North Dakota, United States
Northern lights in Jamestown
Answer
Tonight
Waiting on darkness
It is not civil-dark yet. The next dusk is listed below.
Observed 11:49 UTC, forecast 13:20 UTC, 91 min lead
Clock times in America/Chicago
Valid 11:00 to 13:00 UTC
Storm level needed
Jamestown sits at 46.91N 98.71W in North Dakota, United States. The IGRF-14 centered dipole puts Jamestown at 55.0 degrees geomagnetic latitude, 8.1 degrees closer to the magnetic pole than its map latitude suggests. Jamestown sits at 55.0 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 Fargo (146 km), Bismarck (158 km), Grand Forks (169 km). Fargo sits 0.1 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 Jamestown has some civil darkness; the shortest month sample still has 6.7 hours. Every evening of the year at Jamestown clears Glow's dark-season bar of 4 hours of civil night between 18:00 and 06:00. Jamestown's longest night of the year, Dec 17, has 14 h 12 min of civil night.
Solar midnight at Jamestown, when the sun is lowest, falls at 00:30 on local clocks on December 15 and 01:35 on June 15. That is 30 min after midnight in December and 1 h 35 min after midnight in June, the gap set by daylight saving and the equation of time. So at Jamestown 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 | 62% | 5.2 h | |
| Feb | 12.5 h | 10.1 h | 60% | 5.0 h | |
| Mar | 11.0 h | 8.6 h | 67% | 3.6 h | |
| Apr | 9.2 h | 6.5 h | 62% | 3.5 h | |
| May | 7.6 h | 4.1 h | 60% | 3.0 h | |
| Jun | 6.7 h | 2.0 h | 56% | 2.9 h | |
| Jul | 7.1 h | 3.1 h | 46% | 3.8 h | |
| Aug | 8.6 h | 5.7 h | 46% | 4.6 h | |
| Sep | 10.3 h | 7.9 h | 49% | 5.3 hbest | |
| Oct | 12.0 h | 9.7 h | 60% | 4.8 h | |
| Nov | 13.4 h | 11.0 h | 63% | 5.0 h | |
| Dec | 14.2 h | 11.7 h | 67% | 4.7 h |
By the 15th-of-the-month sample, December is the darkest month at Jamestown with 14.2 hours of civil night and June the lightest at 6.7. Across the year Jamestown gets 3,843 hours of civil night. Astronomical night at Jamestown, the sun 18 degrees or more below the horizon, lasts 11.7 hours on December 15.
NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology puts mean cloud amount for the 1 degree cell around Jamestown at 58% across the year, from 46% in July to 67% in March. In the months with at least 4 hours of civil night Jamestown averages 58%, against a median of 61% for Glow towns in United States.
Multiplying civil night by the clear share of the sky gives September the best score, 5.3 hours, ahead of January at 5.2. Jamestown's equinox months score 3.6 in March and 5.3 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 Jamestown, on 3% of days. At Jamestown'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 25, in America/Chicago dates. 15 of the 30 nights at Jamestown have at least 2 moon-free dark hours inside 10 PM to 2 AM, and Oct 5 has the most at 4 h. Tonight Jamestown has 11 h 15 min of civil night, 2 h 5 min of it with the moon down.
- 1
65% lit
2.1 h
- 2
54% lit
3.2 h
- 3
43% lit
4.5 h
- 4
32% lit
5.9 h
- 5
22% lit
7.3 h
- 6
13% lit
8.6 h
- 7
7% lit
9.9 h
- 8
2% 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
13% lit
11.5 h
- 14
20% lit
10.9 h
- 15
28% lit
10.2 h
- 16
36% lit
9.3 h
- 17
46% lit
8.2 h
- 18
55% lit
7.1 h
- 19
65% lit
6.0 h
- 20
74% lit
4.8 h
- 21
82% lit
3.7 h
- 22
89% lit
2.5 h
- 23
95% lit
1.3 h
- 24
99% lit
0.0 h
- 25
100% lit
0.0 h
- 26
98% lit
0.0 h
- 27
94% lit
0.0 h
- 28
87% lit
0.8 h
- 29
79% lit
1.8 h
- 30
68% 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 United States
Among the 6 Glow towns in North Dakota, Jamestown ranks 5th by dipole latitude against a regional median of 55.5 degrees; Grand Forks sits highest at 56.1. Among the 136 Glow towns in United States, Jamestown ranks 12th by dipole latitude against a national median of 51.5 degrees; Fairbanks sits highest at 65.7. On December 15 Jamestown gets 14.2 hours of civil night, 15th longest of 136 in United States, where the median is 13.8.
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Jamestown?
- Jamestown sits at 55.0 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 Jamestown still decides it.
- When is it dark enough in Jamestown?
- Every night at Jamestown has civil darkness. Tonight has 11 h 15 min, and December 15 has 14.2 hours.
- What is the best month for aurora in Jamestown?
- September, by civil night at Jamestown times the clear share of the sky from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 average.
- How cloudy is Jamestown in the dark months?
- About 58% mean cloud amount over Jamestown 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 Jamestown?
- 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
Jamestown by month
Region and comparisons