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Greater Sudbury · April 2027

Northern lights in Greater Sudbury in April 2027

Answer

April gives Greater Sudbury 9.2 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 8th darkest of its 12 months, under 64% mean cloud. 4% of April days since 1996 reached Kp 6, enough for the oval edge to reach Greater Sudbury.
9.2 h
civil night, average night
SunCalc for 46.49, -80.99; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

April against the rest of the year

April cloud at Greater Sudbury averages 64% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, close to its yearly mean of 65%. July is Greater Sudbury's clearest month at 54%. By civil night times clear sky, April scores 3.3 hours at Greater Sudbury, 8th of 12. Buffalo, 434 km away, averages 69%, cloudier by 5 points.

Civil night at Greater Sudbury starts April at 10 h 2 min and reaches 8 h 25 min by April 30, 1.6 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 6.5 hours on the 15th.

April night by night

April opens toward a new moon on Apr 6, with full moon on Apr 20, in America/Toronto dates. Greater Sudbury gets 146 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: Apr 1 (4 h), Apr 2 (4 h), Apr 3 (4 h).

  1. 1

    22% lit

    8.8 h

  2. 2

    15% lit

    9.1 h

  3. 3

    8% lit

    9.4 h

  4. 4

    4% lit

    9.6 h

  5. 5

    1% lit

    9.8 h

  6. 6

    0% lit

    9.8 h

  7. 7

    2% lit

    9.0 h

  8. 8

    6% lit

    7.7 h

  9. 9

    12% lit

    6.3 h

  10. 10

    20% lit

    5.1 h

  11. 11

    30% lit

    4.0 h

  12. 12

    41% lit

    3.1 h

  13. 13

    53% lit

    2.5 h

  14. 14

    64% lit

    1.9 h

  15. 15

    74% lit

    1.5 h

  16. 16

    84% lit

    1.1 h

  17. 17

    91% lit

    0.8 h

  18. 18

    96% lit

    0.4 h

  19. 19

    99% lit

    0.1 h

  20. 20

    100% lit

    0.0 h

  21. 21

    98% lit

    0.9 h

  22. 22

    94% lit

    2.1 h

  23. 23

    89% lit

    3.2 h

  24. 24

    82% lit

    4.1 h

  25. 25

    74% lit

    4.8 h

  26. 26

    66% lit

    5.4 h

  27. 27

    57% lit

    5.9 h

  28. 28

    47% lit

    6.2 h

  29. 29

    38% lit

    6.5 h

  30. 30

    29% lit

    6.8 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 Aprils

Greater Sudbury needs Kp 6 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 37 of the 900 April days from 1996 to 2025 (4%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 5th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 12%. 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.

April across Canada

Greater Sudbury ranks 2nd in Canada for civil night on April 15, behind Sydney at 9.3 hours. Coming from March (11.0 hours at Greater Sudbury), April loses darkness, and May brings shorter nights (7.7 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on April 15 and April cloud, month-page towns in Canada
TownCivil nightCloud
Sydney9.3 h73%
Greater Sudbury9.2 h64%
Québec9.2 h67%
Trois-Rivières9.2 h66%
St. John's9.2 h77%
Saguenay9.1 h70%
Thunder Bay9.1 h69%
Lethbridge9.0 h68%
Winnipeg8.9 h61%
Regina8.9 h67%
Kelowna8.9 h71%
Kamloops8.9 h72%

Darkness and moon, every night

Greater Sudbury, April 2027: each night from local noon to the next noon
NightCivilAstronomicalMoon-free darkMoon-free, 10 PM to 2 AMMoon lit
Thu Apr 110 h 2 min7 h 32 min8 h 50 min4 h22%
Fri Apr 29 h 59 min7 h 28 min9 h 7 min4 h15%
Sat Apr 39 h 55 min7 h 24 min9 h 23 min4 h8%
Sun Apr 49 h 52 min7 h 20 min9 h 38 min4 h4%
Mon Apr 59 h 49 min7 h 16 min9 h 49 min4 h1%
Tue Apr 69 h 45 min7 h 12 min9 h 45 min4 h0%
Wed Apr 79 h 42 min7 h 7 min8 h 58 min4 h2%
Thu Apr 89 h 38 min7 h 3 min7 h 39 min3 h 24 min6%
Fri Apr 99 h 35 min6 h 59 min6 h 19 min2 h 6 min12%
Sat Apr 109 h 31 min6 h 55 min5 h 4 min53 min20%
Sun Apr 119 h 28 min6 h 50 min3 h 59 min0 min30%
Mon Apr 129 h 25 min6 h 46 min3 h 7 min0 min41%
Tue Apr 139 h 21 min6 h 42 min2 h 27 min0 min53%
Wed Apr 149 h 18 min6 h 37 min1 h 55 min0 min64%
Thu Apr 159 h 14 min6 h 33 min1 h 29 min0 min74%
Fri Apr 169 h 11 min6 h 29 min1 h 7 min0 min84%
Sat Apr 179 h 8 min6 h 24 min46 min0 min91%
Sun Apr 189 h 4 min6 h 20 min25 min0 min96%
Mon Apr 199 h 1 min6 h 15 min3 min0 min99%
Tue Apr 208 h 58 min6 h 11 min0 min0 min100%
Wed Apr 218 h 54 min6 h 6 min56 min0 min98%
Thu Apr 228 h 51 min6 h 2 min2 h 6 min1 h 3 min94%
Fri Apr 238 h 48 min5 h 57 min3 h 10 min2 h 9 min89%
Sat Apr 248 h 44 min5 h 53 min4 h 5 min3 h 5 min82%
Sun Apr 258 h 41 min5 h 48 min4 h 50 min3 h 51 min74%
Mon Apr 268 h 38 min5 h 43 min5 h 25 min4 h66%
Tue Apr 278 h 34 min5 h 39 min5 h 52 min4 h57%
Wed Apr 288 h 31 min5 h 34 min6 h 13 min4 h47%
Thu Apr 298 h 28 min5 h 29 min6 h 31 min4 h38%
Fri Apr 308 h 25 min5 h 25 min6 h 47 min4 h29%
Moon lit: SunCalc illuminated fraction at the middle of the 10 PM to 2 AM window.

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Greater Sudbury in April?
On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Greater Sudbury have civil darkness, and 4% of past April days reached Kp 6.
How dark is Greater Sudbury in April?
Greater Sudbury averages 9.2 hours of civil night a night in April 2027, from 10 h 2 min on the 1st to 8 h 25 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Greater Sudbury in April?
NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Greater Sudbury's 1 degree cell 64% mean cloud in April, against 65% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in April 2027 for aurora in Greater Sudbury?
By darkness and moon alone, Apr 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Greater Sudbury. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is April or May better in Greater Sudbury?
By civil night times the clear share, April scores 3.3 hours at Greater Sudbury and May 2.8. April 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.