Can you see the northern lights in Kostomuksha in January?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Kostomuksha have civil darkness, and 48% of past January days reached Kp 3.

How dark is Kostomuksha in January?

Kostomuksha averages 16.1 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 16 h 58 min on the 1st to 14 h 58 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Kostomuksha in January?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Kostomuksha's 1 degree cell 78% mean cloud in January, against 76% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in January 2027 for aurora in Kostomuksha?

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

Is January or February better in Kostomuksha?

By civil night times the clear share, January scores 3.6 hours at Kostomuksha and February 3.0. January comes out ahead.

Kostomuksha · January 2027

Northern lights in Kostomuksha in January 2027

Answer

January gives Kostomuksha 16.2 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 2nd darkest of its 12 months, under 78% mean cloud. 48% of January days since 1996 reached Kp 3, enough for the oval edge to reach Kostomuksha.

16.1 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 64.57, 30.58; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

January against the rest of the year

3.6

3.0

2.8

1.9

0.0

1.5

2.4

1.8

3.2

January cloud at Kostomuksha averages 78% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 2 points cloudier than its yearly mean. June is Kostomuksha's clearest month at 70%. That makes January the best month of Kostomuksha's year by civil night times clear sky, 3.6 hours. Kajaani, 142 km away, averages 76%, clearer by 2 points.

Civil night at Kostomuksha starts January at 16 h 58 min and reaches 14 h 58 min by January 31, 2.0 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 12.1 hours on the 15th.

January night by night

January opens toward a new moon on Jan 7, with full moon on Jan 22, in Europe/Moscow dates. Kostomuksha gets 287 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
30% lit
13.2 h
2
21% lit
15.2 h
3
14% lit
16.9 h
4
8% lit
16.9 h
5
4% lit
16.8 h
6
1% lit
16.8 h
7
0% lit
16.7 h
New
8
1% lit
16.7 h
9
4% lit
16.3 h
10
8% lit
14.5 h
11
14% lit
12.8 h
12
21% lit
11.2 h
13
30% lit
9.6 h
14
40% lit
8.0 h
15
50% lit
6.2 h
16
61% lit
4.2 h
17
72% lit
1.7 h
18
81% lit
0.0 h
19
90% lit
0.0 h
20
96% lit
0.0 h
21
99% lit
0.0 h
22
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
23
97% lit
0.7 h
24
92% lit
2.6 h
25
85% lit
4.5 h
26
76% lit
6.2 h
27
66% lit
7.9 h
28
56% lit
9.7 h
29
46% lit
11.7 h
30
36% lit
15.1 h
31
27% lit
15.0 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.

Activity in past Januarys

Kostomuksha needs Kp 3 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 443 of the 930 January days from 1996 to 2025 (48%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 8th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 6%. Kostomuksha sits at 61.1 degrees geomagnetic, inside SWPC's 60 to 75 degree band, where aurora can be seen on more than half of all nights. No storm is needed: by SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 3.

January across Russia

Kostomuksha ranks 19th in Russia for civil night on January 15, behind Norilsk at 17.7 hours. Coming from December (17.1 hours at Kostomuksha), January loses darkness, and February brings shorter nights (13.5 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on January 15 and January cloud, month-page towns in Russia
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Norilsk	17.7 h	55%
Talnakh	17.7 h	55%
Kayyerkan	17.7 h	56%
Dudinka	17.7 h	56%
Zapolyarnyy	17.7 h	81%
Nikel	17.7 h	81%
Severomorsk	17.6 h	83%
Murmansk	17.5 h	78%
Monchegorsk	17.2 h	75%
Olenegorsk	17.2 h	78%
Apatity	17.1 h	75%
Narian-Mar	17.1 h	70%
Kostomuksha	16.2 h	78%

Darkness and moon, every night

Kostomuksha, 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	16 h 58 min	12 h 41 min	13 h 11 min	4 h	30%
Sat Jan 2	16 h 56 min	12 h 40 min	15 h 14 min	4 h	21%
Sun Jan 3	16 h 54 min	12 h 38 min	16 h 54 min	4 h	14%
Mon Jan 4	16 h 52 min	12 h 36 min	16 h 52 min	4 h	8%
Tue Jan 5	16 h 49 min	12 h 34 min	16 h 49 min	4 h	4%
Wed Jan 6	16 h 46 min	12 h 32 min	16 h 46 min	4 h	1%
Thu Jan 7	16 h 43 min	12 h 30 min	16 h 43 min	4 h	0%
Fri Jan 8	16 h 40 min	12 h 28 min	16 h 40 min	4 h	1%
Sat Jan 9	16 h 37 min	12 h 25 min	16 h 16 min	4 h	4%
Sun Jan 10	16 h 34 min	12 h 23 min	14 h 29 min	4 h	8%
Mon Jan 11	16 h 30 min	12 h 20 min	12 h 50 min	4 h	14%
Tue Jan 12	16 h 26 min	12 h 17 min	11 h 14 min	3 h 55 min	21%
Wed Jan 13	16 h 23 min	12 h 14 min	9 h 38 min	2 h 21 min	30%
Thu Jan 14	16 h 19 min	12 h 11 min	7 h 58 min	42 min	40%
Fri Jan 15	16 h 15 min	12 h 8 min	6 h 10 min	0 min	50%
Sat Jan 16	16 h 11 min	12 h 5 min	4 h 10 min	0 min	61%
Sun Jan 17	16 h 6 min	12 h 2 min	1 h 43 min	0 min	72%
Mon Jan 18	16 h 2 min	11 h 58 min	0 min	0 min	81%
Tue Jan 19	15 h 58 min	11 h 55 min	0 min	0 min	90%
Wed Jan 20	15 h 53 min	11 h 51 min	0 min	0 min	96%
Thu Jan 21	15 h 48 min	11 h 47 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Fri Jan 22	15 h 44 min	11 h 44 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Sat Jan 23	15 h 39 min	11 h 40 min	40 min	0 min	97%
Sun Jan 24	15 h 34 min	11 h 36 min	2 h 38 min	0 min	92%
Mon Jan 25	15 h 29 min	11 h 31 min	4 h 28 min	0 min	85%
Tue Jan 26	15 h 24 min	11 h 27 min	6 h 12 min	1 h 40 min	76%
Wed Jan 27	15 h 19 min	11 h 23 min	7 h 56 min	3 h 26 min	66%
Thu Jan 28	15 h 14 min	11 h 19 min	9 h 43 min	4 h	56%
Fri Jan 29	15 h 8 min	11 h 14 min	11 h 40 min	4 h	46%
Sat Jan 30	15 h 3 min	11 h 10 min	15 h 3 min	4 h	36%
Sun Jan 31	14 h 58 min	11 h 5 min	14 h 58 min	4 h	27%

Moon lit: SunCalc illuminated fraction at the middle of the 10 PM to 2 AM window.

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Kostomuksha in January?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Kostomuksha have civil darkness, and 48% of past January days reached Kp 3.
How dark is Kostomuksha in January?: Kostomuksha averages 16.1 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 16 h 58 min on the 1st to 14 h 58 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Kostomuksha in January?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Kostomuksha's 1 degree cell 78% mean cloud in January, against 76% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in January 2027 for aurora in Kostomuksha?: By darkness and moon alone, Jan 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Kostomuksha. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is January or February better in Kostomuksha?: By civil night times the clear share, January scores 3.6 hours at Kostomuksha and February 3.0. 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.