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

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Fort McMurray have civil darkness, and 72% of past June days reached Kp 2.

How dark is Fort McMurray in June?

Fort McMurray averages 3.9 hours of civil night a night in June 2027, from 4 h 20 min on the 1st to 3 h 52 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Fort McMurray in June?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Fort McMurray's 1 degree cell 70% mean cloud in June, against 68% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

By darkness and moon alone, Jun 1, with 2 h 47 min of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Fort McMurray. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.

Is June or July better in Fort McMurray?

By civil night times the clear share, June scores 1.1 hours at Fort McMurray and July 1.6. July comes out ahead.

Fort McMurray · June 2027

Northern lights in Fort McMurray in June 2027

Answer

June gives Fort McMurray 3.8 hours of civil night on the 15th, the lightest month of its year, under 70% mean cloud. 72% of June days since 1996 reached Kp 2, enough for the oval edge to reach Fort McMurray.

3.9 h

civil night, average night

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

June 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

June cloud at Fort McMurray averages 70% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 2 points cloudier than its yearly mean. May is Fort McMurray's clearest month at 63%. By civil night times clear sky, June scores 1.1 hours at Fort McMurray, 12th of 12. Edmonton, 377 km away, averages 65%, clearer by 5 points.

Civil night at Fort McMurray starts June at 4 h 20 min and reaches 3 h 52 min by June 30, 0.5 hours shorter. No night keeps the 10 PM to 2 AM window fully dark at Fort McMurray. The sun never reaches 18 degrees down, so Fort McMurray gets no astronomical night in June.

June night by night

June opens toward a new moon on Jun 4, with full moon on Jun 18, in America/Edmonton dates. Fort McMurray gets 51 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: Jun 1 (2 h 47 min), Jun 2 (2 h 45 min), Jun 3 (2 h 43 min).

1
9% lit
3.8 h
2
4% lit
4.0 h
3
1% lit
4.2 h
4
0% lit
4.2 h
New
5
3% lit
3.4 h
6
8% lit
2.8 h
7
16% lit
2.5 h
8
26% lit
2.2 h
9
37% lit
2.0 h
10
48% lit
1.9 h
11
59% lit
1.8 h
12
69% lit
1.6 h
13
78% lit
1.5 h
14
86% lit
1.3 h
15
92% lit
1.0 h
16
97% lit
0.6 h
17
99% lit
0.0 h
18
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
19
99% lit
0.0 h
20
96% lit
0.4 h
21
91% lit
0.6 h
22
85% lit
0.7 h
23
77% lit
0.8 h
24
69% lit
0.9 h
25
60% lit
1.1 h
26
50% lit
1.2 h
27
40% lit
1.3 h
28
29% lit
1.5 h
29
20% lit
1.7 h
30
12% lit
2.1 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 Junes

Fort McMurray needs Kp 2 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 652 of the 900 June days from 1996 to 2025 (72%) 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 8%. 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.

June across Canada

Fort McMurray ranks 21st in Canada for civil night on June 15, behind Greater Sudbury at 6.8 hours. Coming from May (5.6 hours at Fort McMurray), June loses darkness, and the nights keep growing into July (4.7 hours on the 15th). The June solstice falls on June 21, 08:07 Fort McMurray time.

Civil night on June 15 and June cloud, month-page towns in Canada
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Greater Sudbury	6.8 h	60%
Trois-Rivières	6.8 h	63%
Sydney	6.8 h	70%
Québec	6.7 h	65%
St. John's	6.6 h	77%
Saguenay	6.4 h	67%
Thunder Bay	6.4 h	70%
Winnipeg	6.1 h	60%
Kelowna	6.1 h	67%
Lethbridge	6.1 h	60%
Regina	5.9 h	63%
Kamloops	5.9 h	68%
Fort McMurray	3.8 h	70%

Darkness and moon, every night

Fort McMurray, June 2027: each night from local noon to the next noon
Night	Civil	Moon-free dark	Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM	Moon lit
Tue Jun 1	4 h 20 min	3 h 45 min	2 h 47 min	9%
Wed Jun 2	4 h 17 min	4 h 2 min	2 h 45 min	4%
Thu Jun 3	4 h 13 min	4 h 13 min	2 h 43 min	1%
Fri Jun 4	4 h 10 min	4 h 10 min	2 h 41 min	0%
Sat Jun 5	4 h 7 min	3 h 26 min	1 h 58 min	3%
Sun Jun 6	4 h 4 min	2 h 49 min	1 h 23 min	8%
Mon Jun 7	4 h 1 min	2 h 27 min	1 h 2 min	16%
Tue Jun 8	3 h 58 min	2 h 13 min	49 min	26%
Wed Jun 9	3 h 56 min	2 h 2 min	39 min	37%
Thu Jun 10	3 h 54 min	1 h 54 min	32 min	48%
Fri Jun 11	3 h 52 min	1 h 46 min	25 min	59%
Sat Jun 12	3 h 50 min	1 h 38 min	18 min	69%
Sun Jun 13	3 h 48 min	1 h 29 min	10 min	78%
Mon Jun 14	3 h 46 min	1 h 18 min	0 min	86%
Tue Jun 15	3 h 45 min	1 h 1 min	0 min	92%
Wed Jun 16	3 h 44 min	35 min	0 min	97%
Thu Jun 17	3 h 43 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Fri Jun 18	3 h 43 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Sat Jun 19	3 h 42 min	1 min	1 min	99%
Sun Jun 20	3 h 42 min	22 min	22 min	96%
Mon Jun 21	3 h 42 min	35 min	35 min	91%
Tue Jun 22	3 h 42 min	44 min	44 min	85%
Wed Jun 23	3 h 43 min	51 min	51 min	77%
Thu Jun 24	3 h 44 min	57 min	57 min	69%
Fri Jun 25	3 h 45 min	1 h 3 min	1 h 3 min	60%
Sat Jun 26	3 h 46 min	1 h 10 min	1 h 10 min	50%
Sun Jun 27	3 h 47 min	1 h 17 min	1 h 17 min	40%
Mon Jun 28	3 h 49 min	1 h 28 min	1 h 28 min	29%
Tue Jun 29	3 h 50 min	1 h 43 min	1 h 43 min	20%
Wed Jun 30	3 h 52 min	2 h 8 min	2 h 8 min	12%

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 June?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Fort McMurray have civil darkness, and 72% of past June days reached Kp 2.
How dark is Fort McMurray in June?: Fort McMurray averages 3.9 hours of civil night a night in June 2027, from 4 h 20 min on the 1st to 3 h 52 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Fort McMurray in June?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Fort McMurray's 1 degree cell 70% mean cloud in June, against 68% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in June 2027 for aurora in Fort McMurray?: By darkness and moon alone, Jun 1, with 2 h 47 min of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Fort McMurray. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is June or July better in Fort McMurray?: By civil night times the clear share, June scores 1.1 hours at Fort McMurray and July 1.6. July 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.