Alta · January 2027
Northern lights in Alta in January 2027
Answer
January against the rest of the year
January cloud at Alta averages 79% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, close to its yearly mean of 80%. April is Alta's clearest month at 76%. That makes January the best month of Alta's year by civil night times clear sky, 3.8 hours. Tromsø, 169 km away, averages 83%, cloudier by 4 points.
Civil night at Alta starts January at 19 h 8 min and reaches 16 h 3 min by January 31, 3.1 hours shorter. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 12.5 hours on the 15th.
January night by night
January opens toward a new moon on Jan 7, with full moon on Jan 22, in Europe/Oslo dates. Alta gets 324 hours of civil night with the moon below the horizon across the month. The best of them for moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM: Jan 1 (4 h), Jan 2 (4 h), Jan 3 (4 h).
- 1
29% lit
19.1 h
- 2
20% lit
19.1 h
- 3
13% lit
19.0 h
- 4
7% lit
18.9 h
- 5
3% lit
18.9 h
- 6
1% lit
18.8 h
- 7
0% lit
18.7 h
- 8
1% lit
18.6 h
- 9
4% lit
18.5 h
- 10
8% lit
16.3 h
- 11
15% lit
14.2 h
- 12
22% lit
12.3 h
- 13
31% lit
10.3 h
- 14
41% lit
8.3 h
- 15
51% lit
5.6 h
- 16
62% lit
0.0 h
- 17
72% lit
0.0 h
- 18
82% lit
0.0 h
- 19
90% lit
0.0 h
- 20
96% lit
0.0 h
- 21
99% lit
0.0 h
- 22
100% lit
0.0 h
- 23
97% lit
0.5 h
- 24
92% lit
3.0 h
- 25
84% lit
5.1 h
- 26
75% lit
7.2 h
- 27
65% lit
9.8 h
- 28
55% lit
13.4 h
- 29
45% lit
16.3 h
- 30
36% lit
16.2 h
- 31
27% lit
16.1 h
Each cell is the night that starts on that date. Hours are civil-dark time with the moon below the horizon; the green rule scales with them. Green outline: new moon. Bone outline: full moon.
Activity in past Januarys
Quiet activity already puts the oval edge over Alta, so storm days matter more: 58 of the 930 January days from 1996 to 2025 (6%) reached Kp 5, one of the three quietest months for that level. Alta sits at 67.2 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 0.
January across Norway
No month-page town in Norway has more civil night on January 15 than Alta; the national median is 15.8 hours. Coming from December (19.4 hours at Alta), January loses darkness, and February brings shorter nights (14.1 hours on the 15th).
Darkness and moon, every night
| Night | Civil | Astronomical | Moon-free dark | Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM | Moon lit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fri Jan 1 | 19 h 8 min | 13 h 12 min | 19 h 8 min | 4 h | 29% |
| Sat Jan 2 | 19 h 5 min | 13 h 10 min | 19 h 5 min | 4 h | 20% |
| Sun Jan 3 | 19 h 1 min | 13 h 8 min | 19 h 1 min | 4 h | 13% |
| Mon Jan 4 | 18 h 56 min | 13 h 6 min | 18 h 56 min | 4 h | 7% |
| Tue Jan 5 | 18 h 52 min | 13 h 3 min | 18 h 52 min | 4 h | 3% |
| Wed Jan 6 | 18 h 47 min | 13 h | 18 h 47 min | 4 h | 1% |
| Thu Jan 7 | 18 h 42 min | 12 h 58 min | 18 h 42 min | 4 h | 0% |
| Fri Jan 8 | 18 h 37 min | 12 h 55 min | 18 h 37 min | 4 h | 1% |
| Sat Jan 9 | 18 h 32 min | 12 h 51 min | 18 h 32 min | 4 h | 4% |
| Sun Jan 10 | 18 h 26 min | 12 h 48 min | 16 h 20 min | 4 h | 8% |
| Mon Jan 11 | 18 h 21 min | 12 h 45 min | 14 h 12 min | 4 h | 15% |
| Tue Jan 12 | 18 h 15 min | 12 h 41 min | 12 h 16 min | 4 h | 22% |
| Wed Jan 13 | 18 h 9 min | 12 h 37 min | 10 h 21 min | 3 h 42 min | 31% |
| Thu Jan 14 | 18 h 3 min | 12 h 33 min | 8 h 21 min | 1 h 45 min | 41% |
| Fri Jan 15 | 17 h 57 min | 12 h 29 min | 5 h 35 min | 0 min | 51% |
| Sat Jan 16 | 17 h 50 min | 12 h 25 min | 0 min | 0 min | 62% |
| Sun Jan 17 | 17 h 44 min | 12 h 20 min | 0 min | 0 min | 72% |
| Mon Jan 18 | 17 h 37 min | 12 h 16 min | 0 min | 0 min | 82% |
| Tue Jan 19 | 17 h 30 min | 12 h 11 min | 0 min | 0 min | 90% |
| Wed Jan 20 | 17 h 23 min | 12 h 7 min | 0 min | 0 min | 96% |
| Thu Jan 21 | 17 h 16 min | 12 h 2 min | 0 min | 0 min | 99% |
| Fri Jan 22 | 17 h 9 min | 11 h 57 min | 0 min | 0 min | 100% |
| Sat Jan 23 | 17 h 2 min | 11 h 51 min | 29 min | 0 min | 97% |
| Sun Jan 24 | 16 h 55 min | 11 h 46 min | 2 h 59 min | 0 min | 92% |
| Mon Jan 25 | 16 h 48 min | 11 h 41 min | 5 h 8 min | 0 min | 84% |
| Tue Jan 26 | 16 h 41 min | 11 h 35 min | 7 h 13 min | 29 min | 75% |
| Wed Jan 27 | 16 h 33 min | 11 h 30 min | 9 h 50 min | 2 h 40 min | 65% |
| Thu Jan 28 | 16 h 26 min | 11 h 24 min | 13 h 23 min | 4 h | 55% |
| Fri Jan 29 | 16 h 18 min | 11 h 18 min | 16 h 18 min | 4 h | 45% |
| Sat Jan 30 | 16 h 11 min | 11 h 12 min | 16 h 11 min | 4 h | 36% |
| Sun Jan 31 | 16 h 3 min | 11 h 6 min | 16 h 3 min | 4 h | 27% |
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Alta in January?
- On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Alta have civil darkness, and 6% of past January days reached Kp 5.
- How dark is Alta in January?
- Alta averages 17.8 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 19 h 8 min on the 1st to 16 h 3 min on the last night.
- How cloudy is Alta in January?
- NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Alta's 1 degree cell 79% mean cloud in January, against 80% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
- What is the best night in January 2027 for aurora in Alta?
- By darkness and moon alone, Jan 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Alta. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
- Is January or February better in Alta?
- By civil night times the clear share, January scores 3.8 hours at Alta and February 3.0. January comes out ahead.
Sources and verification
- SunCalchttps://github.com/mourner/suncalc
- NASA POWER climatologyhttps://power.larc.nasa.gov/docs/services/api/temporal/climatology/
- GFZ Potsdam Kp indexhttps://kp.gfz.de/en/data
- 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.