Can you see the northern lights in Federal Way in January?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Federal Way have civil darkness, and 1% of past January days reached Kp 7.

How dark is Federal Way in January?

Federal Way averages 13.8 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 14 h 9 min on the 1st to 13 h 14 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Federal Way in January?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Federal Way's 1 degree cell 80% mean cloud in January, against 68% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in January 2027 for aurora in Federal Way?

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

Is January or February better in Federal Way?

By civil night times the clear share, January scores 2.8 hours at Federal Way and February 3.3. February comes out ahead.

Federal Way · January 2027

Northern lights in Federal Way in January 2027

Answer

January gives Federal Way 13.8 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 2nd darkest of its 12 months, under 80% mean cloud. 1% of January days since 1996 reached Kp 7, enough for the oval edge to reach Federal Way.

13.8 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 47.32, -122.31; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

January against the rest of the year

2.8

3.3

2.3

2.1

3.8

4.5

4.8

3.8

3.1

3.0

January cloud at Federal Way averages 80% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 12 points cloudier than its yearly mean. July is Federal Way's clearest month at 47%. By civil night times clear sky, January scores 2.8 hours at Federal Way, 8th of 12. Seattle, 32 km away, averages the same 80%.

Civil night at Federal Way starts January at 14 h 9 min and reaches 13 h 14 min by January 31, 0.9 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 11.3 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/Los_Angeles dates. Federal Way gets 236 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
10.5 h
2
18% lit
11.6 h
3
11% lit
12.7 h
4
6% lit
13.7 h
5
2% lit
14.1 h
6
0% lit
14.1 h
7
0% lit
14.1 h
New
8
2% lit
13.8 h
9
5% lit
12.7 h
10
11% lit
11.5 h
11
17% lit
10.4 h
12
25% lit
9.3 h
13
35% lit
8.1 h
14
45% lit
6.9 h
15
55% lit
5.6 h
16
66% lit
4.3 h
17
76% lit
2.9 h
18
85% lit
1.6 h
19
93% lit
0.6 h
20
98% lit
0.0 h
21
100% lit
0.0 h
22
99% lit
0.0 h
Full
23
95% lit
1.4 h
24
89% lit
2.8 h
25
81% lit
4.1 h
26
71% lit
5.3 h
27
61% lit
6.5 h
28
51% lit
7.7 h
29
41% lit
8.9 h
30
32% lit
10.0 h
31
24% lit
11.0 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.

Activity in past Januarys

Federal Way needs Kp 7 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 7 of the 930 January days from 1996 to 2025 (1%) 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 6%. Federal Way sits at 52.8 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 7.

January across United States

Federal Way ranks 6th in United States for civil night on January 15, behind Fairbanks at 16.3 hours. Coming from December (14.2 hours at Federal Way), January loses darkness, and February brings shorter nights (12.5 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%
Federal Way	13.8 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%

Darkness and moon, every night

Federal Way, 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	14 h 9 min	11 h 38 min	10 h 29 min	4 h	26%
Sat Jan 2	14 h 8 min	11 h 37 min	11 h 37 min	4 h	18%
Sun Jan 3	14 h 7 min	11 h 36 min	12 h 42 min	4 h	11%
Mon Jan 4	14 h 6 min	11 h 35 min	13 h 39 min	4 h	6%
Tue Jan 5	14 h 5 min	11 h 34 min	14 h 5 min	4 h	2%
Wed Jan 6	14 h 4 min	11 h 33 min	14 h 4 min	4 h	0%
Thu Jan 7	14 h 3 min	11 h 32 min	14 h 3 min	4 h	0%
Fri Jan 8	14 h 1 min	11 h 31 min	13 h 48 min	4 h	2%
Sat Jan 9	14 h	11 h 30 min	12 h 39 min	4 h	5%
Sun Jan 10	13 h 58 min	11 h 28 min	11 h 31 min	4 h	11%
Mon Jan 11	13 h 57 min	11 h 27 min	10 h 23 min	4 h	17%
Tue Jan 12	13 h 55 min	11 h 25 min	9 h 15 min	3 h 59 min	25%
Wed Jan 13	13 h 53 min	11 h 24 min	8 h 5 min	2 h 50 min	35%
Thu Jan 14	13 h 52 min	11 h 23 min	6 h 53 min	1 h 39 min	45%
Fri Jan 15	13 h 50 min	11 h 21 min	5 h 37 min	23 min	55%
Sat Jan 16	13 h 48 min	11 h 19 min	4 h 17 min	0 min	66%
Sun Jan 17	13 h 46 min	11 h 18 min	2 h 56 min	0 min	76%
Mon Jan 18	13 h 44 min	11 h 16 min	1 h 39 min	0 min	85%
Tue Jan 19	13 h 42 min	11 h 14 min	34 min	0 min	93%
Wed Jan 20	13 h 40 min	11 h 12 min	0 min	0 min	98%
Thu Jan 21	13 h 38 min	11 h 10 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Fri Jan 22	13 h 36 min	11 h 8 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Sat Jan 23	13 h 33 min	11 h 6 min	1 h 25 min	0 min	95%
Sun Jan 24	13 h 31 min	11 h 4 min	2 h 47 min	0 min	89%
Mon Jan 25	13 h 29 min	11 h 2 min	4 h 4 min	0 min	81%
Tue Jan 26	13 h 26 min	11 h	5 h 19 min	57 min	71%
Wed Jan 27	13 h 24 min	10 h 58 min	6 h 32 min	2 h 12 min	61%
Thu Jan 28	13 h 21 min	10 h 56 min	7 h 44 min	3 h 25 min	51%
Fri Jan 29	13 h 19 min	10 h 53 min	8 h 54 min	4 h	41%
Sat Jan 30	13 h 16 min	10 h 51 min	10 h	4 h	32%
Sun Jan 31	13 h 14 min	10 h 49 min	10 h 59 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 Federal Way in January?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Federal Way have civil darkness, and 1% of past January days reached Kp 7.
How dark is Federal Way in January?: Federal Way averages 13.8 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 14 h 9 min on the 1st to 13 h 14 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Federal Way in January?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Federal Way's 1 degree cell 80% mean cloud in January, against 68% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in January 2027 for aurora in Federal Way?: By darkness and moon alone, Jan 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Federal Way. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is January or February better in Federal Way?: By civil night times the clear share, January scores 2.8 hours at Federal Way 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.