British Columbia, Canada
Northern lights in Kelowna
Answer
Tonight
Darkness window open
Civil darkness has begun.
Observed 11:55 UTC, forecast 13:26 UTC, 91 min lead
Clock times in America/Vancouver
Storm level needed
Kelowna sits at 49.88N 119.49W in British Columbia, Canada. The IGRF-14 centered dipole puts Kelowna at 55.6 degrees geomagnetic latitude, 5.8 degrees closer to the magnetic pole than its map latitude suggests. Kelowna 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 Lake Country (15 km), Vernon (45 km), Penticton (45 km). Lake Country 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 Kelowna has some civil darkness; the shortest month sample still has 6.1 hours. Every evening of the year at Kelowna clears Glow's dark-season bar of 4 hours of civil night between 18:00 and 06:00. Kelowna's longest night of the year, Dec 17, has 14 h 31 min of civil night.
Solar midnight at Kelowna, when the sun is lowest, falls at 00:53 on local clocks on December 15 and 00:58 on June 15. That is 53 min after midnight in December and 58 min after midnight in June, the gap set by daylight saving and the equation of time. So at Kelowna the darkest hour sits late in SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window.
Month by month
| Month | Night | Civil | Cloud | Clear dark | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 14.1 h | 11.4 h | 76% | 3.4 h | |
| Feb | 12.6 h | 10.1 h | 70% | 3.8 h | |
| Mar | 10.9 h | 8.4 h | 74% | 2.8 h | |
| Apr | 8.9 h | 5.9 h | 71% | 2.6 h | |
| May | 7.1 h | 2.8 h | 68% | 2.3 h | |
| Jun | 6.0 h | 0.0 h | 67% | 2.0 h | |
| Jul | 6.6 h | 1.0 h | 44% | 3.7 h | |
| Aug | 8.3 h | 5.0 h | 45% | 4.6 h | |
| Sep | 10.2 h | 7.6 h | 53% | 4.8 hbest | |
| Oct | 12.1 h | 9.6 h | 67% | 4.0 h | |
| Nov | 13.7 h | 11.1 h | 78% | 3.0 h | |
| Dec | 14.5 h | 11.8 h | 78% | 3.2 h |
By the 15th-of-the-month sample, December is the darkest month at Kelowna with 14.5 hours of civil night and June the lightest at 6.1. Across the year Kelowna gets 3,800 hours of civil night. Astronomical night at Kelowna, the sun 18 degrees or more below the horizon, lasts 11.8 hours on December 15.
NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology puts mean cloud amount for the 1 degree cell around Kelowna at 66% across the year, from 44% in July to 78% in November. In the months with at least 4 hours of civil night Kelowna averages 66%, against a median of 67% for Glow towns in Canada.
Multiplying civil night by the clear share of the sky gives September the best score, 4.8 hours, ahead of August at 4.6. Kelowna's equinox months score 2.8 in March and 4.8 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 Kelowna, on 3% of days. At Kelowna'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/Vancouver dates. 15 of the 30 nights at Kelowna have at least 2 moon-free dark hours inside 10 PM to 2 AM, and Oct 5 has the most at 4 h. Tonight Kelowna has 11 h 14 min of civil night, 1 h 50 min of it with the moon down.
- 1
64% lit
1.8 h
- 2
53% lit
3.0 h
- 3
42% lit
4.3 h
- 4
31% lit
5.8 h
- 5
21% lit
7.2 h
- 6
13% lit
8.6 h
- 7
6% lit
9.9 h
- 8
2% lit
11.3 h
- 9
0% lit
11.7 h
- 10
1% lit
11.8 h
- 11
3% lit
11.8 h
- 12
7% lit
11.9 h
- 13
13% lit
11.8 h
- 14
20% lit
11.2 h
- 15
28% lit
10.5 h
- 16
37% lit
9.5 h
- 17
46% lit
8.5 h
- 18
56% lit
7.3 h
- 19
65% lit
6.1 h
- 20
74% lit
4.9 h
- 21
83% lit
3.7 h
- 22
90% lit
2.5 h
- 23
95% lit
1.2 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
0.6 h
- 29
78% lit
1.7 h
- 30
68% lit
3.0 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 19 Glow towns in British Columbia, Kelowna ranks 9th by dipole latitude against a regional median of 55.2 degrees; Fort St. John sits highest at 61.7. Among the 130 Glow towns in Canada, Kelowna ranks 59th by dipole latitude against a national median of 55.3 degrees; Yellowknife sits highest at 68.5. On December 15 Kelowna gets 14.5 hours of civil night, 31st longest of 130 in Canada, where the median is 14.2.
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Kelowna?
- Kelowna 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 Kelowna still decides it.
- When is it dark enough in Kelowna?
- Every night at Kelowna has civil darkness. Tonight has 11 h 14 min, and December 15 has 14.5 hours.
- What is the best month for aurora in Kelowna?
- September, by civil night at Kelowna times the clear share of the sky from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 average.
- How cloudy is Kelowna in the dark months?
- About 66% mean cloud amount over Kelowna 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 Kelowna?
- 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
Kelowna by month
Region and comparisons