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

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Fort McMurray have civil darkness, and 83% of past September days reached Kp 2.

How dark is Fort McMurray in September?

Fort McMurray averages 9.9 hours of civil night a night in September 2027, from 8 h 41 min on the 1st to 11 h 3 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Fort McMurray in September?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Fort McMurray's 1 degree cell 64% mean cloud in September, against 68% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

By darkness and moon alone, Sep 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 September or October better in Fort McMurray?

By civil night times the clear share, September scores 3.6 hours at Fort McMurray and October 3.5. September comes out ahead.

Fort McMurray · September 2027

Northern lights in Fort McMurray in September 2027

Answer

September gives Fort McMurray 9.9 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 7th darkest of its 12 months, under 64% mean cloud. 83% of September days since 1996 reached Kp 2, enough for the oval edge to reach Fort McMurray.

9.9 h

civil night, average night

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

September 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

September cloud at Fort McMurray averages 64% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 4 points clearer than its yearly mean. May is Fort McMurray's clearest month at 63%. By civil night times clear sky, September scores 3.6 hours at Fort McMurray, 4th of 12. Edmonton, 377 km away, averages 60%, clearer by 4 points.

Civil night at Fort McMurray starts September at 8 h 41 min and reaches 11 h 3 min by September 30 as the nights lengthen by 2.4 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 6.6 hours on the 15th.

September night by night

Full moon comes first, on Sep 15, then the new moon on Sep 29, in America/Edmonton dates. Fort McMurray gets 151 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: Sep 1 (4 h), Sep 2 (4 h), Sep 3 (4 h).

1
3% lit
8.7 h
2
9% lit
8.8 h
3
16% lit
8.8 h
4
25% lit
8.9 h
5
35% lit
9.0 h
6
45% lit
8.6 h
7
55% lit
8.0 h
8
64% lit
7.0 h
9
73% lit
5.9 h
10
81% lit
4.6 h
11
88% lit
3.3 h
12
93% lit
2.0 h
13
97% lit
0.8 h
14
99% lit
0.0 h
15
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
16
98% lit
0.0 h
17
95% lit
0.0 h
18
89% lit
0.0 h
19
82% lit
0.0 h
20
73% lit
0.1 h
21
63% lit
0.7 h
22
52% lit
1.6 h
23
41% lit
3.0 h
24
30% lit
4.6 h
25
20% lit
6.3 h
26
11% lit
8.0 h
27
5% lit
9.6 h
28
1% lit
10.9 h
29
0% lit
11.0 h
New
30
2% lit
11.1 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 Septembers

Fort McMurray needs Kp 2 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 745 of the 900 September days from 1996 to 2025 (83%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, one of the three most active months for that level; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 14%. 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.

September across Canada

Fort McMurray ranks 20th in Canada for civil night on September 15, behind Québec at 10.4 hours. Coming from August (7.3 hours at Fort McMurray), September adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into October (12.2 hours on the 15th). The September equinox falls on September 22, 23:56 Fort McMurray time, inside the weeks SWPC links with larger storms.

Civil night on September 15 and September cloud, month-page towns in Canada
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Québec	10.4 h	57%
Greater Sudbury	10.4 h	58%
Trois-Rivières	10.4 h	56%
Sydney	10.4 h	64%
Saguenay	10.3 h	65%
St. John's	10.3 h	69%
Thunder Bay	10.3 h	65%
Calgary	10.2 h	62%
Winnipeg	10.2 h	55%
Regina	10.2 h	55%
Kelowna	10.2 h	53%
Kamloops	10.2 h	58%
Fort McMurray	9.9 h	64%

Darkness and moon, every night

Fort McMurray, September 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
Wed Sep 1	8 h 41 min	4 h 58 min	8 h 41 min	4 h	3%
Thu Sep 2	8 h 46 min	5 h 5 min	8 h 46 min	4 h	9%
Fri Sep 3	8 h 51 min	5 h 13 min	8 h 51 min	4 h	16%
Sat Sep 4	8 h 56 min	5 h 20 min	8 h 56 min	4 h	25%
Sun Sep 5	9 h 1 min	5 h 28 min	9 h 1 min	4 h	35%
Mon Sep 6	9 h 6 min	5 h 35 min	8 h 37 min	4 h	45%
Tue Sep 7	9 h 11 min	5 h 42 min	7 h 59 min	3 h 59 min	55%
Wed Sep 8	9 h 16 min	5 h 49 min	7 h 3 min	3 h 1 min	64%
Thu Sep 9	9 h 21 min	5 h 56 min	5 h 53 min	1 h 50 min	73%
Fri Sep 10	9 h 26 min	6 h 3 min	4 h 37 min	31 min	81%
Sat Sep 11	9 h 31 min	6 h 10 min	3 h 20 min	0 min	88%
Sun Sep 12	9 h 36 min	6 h 16 min	2 h 3 min	0 min	93%
Mon Sep 13	9 h 41 min	6 h 23 min	47 min	0 min	97%
Tue Sep 14	9 h 46 min	6 h 29 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Wed Sep 15	9 h 51 min	6 h 35 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Thu Sep 16	9 h 56 min	6 h 42 min	0 min	0 min	98%
Fri Sep 17	10 h 1 min	6 h 48 min	0 min	0 min	95%
Sat Sep 18	10 h 6 min	6 h 54 min	0 min	0 min	89%
Sun Sep 19	10 h 11 min	7 h	0 min	0 min	82%
Mon Sep 20	10 h 15 min	7 h 6 min	4 min	0 min	73%
Tue Sep 21	10 h 20 min	7 h 12 min	41 min	0 min	63%
Wed Sep 22	10 h 25 min	7 h 18 min	1 h 39 min	0 min	52%
Thu Sep 23	10 h 30 min	7 h 24 min	3 h	1 h 3 min	41%
Fri Sep 24	10 h 35 min	7 h 29 min	4 h 35 min	2 h 36 min	30%
Sat Sep 25	10 h 40 min	7 h 35 min	6 h 16 min	4 h	20%
Sun Sep 26	10 h 44 min	7 h 41 min	7 h 57 min	4 h	11%
Mon Sep 27	10 h 49 min	7 h 46 min	9 h 36 min	4 h	5%
Tue Sep 28	10 h 54 min	7 h 52 min	10 h 54 min	4 h	1%
Wed Sep 29	10 h 59 min	7 h 57 min	10 h 59 min	4 h	0%
Thu Sep 30	11 h 3 min	8 h 2 min	11 h 3 min	4 h	2%

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 September?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Fort McMurray have civil darkness, and 83% of past September days reached Kp 2.
How dark is Fort McMurray in September?: Fort McMurray averages 9.9 hours of civil night a night in September 2027, from 8 h 41 min on the 1st to 11 h 3 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Fort McMurray in September?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Fort McMurray's 1 degree cell 64% mean cloud in September, against 68% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in September 2027 for aurora in Fort McMurray?: By darkness and moon alone, Sep 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 September or October better in Fort McMurray?: By civil night times the clear share, September scores 3.6 hours at Fort McMurray and October 3.5. September 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.