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

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Fort McMurray have civil darkness, and 70% of past December days reached Kp 2.

How dark is Fort McMurray in December?

Fort McMurray averages 15.4 hours of civil night a night in December 2026, from 15 h 5 min on the 1st to 15 h 21 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Fort McMurray in December?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Fort McMurray's 1 degree cell 69% mean cloud in December, against 68% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in December 2026 for aurora in Fort McMurray?

By darkness and moon alone, Dec 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 December or January better in Fort McMurray?

By civil night times the clear share, December scores 4.8 hours at Fort McMurray and January 5.0. January comes out ahead.

Fort McMurray · December 2026

Northern lights in Fort McMurray in December 2026

Answer

December gives Fort McMurray 15.4 hours of civil night on the 15th, the darkest month of its year, under 69% mean cloud. 70% of December days since 1996 reached Kp 2, enough for the oval edge to reach Fort McMurray.

15.4 h

civil night, average night

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

December 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

December cloud at Fort McMurray averages 69% 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, December scores 4.8 hours at Fort McMurray, 2nd of 12. Edmonton, 377 km away, averages 72%, cloudier by 3 points.

Civil night at Fort McMurray starts December at 15 h 5 min and reaches 15 h 21 min by December 31 as the nights lengthen by 0.3 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 12.2 hours on the 15th.

December night by night

December opens toward a new moon on Dec 8, with full moon on Dec 23, in America/Edmonton dates. Fort McMurray gets 257 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: Dec 1 (4 h), Dec 2 (4 h), Dec 3 (4 h).

1
40% lit
8.5 h
2
30% lit
9.9 h
3
21% lit
11.3 h
4
13% lit
12.8 h
5
7% lit
14.2 h
6
3% lit
15.3 h
7
1% lit
15.3 h
8
0% lit
15.3 h
New
9
1% lit
15.3 h
10
4% lit
15.3 h
11
9% lit
14.3 h
12
15% lit
12.9 h
13
22% lit
11.6 h
14
31% lit
10.3 h
15
40% lit
8.9 h
16
50% lit
7.6 h
17
61% lit
6.3 h
18
71% lit
4.8 h
19
80% lit
3.2 h
20
88% lit
1.6 h
21
95% lit
0.0 h
22
99% lit
0.0 h
23
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
24
98% lit
0.0 h
25
93% lit
1.4 h
26
86% lit
3.1 h
27
77% lit
4.7 h
28
66% lit
6.2 h
29
56% lit
7.6 h
30
45% lit
9.0 h
31
35% lit
10.4 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 Decembers

Fort McMurray needs Kp 2 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 648 of the 930 December days from 1996 to 2025 (70%) 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 5%. 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.

December across Canada

Fort McMurray ranks 3rd in Canada for civil night on December 15, behind Yellowknife at 16.6 hours. Coming from November (14.3 hours at Fort McMurray), December adds darkness, and January brings shorter nights (14.8 hours on the 15th). The December solstice falls on December 21, 14:49 Fort McMurray time.

Civil night on December 15 and December cloud, month-page towns in Canada
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Yellowknife	16.6 h	58%
Whitehorse	16.2 h	68%
Fort McMurray	15.4 h	69%
Fort St. John	15.4 h	69%
Grande Prairie	15.2 h	71%
Edmonton	15.0 h	72%
Prince Albert	14.9 h	70%
Lloydminster	14.9 h	71%
Saskatoon	14.8 h	70%
Red Deer	14.8 h	74%
Calgary	14.6 h	68%
Regina	14.6 h	72%

Darkness and moon, every night

Fort McMurray, December 2026: each night from local noon to the next noon
Night	Civil	Astronomical	Moon-free dark	Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM	Moon lit
Tue Dec 1	15 h 5 min	11 h 56 min	8 h 32 min	4 h	40%
Wed Dec 2	15 h 7 min	11 h 58 min	9 h 57 min	4 h	30%
Thu Dec 3	15 h 9 min	12 h	11 h 21 min	4 h	21%
Fri Dec 4	15 h 11 min	12 h 1 min	12 h 46 min	4 h	13%
Sat Dec 5	15 h 13 min	12 h 3 min	14 h 11 min	4 h	7%
Sun Dec 6	15 h 15 min	12 h 4 min	15 h 15 min	4 h	3%
Mon Dec 7	15 h 16 min	12 h 6 min	15 h 16 min	4 h	1%
Tue Dec 8	15 h 18 min	12 h 7 min	15 h 18 min	4 h	0%
Wed Dec 9	15 h 19 min	12 h 8 min	15 h 19 min	4 h	1%
Thu Dec 10	15 h 21 min	12 h 9 min	15 h 21 min	4 h	4%
Fri Dec 11	15 h 22 min	12 h 10 min	14 h 15 min	4 h	9%
Sat Dec 12	15 h 23 min	12 h 11 min	12 h 55 min	4 h	15%
Sun Dec 13	15 h 24 min	12 h 12 min	11 h 35 min	4 h	22%
Mon Dec 14	15 h 25 min	12 h 12 min	10 h 16 min	3 h 13 min	31%
Tue Dec 15	15 h 25 min	12 h 13 min	8 h 57 min	1 h 54 min	40%
Wed Dec 16	15 h 26 min	12 h 13 min	7 h 38 min	33 min	50%
Thu Dec 17	15 h 27 min	12 h 14 min	6 h 15 min	0 min	61%
Fri Dec 18	15 h 27 min	12 h 14 min	4 h 48 min	0 min	71%
Sat Dec 19	15 h 27 min	12 h 14 min	3 h 14 min	0 min	80%
Sun Dec 20	15 h 27 min	12 h 14 min	1 h 35 min	0 min	88%
Mon Dec 21	15 h 27 min	12 h 14 min	0 min	0 min	95%
Tue Dec 22	15 h 27 min	12 h 14 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Wed Dec 23	15 h 27 min	12 h 14 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Thu Dec 24	15 h 27 min	12 h 14 min	0 min	0 min	98%
Fri Dec 25	15 h 26 min	12 h 13 min	1 h 25 min	0 min	93%
Sat Dec 26	15 h 26 min	12 h 13 min	3 h 7 min	0 min	86%
Sun Dec 27	15 h 25 min	12 h 12 min	4 h 42 min	27 min	77%
Mon Dec 28	15 h 24 min	12 h 12 min	6 h 12 min	1 h 58 min	66%
Tue Dec 29	15 h 23 min	12 h 11 min	7 h 38 min	3 h 24 min	56%
Wed Dec 30	15 h 22 min	12 h 10 min	9 h 2 min	4 h	45%
Thu Dec 31	15 h 21 min	12 h 9 min	10 h 26 min	4 h	35%

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 December?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Fort McMurray have civil darkness, and 70% of past December days reached Kp 2.
How dark is Fort McMurray in December?: Fort McMurray averages 15.4 hours of civil night a night in December 2026, from 15 h 5 min on the 1st to 15 h 21 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Fort McMurray in December?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Fort McMurray's 1 degree cell 69% mean cloud in December, against 68% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in December 2026 for aurora in Fort McMurray?: By darkness and moon alone, Dec 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 December or January better in Fort McMurray?: By civil night times the clear share, December scores 4.8 hours at Fort McMurray and January 5.0. January 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.