British Columbia, Canada
Northern lights in Delta
Answer
Tonight
Darkness window open
Civil darkness has begun.
Observed 11:49 UTC, forecast 13:20 UTC, 91 min lead
Clock times in America/Vancouver
Storm level needed
Delta sits at 49.09N 123.05W in British Columbia, Canada. The IGRF-14 centered dipole puts Delta at 54.4 degrees geomagnetic latitude, 5.3 degrees closer to the magnetic pole than its map latitude suggests. Delta sits at 54.4 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 6.
"aurora has been seen as low as Illinois and Oregon (typically 50° geomagnetic lat.)"
The nearest other Glow towns are Surrey (17 km), Vancouver, British Columbia (18 km), Coquitlam (29 km). Surrey sits 0.0 degrees higher on the dipole and needs the same Kp.
Approximate: SWPC calls its Kp to latitude rule an average, and a centered dipole can differ by a degree from fuller field models. How the storm level is matched
The year in darkness
Every night of 2026 at Delta has some civil darkness; the shortest month sample still has 6.2 hours. Every evening of the year at Delta clears Glow's dark-season bar of 4 hours of civil night between 18:00 and 06:00. Delta's longest night of the year, Dec 18, has 14 h 26 min of civil night.
Solar midnight at Delta, when the sun is lowest, falls at 01:07 on local clocks on December 15 and 01:13 on June 15. That is 1 h 7 min after midnight in December and 1 h 13 min after midnight in June, the gap set by daylight saving and the equation of time. So at Delta the darkest hour sits late in SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window.
Month by month
| Month | Night | Civil | Cloud | Clear dark | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 14.0 h | 11.4 h | 81% | 2.7 h | |
| Feb | 12.6 h | 10.1 h | 75% | 3.1 h | |
| Mar | 10.9 h | 8.4 h | 81% | 2.1 h | |
| Apr | 9.0 h | 6.1 h | 78% | 2.0 h | |
| May | 7.3 h | 3.2 h | 71% | 2.1 h | |
| Jun | 6.2 h | 0.0 h | 71% | 1.8 h | |
| Jul | 6.7 h | 1.9 h | 50% | 3.4 h | |
| Aug | 8.4 h | 5.2 h | 50% | 4.2 h | |
| Sep | 10.3 h | 7.7 h | 58% | 4.3 hbest | |
| Oct | 12.1 h | 9.6 h | 73% | 3.3 h | |
| Nov | 13.6 h | 11.1 h | 81% | 2.6 h | |
| Dec | 14.4 h | 11.8 h | 81% | 2.7 h |
By the 15th-of-the-month sample, December is the darkest month at Delta with 14.4 hours of civil night and June the lightest at 6.2. Across the year Delta gets 3,812 hours of civil night. Astronomical night at Delta, the sun 18 degrees or more below the horizon, lasts 11.8 hours on December 15.
NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology puts mean cloud amount for the 1 degree cell around Delta at 71% across the year, from 50% in July to 81% in January. In the months with at least 4 hours of civil night Delta averages 71%, against a median of 67% for Glow towns in Canada.
Multiplying civil night by the clear share of the sky gives September the best score, 4.3 hours, ahead of August at 4.2. Delta's equinox months score 2.1 in March and 4.3 in September, the weeks SWPC links with larger storms.
Kp history
From 1996 to 2025, the GFZ Potsdam record shows a 3-hour Kp of 6 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge over Delta, on 3% of days. At Delta's level the share runs from 1% in December to 5% in October, while storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 10%.
Share of UTC days in each calendar month whose highest 3-hour Kp reached Kp 6. Kp history by year
Moon, next 30 nights
Over the 30 nights from Oct 1, the new moon falls on Oct 10 and the full moon on Oct 25, in America/Vancouver dates. 15 of the 30 nights at Delta have at least 2 moon-free dark hours inside 10 PM to 2 AM, and Oct 5 has the most at 4 h. Tonight Delta has 11 h 14 min of civil night, 1 h 56 min of it with the moon down.
- 1
64% lit
1.9 h
- 2
53% lit
3.1 h
- 3
42% lit
4.4 h
- 4
31% lit
5.8 h
- 5
21% lit
7.3 h
- 6
13% lit
8.6 h
- 7
6% lit
9.9 h
- 8
2% lit
11.3 h
- 9
0% lit
11.7 h
- 10
1% lit
11.8 h
- 11
3% lit
11.8 h
- 12
7% lit
11.9 h
- 13
13% lit
11.7 h
- 14
20% lit
11.1 h
- 15
28% lit
10.3 h
- 16
37% lit
9.4 h
- 17
46% lit
8.4 h
- 18
56% lit
7.2 h
- 19
65% lit
6.1 h
- 20
74% lit
4.9 h
- 21
83% lit
3.7 h
- 22
90% lit
2.5 h
- 23
95% lit
1.2 h
- 24
99% lit
0.0 h
- 25
100% lit
0.0 h
- 26
98% lit
0.0 h
- 27
94% lit
0.0 h
- 28
87% lit
0.7 h
- 29
78% lit
1.8 h
- 30
68% lit
3.0 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.
Within Canada
Among the 19 Glow towns in British Columbia, Delta ranks 16th by dipole latitude against a regional median of 55.2 degrees; Fort St. John sits highest at 61.7. Among the 130 Glow towns in Canada, Delta ranks 99th by dipole latitude against a national median of 55.3 degrees; Yellowknife sits highest at 68.5. On December 15 Delta gets 14.4 hours of civil night, 42nd longest of 130 in Canada, where the median is 14.2.
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Delta?
- Delta sits at 54.4 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 6. Clear, dark sky over Delta still decides it.
- When is it dark enough in Delta?
- Every night at Delta has civil darkness. Tonight has 11 h 14 min, and December 15 has 14.4 hours.
- What is the best month for aurora in Delta?
- September, by civil night at Delta times the clear share of the sky from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 average.
- How cloudy is Delta in the dark months?
- About 71% mean cloud amount over Delta in the months with at least 4 hours of civil night, from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology.
- How often is activity high enough for Delta?
- A 3-hour Kp of 6 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge overhead, occurred on 3% of days from 1996 to 2025 in the GFZ Potsdam record.
Nearby and related
Nearest Glow towns
Delta by month
Region and comparisons