Can you see the northern lights in Idaho Falls in January?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Idaho Falls have civil darkness, and 0% of past January days reached Kp 8.

How dark is Idaho Falls in January?

Idaho Falls averages 13.5 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 13 h 48 min on the 1st to 13 h on the last night.

How cloudy is Idaho Falls in January?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Idaho Falls's 1 degree cell 73% mean cloud in January, against 56% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in January 2027 for aurora in Idaho Falls?

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

Is January or February better in Idaho Falls?

By civil night times the clear share, January scores 3.6 hours at Idaho Falls and February 3.3. January comes out ahead.

Idaho Falls · January 2027

Northern lights in Idaho Falls in January 2027

Answer

January gives Idaho Falls 13.5 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 2nd darkest of its 12 months, under 73% mean cloud. 0% of January days since 1996 reached Kp 8, enough for the oval edge to reach Idaho Falls.

13.5 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 43.47, -112.03; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

January against the rest of the year

3.6

3.3

3.5

3.6

3.5

4.0

5.2

5.7

6.4

5.7

4.9

3.5

January cloud at Idaho Falls averages 73% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 17 points cloudier than its yearly mean. July is Idaho Falls's clearest month at 33%. By civil night times clear sky, January scores 3.6 hours at Idaho Falls, 7th of 12. Lethbridge, 696 km away, averages 71%, clearer by 2 points.

Civil night at Idaho Falls starts January at 13 h 48 min and reaches 13 h by January 31, 0.8 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 11.2 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/Boise dates. Idaho Falls gets 230 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
10.0 h
2
18% lit
11.1 h
3
11% lit
12.2 h
4
6% lit
13.1 h
5
2% lit
13.7 h
6
0% lit
13.7 h
7
0% lit
13.7 h
New
8
2% lit
13.4 h
9
5% lit
12.3 h
10
10% lit
11.3 h
11
17% lit
10.2 h
12
25% lit
9.1 h
13
34% lit
8.0 h
14
44% lit
6.9 h
15
55% lit
5.7 h
16
66% lit
4.4 h
17
76% lit
3.1 h
18
85% lit
1.9 h
19
93% lit
0.8 h
20
98% lit
0.0 h
21
100% lit
0.0 h
22
99% lit
0.0 h
Full
23
95% lit
1.4 h
24
89% lit
2.6 h
25
81% lit
3.9 h
26
72% lit
5.1 h
27
62% lit
6.2 h
28
52% lit
7.4 h
29
42% lit
8.5 h
30
32% lit
9.5 h
31
24% lit
10.5 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

Idaho Falls needs Kp 8 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 2 of the 930 January days from 1996 to 2025 (0%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 9th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 6%. Idaho Falls sits at 50.3 degrees geomagnetic. The lowest NOAA storm level whose typical viewing latitude reaches it is G3 (Kp = 7). By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead only at Kp 8.

January across United States

Idaho Falls ranks 9th in United States for civil night on January 15, behind Fairbanks at 16.3 hours. Coming from December (13.9 hours at Idaho Falls), January loses darkness, and February brings shorter nights (12.4 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on January 15 and January cloud, month-page towns in United States
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Fairbanks	16.3 h	55%
Anchorage	15.5 h	65%
Eagle River	15.5 h	65%
Juneau	15.1 h	80%
Seattle	13.9 h	80%
Duluth	13.8 h	63%
Fargo	13.8 h	62%
Minneapolis	13.6 h	62%
Idaho Falls	13.5 h	73%
Buffalo	13.5 h	85%
Portland, Maine	13.5 h	65%

Darkness and moon, every night

Idaho Falls, 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	13 h 48 min	11 h 27 min	10 h 2 min	4 h	26%
Sat Jan 2	13 h 47 min	11 h 26 min	11 h 8 min	4 h	18%
Sun Jan 3	13 h 46 min	11 h 25 min	12 h 10 min	4 h	11%
Mon Jan 4	13 h 45 min	11 h 24 min	13 h 6 min	4 h	6%
Tue Jan 5	13 h 44 min	11 h 23 min	13 h 44 min	4 h	2%
Wed Jan 6	13 h 43 min	11 h 23 min	13 h 43 min	4 h	0%
Thu Jan 7	13 h 42 min	11 h 22 min	13 h 42 min	4 h	0%
Fri Jan 8	13 h 41 min	11 h 21 min	13 h 25 min	4 h	2%
Sat Jan 9	13 h 39 min	11 h 20 min	12 h 20 min	4 h	5%
Sun Jan 10	13 h 38 min	11 h 18 min	11 h 15 min	4 h	10%
Mon Jan 11	13 h 37 min	11 h 17 min	10 h 11 min	4 h	17%
Tue Jan 12	13 h 35 min	11 h 16 min	9 h 6 min	3 h 42 min	25%
Wed Jan 13	13 h 34 min	11 h 15 min	8 h	2 h 36 min	34%
Thu Jan 14	13 h 32 min	11 h 13 min	6 h 52 min	1 h 28 min	44%
Fri Jan 15	13 h 31 min	11 h 12 min	5 h 40 min	17 min	55%
Sat Jan 16	13 h 29 min	11 h 11 min	4 h 24 min	0 min	66%
Sun Jan 17	13 h 28 min	11 h 9 min	3 h 7 min	0 min	76%
Mon Jan 18	13 h 26 min	11 h 8 min	1 h 52 min	0 min	85%
Tue Jan 19	13 h 24 min	11 h 6 min	46 min	0 min	93%
Wed Jan 20	13 h 22 min	11 h 5 min	0 min	0 min	98%
Thu Jan 21	13 h 20 min	11 h 3 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Fri Jan 22	13 h 18 min	11 h 1 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Sat Jan 23	13 h 17 min	10 h 59 min	1 h 22 min	0 min	95%
Sun Jan 24	13 h 15 min	10 h 58 min	2 h 39 min	0 min	89%
Mon Jan 25	13 h 13 min	10 h 56 min	3 h 53 min	0 min	81%
Tue Jan 26	13 h 10 min	10 h 54 min	5 h 4 min	1 h 9 min	72%
Wed Jan 27	13 h 8 min	10 h 52 min	6 h 13 min	2 h 20 min	62%
Thu Jan 28	13 h 6 min	10 h 50 min	7 h 22 min	3 h 29 min	52%
Fri Jan 29	13 h 4 min	10 h 48 min	8 h 28 min	4 h	42%
Sat Jan 30	13 h 2 min	10 h 46 min	9 h 32 min	4 h	32%
Sun Jan 31	13 h	10 h 44 min	10 h 30 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 Idaho Falls in January?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Idaho Falls have civil darkness, and 0% of past January days reached Kp 8.
How dark is Idaho Falls in January?: Idaho Falls averages 13.5 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 13 h 48 min on the 1st to 13 h on the last night.
How cloudy is Idaho Falls in January?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Idaho Falls's 1 degree cell 73% mean cloud in January, against 56% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in January 2027 for aurora in Idaho Falls?: By darkness and moon alone, Jan 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Idaho Falls. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is January or February better in Idaho Falls?: By civil night times the clear share, January scores 3.6 hours at Idaho Falls and February 3.3. 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.