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Grande Prairie · January 2027

Northern lights in Grande Prairie in January 2027

Answer

January gives Grande Prairie 14.6 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 2nd darkest of its 12 months, under 71% mean cloud. 48% of January days since 1996 reached Kp 3, enough for the oval edge to reach Grande Prairie.
14.5 h
civil night, average night
SunCalc for 55.17, -118.80; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

January against the rest of the year

January cloud at Grande Prairie averages 71% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 4 points cloudier than its yearly mean. July is Grande Prairie's clearest month at 61%. By civil night times clear sky, January scores 4.2 hours at Grande Prairie, 2nd of 12. Fort St. John, 176 km away, averages 70%, clearer by 1 points.

Civil night at Grande Prairie starts January at 15 h 5 min and reaches 13 h 49 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/Edmonton dates. Grande Prairie gets 253 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. 1

    26% lit

    11.6 h

  2. 2

    18% lit

    12.9 h

  3. 3

    11% lit

    14.1 h

  4. 4

    6% lit

    15.0 h

  5. 5

    2% lit

    15.0 h

  6. 6

    0% lit

    15.0 h

  7. 7

    0% lit

    14.9 h

  8. 8

    2% lit

    14.9 h

  9. 9

    5% lit

    13.6 h

  10. 10

    10% lit

    12.3 h

  11. 11

    17% lit

    11.0 h

  12. 12

    25% lit

    9.7 h

  13. 13

    34% lit

    8.4 h

  14. 14

    44% lit

    7.0 h

  15. 15

    54% lit

    5.6 h

  16. 16

    65% lit

    4.0 h

  17. 17

    75% lit

    2.5 h

  18. 18

    85% lit

    1.1 h

  19. 19

    92% lit

    0.0 h

  20. 20

    98% lit

    0.0 h

  21. 21

    100% lit

    0.0 h

  22. 22

    99% lit

    0.0 h

  23. 23

    96% lit

    1.4 h

  24. 24

    90% lit

    3.0 h

  25. 25

    82% lit

    4.5 h

  26. 26

    72% lit

    5.9 h

  27. 27

    62% lit

    7.2 h

  28. 28

    52% lit

    8.6 h

  29. 29

    42% lit

    9.9 h

  30. 30

    33% lit

    11.2 h

  31. 31

    24% lit

    12.3 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

Grande Prairie 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%. Grande Prairie sits at 60.9 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

Grande Prairie ranks 5th in Canada for civil night on January 15, behind Yellowknife at 15.8 hours. Coming from December (15.2 hours at Grande Prairie), 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
TownCivil nightCloud
Yellowknife15.8 h56%
Whitehorse15.4 h67%
Fort McMurray14.8 h66%
Fort St. John14.8 h70%
Grande Prairie14.6 h71%
Edmonton14.5 h71%
Prince Albert14.4 h68%
Lloydminster14.4 h70%
Saskatoon14.3 h68%
Red Deer14.3 h71%
Calgary14.2 h70%
Winnipeg14.1 h64%

Darkness and moon, every night

Grande Prairie, January 2027: each night from local noon to the next noon
NightCivilAstronomicalMoon-free darkMoon-free, 10 PM to 2 AMMoon lit
Fri Jan 115 h 5 min12 h 3 min11 h 34 min4 h26%
Sat Jan 215 h 4 min12 h 1 min12 h 52 min4 h18%
Sun Jan 315 h 3 min12 h14 h 5 min4 h11%
Mon Jan 415 h 1 min11 h 59 min15 h 1 min4 h6%
Tue Jan 515 h11 h 58 min15 h4 h2%
Wed Jan 614 h 58 min11 h 56 min14 h 58 min4 h0%
Thu Jan 714 h 56 min11 h 55 min14 h 56 min4 h0%
Fri Jan 814 h 54 min11 h 53 min14 h 54 min4 h2%
Sat Jan 914 h 52 min11 h 52 min13 h 35 min4 h5%
Sun Jan 1014 h 50 min11 h 50 min12 h 17 min4 h10%
Mon Jan 1114 h 48 min11 h 48 min10 h 59 min3 h 32 min17%
Tue Jan 1214 h 46 min11 h 46 min9 h 42 min2 h 16 min25%
Wed Jan 1314 h 43 min11 h 44 min8 h 23 min58 min34%
Thu Jan 1414 h 41 min11 h 42 min7 h 1 min0 min44%
Fri Jan 1514 h 39 min11 h 40 min5 h 34 min0 min54%
Sat Jan 1614 h 36 min11 h 38 min4 h 3 min0 min65%
Sun Jan 1714 h 33 min11 h 36 min2 h 30 min0 min75%
Mon Jan 1814 h 31 min11 h 33 min1 h 6 min0 min85%
Tue Jan 1914 h 28 min11 h 31 min2 min0 min92%
Wed Jan 2014 h 25 min11 h 28 min0 min0 min98%
Thu Jan 2114 h 22 min11 h 26 min0 min0 min100%
Fri Jan 2214 h 19 min11 h 23 min0 min0 min99%
Sat Jan 2314 h 16 min11 h 20 min1 h 27 min0 min96%
Sun Jan 2414 h 13 min11 h 18 min2 h 59 min0 min90%
Mon Jan 2514 h 10 min11 h 15 min4 h 27 min1 h 29 min82%
Tue Jan 2614 h 6 min11 h 12 min5 h 52 min2 h 56 min72%
Wed Jan 2714 h 3 min11 h 9 min7 h 14 min4 h62%
Thu Jan 2814 h11 h 6 min8 h 36 min4 h52%
Fri Jan 2913 h 56 min11 h 3 min9 h 56 min4 h42%
Sat Jan 3013 h 53 min11 h11 h 12 min4 h33%
Sun Jan 3113 h 49 min10 h 57 min12 h 17 min4 h24%
Moon lit: SunCalc illuminated fraction at the middle of the 10 PM to 2 AM window.

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Grande Prairie in January?
On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Grande Prairie have civil darkness, and 48% of past January days reached Kp 3.
How dark is Grande Prairie in January?
Grande Prairie averages 14.5 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 15 h 5 min on the 1st to 13 h 49 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Grande Prairie in January?
NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Grande Prairie's 1 degree cell 71% 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 Grande Prairie?
By darkness and moon alone, Jan 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Grande Prairie. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is January or February better in Grande Prairie?
By civil night times the clear share, January scores 4.2 hours at Grande Prairie and February 4.1. January comes out ahead.

Sources and verification

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.