Can you see the northern lights in Calgary in December?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Calgary have civil darkness, and 5% of past December days reached Kp 5.

How dark is Calgary in December?

Calgary averages 14.6 hours of civil night a night in December 2026, from 14 h 22 min on the 1st to 14 h 35 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Calgary in December?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Calgary's 1 degree cell 68% mean cloud in December, against 67% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in December 2026 for aurora in Calgary?

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

Is December or January better in Calgary?

By civil night times the clear share, December scores 4.7 hours at Calgary and January 4.3. December comes out ahead.

Calgary · December 2026

Northern lights in Calgary in December 2026

Answer

December gives Calgary 14.6 hours of civil night on the 15th, the darkest month of its year, under 68% mean cloud. 5% of December days since 1996 reached Kp 5, enough for the oval edge to reach Calgary.

14.6 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 51.05, -114.09; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

December against the rest of the year

4.3

3.9

3.1

2.5

2.1

1.7

2.8

3.6

3.9

4.0

4.7

December cloud at Calgary averages 68% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, close to its yearly mean of 67%. July is Calgary's clearest month at 56%. That makes December the best month of Calgary's year by civil night times clear sky, 4.7 hours. Red Deer, 137 km away, averages 74%, cloudier by 6 points.

Civil night at Calgary starts December at 14 h 22 min and reaches 14 h 35 min by December 31 as the nights lengthen by 0.2 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 11.9 hours on the 15th.

December night by night

December opens toward a new moon on Dec 8, with full moon on Dec 23, in America/Edmonton dates. Calgary gets 244 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: Dec 1 (4 h), Dec 2 (4 h), Dec 3 (4 h).

1
40% lit
8.2 h
2
30% lit
9.5 h
3
21% lit
10.7 h
4
13% lit
12.0 h
5
7% lit
13.3 h
6
3% lit
14.5 h
7
1% lit
14.5 h
8
0% lit
14.5 h
New
9
1% lit
14.6 h
10
4% lit
14.3 h
11
9% lit
13.2 h
12
15% lit
12.0 h
13
22% lit
10.8 h
14
31% lit
9.6 h
15
40% lit
8.4 h
16
50% lit
7.2 h
17
61% lit
6.0 h
18
71% lit
4.7 h
19
80% lit
3.3 h
20
88% lit
1.8 h
21
95% lit
0.4 h
22
99% lit
0.0 h
23
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
24
98% lit
0.0 h
25
93% lit
1.6 h
26
86% lit
3.1 h
27
77% lit
4.5 h
28
66% lit
5.9 h
29
56% lit
7.2 h
30
45% lit
8.4 h
31
35% lit
9.7 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 Decembers

Calgary needs Kp 5 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 44 of the 930 December days from 1996 to 2025 (5%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, one of the three quietest months for that level; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 5%. Calgary sits at 57.5 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 5, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less.

December across Canada

Calgary ranks 11th in Canada for civil night on December 15, behind Yellowknife at 16.6 hours. Coming from November (13.8 hours at Calgary), December adds darkness, and January brings shorter nights (14.2 hours on the 15th). The December solstice falls on December 21, 14:49 Calgary time.

Civil night on December 15 and December cloud, month-page towns in Canada
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Yellowknife	16.6 h	58%
Whitehorse	16.2 h	68%
Fort McMurray	15.4 h	69%
Fort St. John	15.4 h	69%
Grande Prairie	15.2 h	71%
Edmonton	15.0 h	72%
Prince Albert	14.9 h	70%
Lloydminster	14.9 h	71%
Saskatoon	14.8 h	70%
Red Deer	14.8 h	74%
Calgary	14.6 h	68%
Regina	14.6 h	72%

Darkness and moon, every night

Calgary, December 2026: each night from local noon to the next noon
Night	Civil	Astronomical	Moon-free dark	Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM	Moon lit
Tue Dec 1	14 h 22 min	11 h 40 min	8 h 12 min	4 h	40%
Wed Dec 2	14 h 24 min	11 h 41 min	9 h 28 min	4 h	30%
Thu Dec 3	14 h 26 min	11 h 42 min	10 h 44 min	4 h	21%
Fri Dec 4	14 h 27 min	11 h 44 min	12 h	4 h	13%
Sat Dec 5	14 h 29 min	11 h 45 min	13 h 15 min	4 h	7%
Sun Dec 6	14 h 30 min	11 h 46 min	14 h 28 min	4 h	3%
Mon Dec 7	14 h 31 min	11 h 47 min	14 h 31 min	4 h	1%
Tue Dec 8	14 h 32 min	11 h 48 min	14 h 32 min	4 h	0%
Wed Dec 9	14 h 33 min	11 h 49 min	14 h 33 min	4 h	1%
Thu Dec 10	14 h 34 min	11 h 50 min	14 h 18 min	4 h	4%
Fri Dec 11	14 h 35 min	11 h 51 min	13 h 11 min	4 h	9%
Sat Dec 12	14 h 36 min	11 h 51 min	12 h	4 h	15%
Sun Dec 13	14 h 37 min	11 h 52 min	10 h 49 min	3 h 59 min	22%
Mon Dec 14	14 h 38 min	11 h 52 min	9 h 38 min	2 h 48 min	31%
Tue Dec 15	14 h 38 min	11 h 53 min	8 h 27 min	1 h 36 min	40%
Wed Dec 16	14 h 39 min	11 h 53 min	7 h 14 min	23 min	50%
Thu Dec 17	14 h 39 min	11 h 54 min	6 h	0 min	61%
Fri Dec 18	14 h 39 min	11 h 54 min	4 h 40 min	0 min	71%
Sat Dec 19	14 h 39 min	11 h 54 min	3 h 16 min	0 min	80%
Sun Dec 20	14 h 40 min	11 h 54 min	1 h 48 min	0 min	88%
Mon Dec 21	14 h 40 min	11 h 54 min	23 min	0 min	95%
Tue Dec 22	14 h 39 min	11 h 54 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Wed Dec 23	14 h 39 min	11 h 54 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Thu Dec 24	14 h 39 min	11 h 54 min	1 min	0 min	98%
Fri Dec 25	14 h 39 min	11 h 53 min	1 h 33 min	0 min	93%
Sat Dec 26	14 h 38 min	11 h 53 min	3 h 4 min	0 min	86%
Sun Dec 27	14 h 38 min	11 h 53 min	4 h 30 min	49 min	77%
Mon Dec 28	14 h 37 min	11 h 52 min	5 h 52 min	2 h 11 min	66%
Tue Dec 29	14 h 36 min	11 h 51 min	7 h 10 min	3 h 30 min	56%
Wed Dec 30	14 h 35 min	11 h 51 min	8 h 26 min	4 h	45%
Thu Dec 31	14 h 35 min	11 h 50 min	9 h 41 min	4 h	35%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Calgary in December?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Calgary have civil darkness, and 5% of past December days reached Kp 5.
How dark is Calgary in December?: Calgary averages 14.6 hours of civil night a night in December 2026, from 14 h 22 min on the 1st to 14 h 35 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Calgary in December?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Calgary's 1 degree cell 68% mean cloud in December, against 67% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in December 2026 for aurora in Calgary?: By darkness and moon alone, Dec 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Calgary. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is December or January better in Calgary?: By civil night times the clear share, December scores 4.7 hours at Calgary and January 4.3. December 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.