical night.
Reading the month pages
Every month hub compares the 10 Glow towns on the 1st, 15th and last night of the month, in the month's next occurrence. Each town then has its own page for each month, 120 in all, with every night of the month: civil and astronomical night, moon-free darkness, the minutes inside SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window, and the new and full moon in local time.
None of these pages forecast activity. The solar wind cannot be predicted months ahead. What they give is the part of a trip you can plan: how long the nights are, where the moon sits and whether the month falls near an equinox. For the night itself, switch to the live tools: the oval map, your local cell and NWS cloud for US towns.
For the reasoning behind the season advice, read the best month guide and the equinox guide.
Questions
- What month is best for the northern lights?
- SWPC names the seasons around the spring and fall equinoxes, March and September, as best. The far north also needs darkness, which rules out roughly May to July there.
- Which months have no darkness in the far north?
- Around the June solstice. At Tromsø civil night is missing from late April to mid August; at Fairbanks from mid May to late July.
- Are winter months good for aurora?
- They have the longest nights, which gives the most time to watch. SWPC's storm tendency favors the equinox months instead.
- Why are the month pages dated next year?
- Each month page shows that month's next occurrence, so a March page read in September shows next March.
- Do the lower 48 have an aurora season?
- Every lower 48 town on Glow has civil darkness every night of the year, so the season there is set by storms, not by daylight.
Sources and verification
- SunCalchttps://github.com/mourner/suncalc
- 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.