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

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Fort McMurray have civil darkness, and 74% of past May days reached Kp 2.

How dark is Fort McMurray in May?

Fort McMurray averages 5.5 hours of civil night a night in May 2027, from 6 h 47 min on the 1st to 4 h 24 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Fort McMurray in May?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Fort McMurray's 1 degree cell 63% mean cloud in May, against 68% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

By darkness and moon alone, May 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 May or June better in Fort McMurray?

By civil night times the clear share, May scores 2.1 hours at Fort McMurray and June 1.1. May comes out ahead.

Fort McMurray · May 2027

Northern lights in Fort McMurray in May 2027

Answer

May gives Fort McMurray 5.6 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 10th darkest of its 12 months, under 63% mean cloud. 74% of May days since 1996 reached Kp 2, enough for the oval edge to reach Fort McMurray.

5.5 h

civil night, average night

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

May 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

May cloud at Fort McMurray averages 63% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 5 points clearer than its yearly mean. No month at Fort McMurray is clearer. By civil night times clear sky, May scores 2.1 hours at Fort McMurray, 10th of 12. Edmonton, 377 km away, averages the same 63%.

Civil night at Fort McMurray starts May at 6 h 47 min and reaches 4 h 24 min by May 31, 2.4 hours shorter. The 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on 2 of 31 nights. The sun never reaches 18 degrees down, so Fort McMurray gets no astronomical night in May.

May night by night

May opens toward a new moon on May 6, with full moon on May 20, in America/Edmonton dates. Fort McMurray gets 89 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: May 1 (4 h), May 2 (3 h 59 min), May 3 (3 h 56 min).

1
19% lit
6.3 h
2
12% lit
6.4 h
3
6% lit
6.5 h
4
2% lit
6.5 h
5
0% lit
6.4 h
6
1% lit
5.8 h
New
7
4% lit
4.3 h
8
10% lit
3.1 h
9
19% lit
2.3 h
10
28% lit
1.8 h
11
39% lit
1.4 h
12
51% lit
1.2 h
13
62% lit
1.0 h
14
72% lit
0.9 h
15
81% lit
0.7 h
16
89% lit
0.6 h
17
95% lit
0.4 h
18
98% lit
0.1 h
19
100% lit
0.0 h
20
99% lit
0.5 h
Full
21
97% lit
1.5 h
22
92% lit
2.3 h
23
87% lit
2.7 h
24
80% lit
3.0 h
25
72% lit
3.1 h
26
63% lit
3.2 h
27
53% lit
3.3 h
28
44% lit
3.3 h
29
34% lit
3.4 h
30
25% lit
3.5 h
31
16% lit
3.6 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 Mays

Fort McMurray needs Kp 2 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 689 of the 930 May days from 1996 to 2025 (74%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 9th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 10%. 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.

May across Canada

Fort McMurray ranks 21st in Canada for civil night on May 15, behind Greater Sudbury at 7.7 hours. Coming from April (8.2 hours at Fort McMurray), May loses darkness, and June brings shorter nights (3.8 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on May 15 and May cloud, month-page towns in Canada
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Greater Sudbury	7.7 h	64%
Trois-Rivières	7.7 h	66%
Sydney	7.7 h	72%
Québec	7.6 h	69%
St. John's	7.5 h	77%
Saguenay	7.4 h	71%
Thunder Bay	7.4 h	73%
Lethbridge	7.2 h	65%
Winnipeg	7.1 h	60%
Kelowna	7.1 h	68%
Regina	7.0 h	62%
Kamloops	7.0 h	70%
Fort McMurray	5.6 h	63%

Darkness and moon, every night

Fort McMurray, May 2027: each night from local noon to the next noon
Night	Civil	Moon-free dark	Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM	Moon lit
Sat May 1	6 h 47 min	6 h 18 min	4 h	19%
Sun May 2	6 h 41 min	6 h 22 min	3 h 59 min	12%
Mon May 3	6 h 36 min	6 h 27 min	3 h 56 min	6%
Tue May 4	6 h 31 min	6 h 31 min	3 h 54 min	2%
Wed May 5	6 h 26 min	6 h 26 min	3 h 51 min	0%
Thu May 6	6 h 21 min	5 h 49 min	3 h 17 min	1%
Fri May 7	6 h 16 min	4 h 18 min	1 h 48 min	4%
Sat May 8	6 h 10 min	3 h 5 min	38 min	10%
Sun May 9	6 h 5 min	2 h 16 min	0 min	19%
Mon May 10	6 h	1 h 46 min	0 min	28%
Tue May 11	5 h 55 min	1 h 26 min	0 min	39%
Wed May 12	5 h 50 min	1 h 13 min	0 min	51%
Thu May 13	5 h 45 min	1 h 2 min	0 min	62%
Fri May 14	5 h 40 min	52 min	0 min	72%
Sat May 15	5 h 35 min	43 min	0 min	81%
Sun May 16	5 h 30 min	34 min	0 min	89%
Mon May 17	5 h 25 min	22 min	0 min	95%
Tue May 18	5 h 20 min	7 min	0 min	98%
Wed May 19	5 h 16 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Thu May 20	5 h 11 min	31 min	31 min	99%
Fri May 21	5 h 6 min	1 h 32 min	1 h 32 min	97%
Sat May 22	5 h 2 min	2 h 15 min	2 h 15 min	92%
Sun May 23	4 h 57 min	2 h 41 min	2 h 41 min	87%
Mon May 24	4 h 53 min	2 h 57 min	2 h 57 min	80%
Tue May 25	4 h 48 min	3 h 6 min	3 h 2 min	72%
Wed May 26	4 h 44 min	3 h 12 min	2 h 59 min	63%
Thu May 27	4 h 40 min	3 h 17 min	2 h 57 min	53%
Fri May 28	4 h 36 min	3 h 20 min	2 h 55 min	44%
Sat May 29	4 h 32 min	3 h 24 min	2 h 53 min	34%
Sun May 30	4 h 28 min	3 h 28 min	2 h 51 min	25%
Mon May 31	4 h 24 min	3 h 35 min	2 h 49 min	16%

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 May?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Fort McMurray have civil darkness, and 74% of past May days reached Kp 2.
How dark is Fort McMurray in May?: Fort McMurray averages 5.5 hours of civil night a night in May 2027, from 6 h 47 min on the 1st to 4 h 24 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Fort McMurray in May?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Fort McMurray's 1 degree cell 63% mean cloud in May, against 68% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in May 2027 for aurora in Fort McMurray?: By darkness and moon alone, May 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 May or June better in Fort McMurray?: By civil night times the clear share, May scores 2.1 hours at Fort McMurray and June 1.1. May 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.