Can you see the northern lights in Ames in January?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Ames have civil darkness, and 0% of past January days reached Kp 8.

How dark is Ames in January?

Ames averages 13.3 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 13 h 40 min on the 1st to 12 h 55 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Ames in January?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Ames's 1 degree cell 64% mean cloud in January, against 58% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in January 2027 for aurora in Ames?

By darkness and moon alone, Jan 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Ames. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.

Is January or February better in Ames?

By civil night times the clear share, January scores 4.8 hours at Ames and February 4.6. January comes out ahead.

Ames · January 2027

Northern lights in Ames in January 2027

Answer

January gives Ames 13.4 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 2nd darkest of its 12 months, under 64% mean cloud. 0% of January days since 1996 reached Kp 8, enough for the oval edge to reach Ames.

13.3 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 42.03, -93.62; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

January against the rest of the year

4.8

4.6

3.8

3.0

3.3

4.2

4.6

5.8

5.4

5.2

4.7

January cloud at Ames averages 64% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 6 points cloudier than its yearly mean. September is Ames's clearest month at 45%. By civil night times clear sky, January scores 4.8 hours at Ames, 4th of 12. Minneapolis, 329 km away, averages 62%, clearer by 2 points.

Civil night at Ames starts January at 13 h 40 min and reaches 12 h 55 min by January 31, 0.8 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 11.2 hours on the 15th.

January night by night

January opens toward a new moon on Jan 7, with full moon on Jan 22, in America/Chicago dates. Ames gets 227 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
26% lit
9.8 h
2
18% lit
10.9 h
3
11% lit
11.9 h
4
6% lit
12.9 h
5
2% lit
13.6 h
6
0% lit
13.6 h
7
0% lit
13.6 h
New
8
2% lit
13.3 h
9
5% lit
12.3 h
10
10% lit
11.2 h
11
17% lit
10.2 h
12
25% lit
9.1 h
13
34% lit
8.0 h
14
44% lit
6.9 h
15
54% lit
5.7 h
16
65% lit
4.5 h
17
75% lit
3.2 h
18
85% lit
2.0 h
19
92% lit
0.9 h
20
98% lit
0.0 h
21
100% lit
0.0 h
22
99% lit
0.0 h
Full
23
96% lit
1.3 h
24
90% lit
2.6 h
25
82% lit
3.8 h
26
72% lit
4.9 h
27
62% lit
6.1 h
28
52% lit
7.2 h
29
42% lit
8.3 h
30
33% lit
9.3 h
31
24% lit
10.3 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

Ames needs Kp 8 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 2 of the 930 January days from 1996 to 2025 (0%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 9th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 6%. Ames sits at 50.5 degrees geomagnetic. The lowest NOAA storm level whose typical viewing latitude reaches it is G3 (Kp = 7). By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead only at Kp 8.

January across United States

Ames ranks 11th in United States for civil night on January 15, behind Fairbanks at 16.3 hours. Coming from December (13.7 hours at Ames), January loses darkness, and February brings shorter nights (12.3 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on January 15 and January cloud, month-page towns in United States
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Fairbanks	16.3 h	55%
Anchorage	15.5 h	65%
Eagle River	15.5 h	65%
Juneau	15.1 h	80%
Seattle	13.9 h	80%
Duluth	13.8 h	63%
Fargo	13.8 h	62%
Minneapolis	13.6 h	62%
Buffalo	13.5 h	85%
Portland, Maine	13.5 h	65%
Ames	13.4 h	64%

Darkness and moon, every night

Ames, January 2027: each night from local noon to the next noon
Night	Civil	Astronomical	Moon-free dark	Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM	Moon lit
Fri Jan 1	13 h 40 min	11 h 23 min	9 h 51 min	4 h	26%
Sat Jan 2	13 h 39 min	11 h 22 min	10 h 55 min	4 h	18%
Sun Jan 3	13 h 39 min	11 h 21 min	11 h 57 min	4 h	11%
Mon Jan 4	13 h 38 min	11 h 20 min	12 h 53 min	4 h	6%
Tue Jan 5	13 h 37 min	11 h 20 min	13 h 37 min	4 h	2%
Wed Jan 6	13 h 36 min	11 h 19 min	13 h 36 min	4 h	0%
Thu Jan 7	13 h 35 min	11 h 18 min	13 h 35 min	4 h	0%
Fri Jan 8	13 h 34 min	11 h 17 min	13 h 20 min	4 h	2%
Sat Jan 9	13 h 33 min	11 h 16 min	12 h 16 min	4 h	5%
Sun Jan 10	13 h 31 min	11 h 15 min	11 h 12 min	4 h	10%
Mon Jan 11	13 h 30 min	11 h 14 min	10 h 9 min	4 h	17%
Tue Jan 12	13 h 29 min	11 h 13 min	9 h 6 min	3 h 59 min	25%
Wed Jan 13	13 h 27 min	11 h 11 min	8 h 1 min	2 h 54 min	34%
Thu Jan 14	13 h 26 min	11 h 10 min	6 h 54 min	1 h 48 min	44%
Fri Jan 15	13 h 24 min	11 h 9 min	5 h 44 min	38 min	54%
Sat Jan 16	13 h 23 min	11 h 8 min	4 h 30 min	0 min	65%
Sun Jan 17	13 h 21 min	11 h 6 min	3 h 13 min	0 min	75%
Mon Jan 18	13 h 20 min	11 h 5 min	1 h 59 min	0 min	85%
Tue Jan 19	13 h 18 min	11 h 3 min	52 min	0 min	92%
Wed Jan 20	13 h 16 min	11 h 2 min	0 min	0 min	98%
Thu Jan 21	13 h 15 min	11 h	0 min	0 min	100%
Fri Jan 22	13 h 13 min	10 h 59 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Sat Jan 23	13 h 11 min	10 h 57 min	1 h 17 min	0 min	96%
Sun Jan 24	13 h 9 min	10 h 55 min	2 h 34 min	0 min	90%
Mon Jan 25	13 h 7 min	10 h 54 min	3 h 46 min	0 min	82%
Tue Jan 26	13 h 5 min	10 h 52 min	4 h 56 min	50 min	72%
Wed Jan 27	13 h 3 min	10 h 50 min	6 h 4 min	2 h	62%
Thu Jan 28	13 h 1 min	10 h 48 min	7 h 11 min	3 h 8 min	52%
Fri Jan 29	12 h 59 min	10 h 46 min	8 h 17 min	4 h	42%
Sat Jan 30	12 h 57 min	10 h 44 min	9 h 20 min	4 h	33%
Sun Jan 31	12 h 55 min	10 h 42 min	10 h 18 min	4 h	24%

Moon lit: SunCalc illuminated fraction at the middle of the 10 PM to 2 AM window.

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Ames in January?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Ames have civil darkness, and 0% of past January days reached Kp 8.
How dark is Ames in January?: Ames averages 13.3 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 13 h 40 min on the 1st to 12 h 55 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Ames in January?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Ames's 1 degree cell 64% mean cloud in January, against 58% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in January 2027 for aurora in Ames?: By darkness and moon alone, Jan 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Ames. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is January or February better in Ames?: By civil night times the clear share, January scores 4.8 hours at Ames and February 4.6. 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.