Can you see the northern lights in Fort St. John in January?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Fort St. John have civil darkness, and 48% of past January days reached Kp 3.

How dark is Fort St. John in January?

Fort St. John averages 14.7 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 15 h 15 min on the 1st to 13 h 55 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Fort St. John in January?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Fort St. John's 1 degree cell 70% mean cloud in January, against 67% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in January 2027 for aurora in Fort St. John?

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

Is January or February better in Fort St. John?

By civil night times the clear share, January scores 4.4 hours at Fort St. John and February 4.3. January comes out ahead.

Fort St. John · January 2027

Northern lights in Fort St. John in January 2027

Answer

January gives Fort St. John 14.8 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 2nd darkest of its 12 months, under 70% mean cloud. 48% of January days since 1996 reached Kp 3, enough for the oval edge to reach Fort St. John.

14.7 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 56.25, -120.85; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

January against the rest of the year

4.4

4.3

3.5

2.7

1.9

1.3

1.8

2.7

3.5

3.9

4.8

January cloud at Fort St. John averages 70% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 3 points cloudier than its yearly mean. July is Fort St. John's clearest month at 63%. By civil night times clear sky, January scores 4.4 hours at Fort St. John, 2nd of 12. Grande Prairie, 176 km away, averages 71%, cloudier by 1 points.

Civil night at Fort St. John starts January at 15 h 15 min and reaches 13 h 55 min by January 31, 1.3 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 11.7 hours on the 15th.

January night by night

January opens toward a new moon on Jan 7, with full moon on Jan 22, in America/Dawson_Creek dates. Fort St. John gets 255 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: Jan 1 (4 h), Jan 2 (4 h), Jan 3 (4 h).

1
26% lit
11.8 h
2
18% lit
13.1 h
3
11% lit
14.3 h
4
6% lit
15.2 h
5
2% lit
15.2 h
6
0% lit
15.1 h
7
0% lit
15.1 h
New
8
2% lit
15.1 h
9
5% lit
13.7 h
10
10% lit
12.4 h
11
17% lit
11.1 h
12
25% lit
9.8 h
13
34% lit
8.4 h
14
44% lit
7.0 h
15
55% lit
5.5 h
16
66% lit
4.0 h
17
76% lit
2.4 h
18
85% lit
1.0 h
19
93% lit
0.0 h
20
98% lit
0.0 h
21
100% lit
0.0 h
22
99% lit
0.0 h
Full
23
95% lit
1.5 h
24
89% lit
3.0 h
25
81% lit
4.5 h
26
72% lit
6.0 h
27
62% lit
7.4 h
28
52% lit
8.8 h
29
42% lit
10.1 h
30
32% lit
11.4 h
31
24% lit
12.5 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 Januarys

Fort St. John needs Kp 3 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 443 of the 930 January days from 1996 to 2025 (48%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 8th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 6%. Fort St. John sits at 61.7 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 3.

January across Canada

Fort St. John ranks 3rd in Canada for civil night on January 15, behind Yellowknife at 15.8 hours. Coming from December (15.4 hours at Fort St. John), January loses darkness, and February brings shorter nights (12.9 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on January 15 and January cloud, month-page towns in Canada
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Yellowknife	15.8 h	56%
Whitehorse	15.4 h	67%
Fort St. John	14.8 h	70%
Fort McMurray	14.8 h	66%
Grande Prairie	14.6 h	71%
Edmonton	14.5 h	71%
Prince Albert	14.4 h	68%
Lloydminster	14.4 h	70%
Saskatoon	14.3 h	68%
Red Deer	14.3 h	71%
Calgary	14.2 h	70%
Winnipeg	14.1 h	64%

Darkness and moon, every night

Fort St. John, January 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
Fri Jan 1	15 h 15 min	12 h 6 min	11 h 46 min	4 h	26%
Sat Jan 2	15 h 14 min	12 h 5 min	13 h 7 min	4 h	18%
Sun Jan 3	15 h 12 min	12 h 4 min	14 h 21 min	4 h	11%
Mon Jan 4	15 h 11 min	12 h 3 min	15 h 11 min	4 h	6%
Tue Jan 5	15 h 9 min	12 h 1 min	15 h 9 min	4 h	2%
Wed Jan 6	15 h 7 min	12 h	15 h 7 min	4 h	0%
Thu Jan 7	15 h 5 min	11 h 58 min	15 h 5 min	4 h	0%
Fri Jan 8	15 h 3 min	11 h 57 min	15 h 3 min	4 h	2%
Sat Jan 9	15 h 1 min	11 h 55 min	13 h 44 min	4 h	5%
Sun Jan 10	14 h 59 min	11 h 53 min	12 h 24 min	4 h	10%
Mon Jan 11	14 h 57 min	11 h 51 min	11 h 5 min	4 h	17%
Tue Jan 12	14 h 54 min	11 h 49 min	9 h 46 min	3 h 7 min	25%
Wed Jan 13	14 h 52 min	11 h 47 min	8 h 26 min	1 h 48 min	34%
Thu Jan 14	14 h 49 min	11 h 45 min	7 h 2 min	25 min	44%
Fri Jan 15	14 h 47 min	11 h 43 min	5 h 33 min	0 min	55%
Sat Jan 16	14 h 44 min	11 h 40 min	3 h 59 min	0 min	66%
Sun Jan 17	14 h 41 min	11 h 38 min	2 h 24 min	0 min	76%
Mon Jan 18	14 h 38 min	11 h 36 min	58 min	0 min	85%
Tue Jan 19	14 h 36 min	11 h 33 min	0 min	0 min	93%
Wed Jan 20	14 h 33 min	11 h 31 min	0 min	0 min	98%
Thu Jan 21	14 h 29 min	11 h 28 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Fri Jan 22	14 h 26 min	11 h 25 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Sat Jan 23	14 h 23 min	11 h 22 min	1 h 28 min	0 min	95%
Sun Jan 24	14 h 20 min	11 h 19 min	3 h 2 min	0 min	89%
Mon Jan 25	14 h 16 min	11 h 17 min	4 h 31 min	39 min	81%
Tue Jan 26	14 h 13 min	11 h 14 min	5 h 58 min	2 h 7 min	72%
Wed Jan 27	14 h 10 min	11 h 10 min	7 h 22 min	3 h 33 min	62%
Thu Jan 28	14 h 6 min	11 h 7 min	8 h 46 min	4 h	52%
Fri Jan 29	14 h 2 min	11 h 4 min	10 h 8 min	4 h	42%
Sat Jan 30	13 h 59 min	11 h 1 min	11 h 26 min	4 h	32%
Sun Jan 31	13 h 55 min	10 h 58 min	12 h 32 min	4 h	24%

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 St. John in January?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Fort St. John have civil darkness, and 48% of past January days reached Kp 3.
How dark is Fort St. John in January?: Fort St. John averages 14.7 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 15 h 15 min on the 1st to 13 h 55 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Fort St. John in January?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Fort St. John's 1 degree cell 70% mean cloud in January, against 67% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in January 2027 for aurora in Fort St. John?: By darkness and moon alone, Jan 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Fort St. John. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is January or February better in Fort St. John?: By civil night times the clear share, January scores 4.4 hours at Fort St. John and February 4.3. 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.