Christchurch · January 2027
Southern lights in Christchurch in January 2027
Answer
January against the rest of the year
January cloud at Christchurch averages 69% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 3 points cloudier than its yearly mean. July is Christchurch's clearest month at 63%. By civil night times clear sky, January scores 2.4 hours at Christchurch, 11th of 12. Seattle, 11,965 km away, averages 80%, cloudier by 11 points.
Civil night at Christchurch starts January at 7 h 21 min and reaches 8 h 21 min by January 31 as the nights lengthen by 1.0 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 4.5 hours on the 15th.
January night by night
January opens toward a new moon on Jan 8, with full moon on Jan 23, in Pacific/Auckland dates. Christchurch gets 123 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 3 (4 h), Jan 4 (4 h), Jan 5 (4 h).
- 1
33% lit
3.7 h
- 2
24% lit
4.1 h
- 3
17% lit
4.6 h
- 4
10% lit
5.3 h
- 5
5% lit
6.0 h
- 6
2% lit
6.9 h
- 7
0% lit
7.5 h
- 8
0% lit
7.5 h
- 9
2% lit
7.3 h
- 10
6% lit
6.9 h
- 11
11% lit
6.5 h
- 12
18% lit
6.3 h
- 13
26% lit
6.0 h
- 14
36% lit
5.7 h
- 15
46% lit
5.3 h
- 16
57% lit
5.0 h
- 17
67% lit
4.5 h
- 18
77% lit
3.9 h
- 19
86% lit
3.0 h
- 20
94% lit
1.9 h
- 21
98% lit
0.6 h
- 22
100% lit
0.0 h
- 23
99% lit
0.0 h
- 24
95% lit
0.5 h
- 25
88% lit
0.8 h
- 26
80% lit
1.2 h
- 27
70% lit
1.6 h
- 28
60% lit
2.0 h
- 29
50% lit
2.4 h
- 30
40% lit
2.9 h
- 31
31% lit
3.5 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
No whole Kp puts the average oval edge over Christchurch by SWPC's rule, so the GFZ record has no threshold to count for January. Christchurch sits at 46.7 degrees geomagnetic. The lowest NOAA storm level whose typical viewing latitude reaches it is G4 (Kp = 8, including a 9-). Even Kp 9 does not put the average oval edge overhead by SWPC's rule.
January across New Zealand
Coming from December (7.3 hours at Christchurch), January adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into February (9.1 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 | 7 h 21 min | 3 h 49 min | 3 h 40 min | 3 h 32 min | 33% |
| Sat Jan 2 | 7 h 22 min | 3 h 51 min | 4 h 6 min | 3 h 58 min | 24% |
| Sun Jan 3 | 7 h 23 min | 3 h 53 min | 4 h 37 min | 4 h | 17% |
| Mon Jan 4 | 7 h 24 min | 3 h 55 min | 5 h 15 min | 4 h | 10% |
| Tue Jan 5 | 7 h 25 min | 3 h 57 min | 6 h | 4 h | 5% |
| Wed Jan 6 | 7 h 27 min | 4 h | 6 h 54 min | 4 h | 2% |
| Thu Jan 7 | 7 h 28 min | 4 h 2 min | 7 h 28 min | 4 h | 0% |
| Fri Jan 8 | 7 h 30 min | 4 h 5 min | 7 h 30 min | 4 h | 0% |
| Sat Jan 9 | 7 h 31 min | 4 h 8 min | 7 h 16 min | 3 h 53 min | 2% |
| Sun Jan 10 | 7 h 33 min | 4 h 11 min | 6 h 52 min | 3 h 29 min | 6% |
| Mon Jan 11 | 7 h 35 min | 4 h 14 min | 6 h 33 min | 3 h 8 min | 11% |
| Tue Jan 12 | 7 h 36 min | 4 h 17 min | 6 h 15 min | 2 h 49 min | 18% |
| Wed Jan 13 | 7 h 38 min | 4 h 20 min | 5 h 58 min | 2 h 31 min | 26% |
| Thu Jan 14 | 7 h 40 min | 4 h 23 min | 5 h 40 min | 2 h 12 min | 36% |
| Fri Jan 15 | 7 h 42 min | 4 h 27 min | 5 h 21 min | 1 h 51 min | 46% |
| Sat Jan 16 | 7 h 44 min | 4 h 30 min | 4 h 58 min | 1 h 27 min | 57% |
| Sun Jan 17 | 7 h 46 min | 4 h 34 min | 4 h 29 min | 56 min | 67% |
| Mon Jan 18 | 7 h 48 min | 4 h 37 min | 3 h 51 min | 16 min | 77% |
| Tue Jan 19 | 7 h 51 min | 4 h 41 min | 2 h 59 min | 0 min | 86% |
| Wed Jan 20 | 7 h 53 min | 4 h 45 min | 1 h 52 min | 0 min | 94% |
| Thu Jan 21 | 7 h 55 min | 4 h 48 min | 34 min | 0 min | 98% |
| Fri Jan 22 | 7 h 58 min | 4 h 52 min | 0 min | 0 min | 100% |
| Sat Jan 23 | 8 h | 4 h 56 min | 0 min | 0 min | 99% |
| Sun Jan 24 | 8 h 2 min | 5 h | 27 min | 7 min | 95% |
| Mon Jan 25 | 8 h 5 min | 5 h 4 min | 51 min | 31 min | 88% |
| Tue Jan 26 | 8 h 8 min | 5 h 8 min | 1 h 13 min | 52 min | 80% |
| Wed Jan 27 | 8 h 10 min | 5 h 12 min | 1 h 36 min | 1 h 13 min | 70% |
| Thu Jan 28 | 8 h 13 min | 5 h 16 min | 1 h 59 min | 1 h 35 min | 60% |
| Fri Jan 29 | 8 h 15 min | 5 h 20 min | 2 h 25 min | 2 h | 50% |
| Sat Jan 30 | 8 h 18 min | 5 h 24 min | 2 h 56 min | 2 h 30 min | 40% |
| Sun Jan 31 | 8 h 21 min | 5 h 28 min | 3 h 33 min | 3 h 5 min | 31% |
Questions
- Can you see the southern lights in Christchurch in January?
- On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Christchurch have civil darkness.
- How dark is Christchurch in January?
- Christchurch averages 7.8 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 7 h 21 min on the 1st to 8 h 21 min on the last night.
- How cloudy is Christchurch in January?
- NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Christchurch's 1 degree cell 69% mean cloud in January, against 66% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
- What is the best night in January 2027 for aurora in Christchurch?
- By darkness and moon alone, Jan 3, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Christchurch. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
- Is January or February better in Christchurch?
- By civil night times the clear share, January scores 2.4 hours at Christchurch and February 3.3. February 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.