Can you see the northern lights in Fort McMurray in April?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Fort McMurray have civil darkness, and 82% of past April days reached Kp 2.

How dark is Fort McMurray in April?

Fort McMurray averages 8.1 hours of civil night a night in April 2027, from 9 h 23 min on the 1st to 6 h 52 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Fort McMurray in April?

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

What is the best night in April 2027 for aurora in Fort McMurray?

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

Is April or May better in Fort McMurray?

By civil night times the clear share, April scores 2.6 hours at Fort McMurray and May 2.1. April comes out ahead.

Fort McMurray · April 2027

Northern lights in Fort McMurray in April 2027

Answer

April gives Fort McMurray 8.2 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 8th darkest of its 12 months, under 68% mean cloud. 82% of April days since 1996 reached Kp 2, enough for the oval edge to reach Fort McMurray.

8.1 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 56.73, -111.38; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

April against the rest of the year

5.0

4.4

3.6

2.6

2.1

1.1

1.6

2.5

3.6

3.5

3.3

4.8

April cloud at Fort McMurray averages 68% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, close to its yearly mean of 68%. May is Fort McMurray's clearest month at 63%. By civil night times clear sky, April scores 2.6 hours at Fort McMurray, 8th of 12. Edmonton, 377 km away, averages 69%, cloudier by 1 points.

Civil night at Fort McMurray starts April at 9 h 23 min and reaches 6 h 52 min by April 30, 2.5 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 4.1 hours on the 15th.

April night by night

April opens toward a new moon on Apr 6, with full moon on Apr 20, in America/Edmonton dates. Fort McMurray gets 132 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: Apr 1 (4 h), Apr 2 (4 h), Apr 3 (4 h).

1
21% lit
9.1 h
2
14% lit
9.1 h
3
8% lit
9.2 h
4
3% lit
9.1 h
5
1% lit
9.0 h
6
0% lit
8.9 h
New
7
2% lit
7.8 h
8
6% lit
6.2 h
9
13% lit
4.7 h
10
21% lit
3.2 h
11
31% lit
2.2 h
12
42% lit
1.5 h
13
53% lit
1.1 h
14
65% lit
0.8 h
15
75% lit
0.6 h
16
84% lit
0.4 h
17
91% lit
0.3 h
18
97% lit
0.1 h
19
99% lit
0.0 h
20
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
21
98% lit
1.3 h
22
94% lit
2.7 h
23
89% lit
3.9 h
24
82% lit
4.8 h
25
74% lit
5.4 h
26
65% lit
5.8 h
27
56% lit
6.0 h
28
46% lit
6.1 h
29
37% lit
6.2 h
30
28% lit
6.3 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.

Activity in past Aprils

Fort McMurray needs Kp 2 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 735 of the 900 April days from 1996 to 2025 (82%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 4th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 12%. 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.

April across Canada

Fort McMurray ranks 20th in Canada for civil night on April 15, behind Sydney at 9.3 hours. Coming from March (10.8 hours at Fort McMurray), April loses darkness, and May brings shorter nights (5.6 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on April 15 and April cloud, month-page towns in Canada
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Sydney	9.3 h	73%
Québec	9.2 h	67%
Greater Sudbury	9.2 h	64%
Trois-Rivières	9.2 h	66%
St. John's	9.2 h	77%
Saguenay	9.1 h	70%
Thunder Bay	9.1 h	69%
Lethbridge	9.0 h	68%
Winnipeg	8.9 h	61%
Regina	8.9 h	67%
Kelowna	8.9 h	71%
Kamloops	8.9 h	72%
Fort McMurray	8.2 h	68%

Darkness and moon, every night

Fort McMurray, April 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
Thu Apr 1	9 h 23 min	5 h 58 min	9 h 3 min	4 h	21%
Fri Apr 2	9 h 17 min	5 h 51 min	9 h 8 min	4 h	14%
Sat Apr 3	9 h 12 min	5 h 44 min	9 h 11 min	4 h	8%
Sun Apr 4	9 h 7 min	5 h 37 min	9 h 7 min	4 h	3%
Mon Apr 5	9 h 2 min	5 h 29 min	9 h 2 min	4 h	1%
Tue Apr 6	8 h 57 min	5 h 22 min	8 h 57 min	4 h	0%
Wed Apr 7	8 h 52 min	5 h 14 min	7 h 50 min	3 h 57 min	2%
Thu Apr 8	8 h 47 min	5 h 7 min	6 h 14 min	2 h 24 min	6%
Fri Apr 9	8 h 42 min	4 h 59 min	4 h 39 min	51 min	13%
Sat Apr 10	8 h 36 min	4 h 51 min	3 h 14 min	0 min	21%
Sun Apr 11	8 h 31 min	4 h 43 min	2 h 11 min	0 min	31%
Mon Apr 12	8 h 26 min	4 h 34 min	1 h 30 min	0 min	42%
Tue Apr 13	8 h 21 min	4 h 25 min	1 h 4 min	0 min	53%
Wed Apr 14	8 h 16 min	4 h 17 min	47 min	0 min	65%
Thu Apr 15	8 h 11 min	4 h 7 min	34 min	0 min	75%
Fri Apr 16	8 h 5 min	3 h 58 min	24 min	0 min	84%
Sat Apr 17	8 h	3 h 48 min	15 min	0 min	91%
Sun Apr 18	7 h 55 min	3 h 38 min	5 min	0 min	97%
Mon Apr 19	7 h 50 min	3 h 28 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Tue Apr 20	7 h 44 min	3 h 17 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Wed Apr 21	7 h 39 min	3 h 5 min	1 h 19 min	54 min	98%
Thu Apr 22	7 h 34 min	2 h 53 min	2 h 43 min	2 h 19 min	94%
Fri Apr 23	7 h 29 min	2 h 40 min	3 h 55 min	3 h 34 min	89%
Sat Apr 24	7 h 23 min	2 h 26 min	4 h 50 min	4 h	82%
Sun Apr 25	7 h 18 min	2 h 11 min	5 h 25 min	4 h	74%
Mon Apr 26	7 h 13 min	1 h 54 min	5 h 46 min	4 h	65%
Tue Apr 27	7 h 8 min	1 h 34 min	5 h 59 min	4 h	56%
Wed Apr 28	7 h 2 min	1 h 9 min	6 h 7 min	4 h	46%
Thu Apr 29	6 h 57 min	27 min	6 h 12 min	4 h	37%
Fri Apr 30	6 h 52 min	0 min	6 h 15 min	4 h	28%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Fort McMurray in April?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Fort McMurray have civil darkness, and 82% of past April days reached Kp 2.
How dark is Fort McMurray in April?: Fort McMurray averages 8.1 hours of civil night a night in April 2027, from 9 h 23 min on the 1st to 6 h 52 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Fort McMurray in April?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Fort McMurray's 1 degree cell 68% mean cloud in April, against 68% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in April 2027 for aurora in Fort McMurray?: By darkness and moon alone, Apr 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Fort McMurray. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is April or May better in Fort McMurray?: By civil night times the clear share, April scores 2.6 hours at Fort McMurray and May 2.1. April 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.