Is January a good month for the northern lights?

For darkness, yes: the far-north towns have some of their longest nights. It sits between the solstice and the March equinox, outside SWPC's equinox window.

Which town has the longest nights in January?

Tromsø, with 17 h 48 min of civil night on January 15, 2027, of the 10 Glow towns.

When is the full moon in January 2027?

On January 22, 2027 (UTC date). Local dates can differ by a day.

Does January have an equinox or solstice?

No. The nearest are in December and March.

How many Glow towns are dark in January?

10 of 10 have civil night on January 15, 2027.

Aurora by month · 2027

Northern lights in January

Answer

January comes right after the December solstice, so the far-north towns still have their longest nights. On January 15, 2027, Tromsø has the most civil night of the 10 Glow towns at 17 h 48 min, and Buffalo the least at 13 h 28 min. The median is 14.7 hours.

Best destinations in January

Across Glow's 168 month-page towns, Norilsk scores highest for January at 8.0 clear-dark hours: 17.7 hours of civil night on the 15th with 55% mean cloud. The median town scores 3.4. The score multiplies civil night by the clear share of NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 cloud average; it compares places, it does not forecast.

Top 20 month-page towns for January, by civil night times clear share
Town	Country	Civil night	Cloud	Score
Norilsk	Russia	17.7 h	55%	8.0 h
Talnakh	Russia	17.7 h	55%	8.0 h
Kayyerkan	Russia	17.7 h	56%	7.8 h
Dudinka	Russia	17.7 h	56%	7.8 h
Fairbanks	United States	16.3 h	55%	7.3 h
Yellowknife	Canada	15.8 h	56%	7.0 h
Anadyr	Russia	16.3 h	58%	6.8 h
Longyearbyen	Svalbard and Jan Mayen	24.0 h	74%	6.2 h
Vorkuta	Russia	17.0 h	65%	5.9 h
Vorgashor	Russia	17.1 h	66%	5.8 h
Anchorage	United States	15.5 h	65%	5.4 h
Eagle River	United States	15.5 h	65%	5.4 h
Noyabrsk	Russia	15.9 h	66%	5.4 h
Fargo	United States	13.8 h	62%	5.2 h
Minneapolis	United States	13.6 h	62%	5.2 h
Narian-Mar	Russia	17.1 h	70%	5.1 h
Duluth	United States	13.8 h	63%	5.1 h
Whitehorse	Canada	15.4 h	67%	5.1 h
Winnipeg	Canada	14.1 h	64%	5.1 h
Fort McMurray	Canada	14.8 h	66%	5.0 h

All 168 towns in January

January 2027 at 10 towns

Civil night on the 1st, 15th and last night of January 2027, with astronomical night and moon-free darkness on the 15th
Town	Jan 1	Jan 15	Last night	Astronomical, 15th	Moon-free, 15th
Tromsø	18 h 57 min	17 h 48 min	15 h 58 min	12 h 28 min	5 h 42 min
Fairbanks	17 h 2 min	16 h 16 min	14 h 57 min	12 h 8 min	5 h 12 min
Reykjavik	16 h 51 min	16 h 8 min	14 h 53 min	12 h 6 min	5 h 54 min
Yellowknife	16 h 25 min	15 h 46 min	14 h 37 min	12 h	5 h 28 min
Anchorage	16 h 8 min	15 h 32 min	14 h 27 min	11 h 56 min	5 h 19 min
Seattle	14 h 11 min	13 h 51 min	13 h 15 min	11 h 22 min	5 h 37 min
Duluth	14 h 6 min	13 h 47 min	13 h 12 min	11 h 20 min	5 h 43 min
Minneapolis	13 h 56 min	13 h 38 min	13 h 5 min	11 h 16 min	5 h 44 min
Portland, Maine	13 h 49 min	13 h 32 min	13 h 1 min	11 h 13 min	5 h 48 min
Buffalo	13 h 45 min	13 h 28 min	12 h 58 min	11 h 11 min	5 h 47 min

Civil night: sun at or below -6 degrees; astronomical: -18. Each town links to its full month page with every night.

What January means for aurora

January sits between the December solstice and the March equinox. Nights at Tromsø, Fairbanks and Reykjavik are still near their longest, and every lower 48 town on Glow keeps more than 13 hours of civil night mid-month. SWPC's equinox tendency toward larger storms is still weeks away, so a January trip trades storm odds for time under a dark sky.

Tromsø changes fastest across January: 18 h 57 min of civil night on the 1st and 15 h 58 min on the last night, a loss of 3.0 hours.

The moon in January 2027

In UTC dates, the new moon falls on Jan 7 and the full moon on Jan 22. Local dates can differ by a day; each town's month page uses its own time zone.

SWPC says a full moon diminishes the apparent brightness of the aurora. Nights near the new moon give the darkest background. The moon planner shows every night of January for any coordinates, and the moon guide explains how Glow counts moon-free darkness.

Questions

Is January a good month for the northern lights?: For darkness, yes: the far-north towns have some of their longest nights. It sits between the solstice and the March equinox, outside SWPC's equinox window.
Which town has the longest nights in January?: Tromsø, with 17 h 48 min of civil night on January 15, 2027, of the 10 Glow towns.
When is the full moon in January 2027?: On January 22, 2027 (UTC date). Local dates can differ by a day.
Does January have an equinox or solstice?: No. The nearest are in December and March.
How many Glow towns are dark in January?: 10 of 10 have civil night on January 15, 2027.

Sources and verification

SunCalchttps://github.com/mourner/suncalc
NOAA SWPC, Tips on viewing the aurorahttps://www.spaceweather.gov/content/tips-viewing-aurora
NOAA SWPC, Aurorahttps://www.swpc.noaa.gov/phenomena/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.