Ontario, Canada
Northern lights in Greater Sudbury
Answer
Tonight
Waiting on darkness
It is not civil-dark yet. The next dusk is listed below.
Observed 11:55 UTC, forecast 13:26 UTC, 91 min lead
Clock times in America/Toronto
Storm level needed
Greater Sudbury sits at 46.49N 80.99W in Ontario, Canada. The IGRF-14 centered dipole puts Greater Sudbury at 55.6 degrees geomagnetic latitude, 9.1 degrees closer to the magnetic pole than its map latitude suggests. Greater Sudbury sits at 55.6 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 6, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less.
"aurora is commonly visible at high latitudes (northern Michigan and Maine)"
The nearest other Glow towns are Valley East (17 km), North Bay (118 km), Timmins (221 km). Valley East sits 0.2 degrees higher on the dipole and needs the same Kp.
Approximate: SWPC calls its Kp to latitude rule an average, and a centered dipole can differ by a degree from fuller field models. How the storm level is matched
The year in darkness
Every night of 2026 at Greater Sudbury has some civil darkness; the shortest month sample still has 6.8 hours. Every evening of the year at Greater Sudbury clears Glow's dark-season bar of 4 hours of civil night between 18:00 and 06:00. Greater Sudbury's longest night of the year, Dec 16, has 14 h 9 min of civil night.
Solar midnight at Greater Sudbury, when the sun is lowest, falls at 00:19 on local clocks on December 15 and 01:24 on June 15. That is 19 min after midnight in December and 1 h 24 min after midnight in June, the gap set by daylight saving and the equation of time. So at Greater Sudbury the darkest hour sits near the middle of SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window in winter.
Month by month
| Month | Night | Civil | Cloud | Clear dark | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 13.8 h | 11.3 h | 70% | 4.1 h | |
| Feb | 12.5 h | 10.1 h | 66% | 4.3 h | |
| Mar | 11.0 h | 8.6 h | 60% | 4.4 hbest | |
| Apr | 9.2 h | 6.5 h | 64% | 3.3 h | |
| May | 7.7 h | 4.2 h | 64% | 2.8 h | |
| Jun | 6.8 h | 2.3 h | 60% | 2.7 h | |
| Jul | 7.2 h | 3.3 h | 54% | 3.3 h | |
| Aug | 8.6 h | 5.7 h | 56% | 3.8 h | |
| Sep | 10.4 h | 7.9 h | 58% | 4.4 h | |
| Oct | 12.0 h | 9.7 h | 70% | 3.6 h | |
| Nov | 13.4 h | 11.0 h | 77% | 3.1 h | |
| Dec | 14.1 h | 11.6 h | 76% | 3.4 h |
By the 15th-of-the-month sample, December is the darkest month at Greater Sudbury with 14.1 hours of civil night and June the lightest at 6.8. Across the year Greater Sudbury gets 3,849 hours of civil night. Astronomical night at Greater Sudbury, the sun 18 degrees or more below the horizon, lasts 11.6 hours on December 15.
NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology puts mean cloud amount for the 1 degree cell around Greater Sudbury at 65% across the year, from 54% in July to 77% in November. In the months with at least 4 hours of civil night Greater Sudbury averages 65%, against a median of 67% for Glow towns in Canada.
Multiplying civil night by the clear share of the sky gives March the best score, 4.4 hours, ahead of September at 4.4. Greater Sudbury's equinox months score 4.4 in March and 4.4 in September, the weeks SWPC links with larger storms.
Kp history
From 1996 to 2025, the GFZ Potsdam record shows a 3-hour Kp of 6 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge over Greater Sudbury, on 3% of days. At Greater Sudbury's level the share runs from 1% in December to 5% in October, while storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 10%.
Share of UTC days in each calendar month whose highest 3-hour Kp reached Kp 6. Kp history by year
Moon, next 30 nights
Over the 30 nights from Oct 1, the new moon falls on Oct 10 and the full moon on Oct 26, in America/Toronto dates. 15 of the 30 nights at Greater Sudbury have at least 2 moon-free dark hours inside 10 PM to 2 AM, and Oct 5 has the most at 4 h. Tonight Greater Sudbury has 11 h 15 min of civil night, 2 h 4 min of it with the moon down.
- 1
66% lit
2.1 h
- 2
55% lit
3.2 h
- 3
43% lit
4.5 h
- 4
32% lit
5.8 h
- 5
22% lit
7.2 h
- 6
14% lit
8.5 h
- 7
7% lit
9.8 h
- 8
3% lit
11.1 h
- 9
0% lit
11.7 h
- 10
0% lit
11.7 h
- 11
3% lit
11.8 h
- 12
7% lit
11.8 h
- 13
12% lit
11.5 h
- 14
19% lit
10.9 h
- 15
27% lit
10.2 h
- 16
36% lit
9.3 h
- 17
45% lit
8.2 h
- 18
55% lit
7.2 h
- 19
64% lit
6.0 h
- 20
73% lit
4.9 h
- 21
82% lit
3.7 h
- 22
89% lit
2.5 h
- 23
95% lit
1.3 h
- 24
99% lit
0.1 h
- 25
100% lit
0.0 h
- 26
98% lit
0.0 h
- 27
94% lit
0.0 h
- 28
88% lit
0.8 h
- 29
79% lit
1.8 h
- 30
69% lit
3.1 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.
Within Canada
Among the 37 Glow towns in Ontario, Greater Sudbury ranks 5th by dipole latitude against a regional median of 53.0 degrees; Kenora sits highest at 58.2. Among the 130 Glow towns in Canada, Greater Sudbury ranks 60th by dipole latitude against a national median of 55.3 degrees; Yellowknife sits highest at 68.5. On December 15 Greater Sudbury gets 14.1 hours of civil night, 70th longest of 130 in Canada, where the median is 14.2.
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Greater Sudbury?
- Greater Sudbury sits at 55.6 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 6, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less. Clear, dark sky over Greater Sudbury still decides it.
- When is it dark enough in Greater Sudbury?
- Every night at Greater Sudbury has civil darkness. Tonight has 11 h 15 min, and December 15 has 14.1 hours.
- What is the best month for aurora in Greater Sudbury?
- March, by civil night at Greater Sudbury times the clear share of the sky from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 average.
- How cloudy is Greater Sudbury in the dark months?
- About 65% mean cloud amount over Greater Sudbury in the months with at least 4 hours of civil night, from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology.
- How often is activity high enough for Greater Sudbury?
- A 3-hour Kp of 6 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge overhead, occurred on 3% of days from 1996 to 2025 in the GFZ Potsdam record.
Nearby and related
Nearest Glow towns
Greater Sudbury by month
Region and comparisons