Alberta, Canada
Northern lights in Fort McMurray
Answer
Tonight
Darkness window open
Civil darkness has begun.
Observed 11:49 UTC, forecast 13:20 UTC, 91 min lead
Clock times in America/Edmonton
Storm level needed
Fort McMurray sits at 56.73N 111.38W in Alberta, Canada. The IGRF-14 centered dipole puts Fort McMurray at 63.4 degrees geomagnetic latitude, 6.6 degrees closer to the magnetic pole than its map latitude suggests. Fort McMurray sits at 63.4 degrees geomagnetic, inside SWPC's 60 to 75 degree band, where aurora can be seen on more than half of all nights. No storm is needed: by SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 2.
"The best place to observe the aurora is under an oval shaped region between the north and south latitudes of about 60 and 75 degrees. At these polar latitudes, the aurora can be observed more than half of the nights of a given year."
The nearest other Glow towns are Edmonton (377 km), Sherwood Park (378 km), Spruce Grove (390 km). Edmonton sits 3.4 degrees lower on the dipole, Kp 3 against 2 here.
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 Fort McMurray has some civil darkness; the shortest month sample still has 3.8 hours. Glow's dark season, at least 4 hours of civil night between 18:00 and 06:00, runs from July 3 to June 7 across New Year, 340 days in 2026. Fort McMurray's longest night of the year, Dec 17, has 15 h 27 min of civil night.
Solar midnight at Fort McMurray, when the sun is lowest, falls at 01:21 on local clocks on December 15 and 01:26 on June 15. That is 1 h 21 min after midnight in December and 1 h 26 min after midnight in June, the gap set by daylight saving and the equation of time. So at Fort McMurray the darkest hour sits late in SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window.
Month by month
| Month | Night | Civil | Cloud | Clear dark | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 14.8 h | 11.7 h | 66% | 5.0 hbest | |
| Feb | 12.9 h | 10.0 h | 66% | 4.4 h | |
| Mar | 10.8 h | 7.7 h | 67% | 3.6 h | |
| Apr | 8.2 h | 4.1 h | 68% | 2.6 h | |
| May | 5.6 h | 0.0 h | 63% | 2.1 h | |
| Jun | 3.8 h | 0.0 h | 70% | 1.1 h | |
| Jul | 4.7 h | 0.0 h | 66% | 1.6 h | |
| Aug | 7.3 h | 2.0 h | 66% | 2.5 h | |
| Sep | 9.9 h | 6.6 h | 64% | 3.6 h | |
| Oct | 12.2 h | 9.3 h | 71% | 3.5 h | |
| Nov | 14.3 h | 11.3 h | 77% | 3.3 h | |
| Dec | 15.4 h | 12.2 h | 69% | 4.8 h |
By the 15th-of-the-month sample, December is the darkest month at Fort McMurray with 15.4 hours of civil night and June the lightest at 3.8. Across the year Fort McMurray gets 3,641 hours of civil night. Astronomical night at Fort McMurray, the sun 18 degrees or more below the horizon, lasts 12.2 hours on December 15.
NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology puts mean cloud amount for the 1 degree cell around Fort McMurray at 68% across the year, from 63% in May to 77% in November. In the months with at least 4 hours of civil night Fort McMurray averages 68%, against a median of 67% for Glow towns in Canada.
Multiplying civil night by the clear share of the sky gives January the best score, 5.0 hours, ahead of December at 4.8. Fort McMurray's equinox months score 3.6 in March and 3.6 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 2 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge over Fort McMurray, on 77% of days. At Fort McMurray's level the share runs from 70% in December to 85% in March, 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 2. 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/Edmonton dates. 15 of the 30 nights at Fort McMurray have at least 2 moon-free dark hours inside 10 PM to 2 AM, and Oct 5 has the most at 4 h. Tonight Fort McMurray has 11 h 9 min of civil night, 47 min of it with the moon down.
- 1
65% lit
0.8 h
- 2
54% lit
1.9 h
- 3
42% lit
3.5 h
- 4
31% lit
5.1 h
- 5
21% lit
6.8 h
- 6
13% lit
8.3 h
- 7
7% lit
9.8 h
- 8
2% lit
11.3 h
- 9
0% lit
11.8 h
- 10
1% lit
11.8 h
- 11
3% lit
11.9 h
- 12
7% lit
12.0 h
- 13
13% lit
12.1 h
- 14
20% lit
12.2 h
- 15
28% lit
11.6 h
- 16
37% lit
10.7 h
- 17
46% lit
9.4 h
- 18
56% lit
8.1 h
- 19
65% lit
6.8 h
- 20
74% lit
5.4 h
- 21
82% lit
4.0 h
- 22
90% lit
2.7 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
0.0 h
- 29
78% lit
0.9 h
- 30
68% lit
2.3 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.
Within Canada
Among the 17 Glow towns in Alberta, Fort McMurray ranks 1st by dipole latitude against a regional median of 58.7 degrees, the highest of them. Among the 130 Glow towns in Canada, Fort McMurray ranks 3rd by dipole latitude against a national median of 55.3 degrees; Yellowknife sits highest at 68.5. On December 15 Fort McMurray gets 15.4 hours of civil night, 3rd longest of 130 in Canada, where the median is 14.2.
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Fort McMurray?
- Fort McMurray sits at 63.4 degrees geomagnetic, inside SWPC's 60 to 75 degree band, where aurora can be seen on more than half of all nights. No storm is needed: by SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 2. Clear, dark sky over Fort McMurray still decides it.
- When is it dark enough in Fort McMurray?
- Every night at Fort McMurray has civil darkness. Tonight has 11 h 9 min, and December 15 has 15.4 hours.
- What is the best month for aurora in Fort McMurray?
- January, by civil night at Fort McMurray times the clear share of the sky from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 average.
- How cloudy is Fort McMurray in the dark months?
- About 68% mean cloud amount over Fort McMurray 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 Fort McMurray?
- A 3-hour Kp of 2 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge overhead, occurred on 77% of days from 1996 to 2025 in the GFZ Potsdam record.
Nearby and related
Nearest Glow towns
Fort McMurray by month
Region and comparisons