Can you see the northern lights in Kotlas in January?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Kotlas have civil darkness, and 2% of past January days reached Kp 6.

How dark is Kotlas in January?

Kotlas averages 15.4 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 16 h 10 min on the 1st to 14 h 30 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Kotlas in January?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Kotlas's 1 degree cell 78% mean cloud in January, against 74% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

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

Is January or February better in Kotlas?

By civil night times the clear share, January scores 3.4 hours at Kotlas and February 3.6. February comes out ahead.

Kotlas · January 2027

Northern lights in Kotlas in January 2027

Answer

January gives Kotlas 15.6 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 2nd darkest of its 12 months, under 78% mean cloud. 2% of January days since 1996 reached Kp 6, enough for the oval edge to reach Kotlas.

15.4 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 61.26, 46.65; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

January against the rest of the year

3.4

3.6

2.7

2.4

1.3

0.0

0.7

2.0

2.4

1.4

1.5

2.8

January cloud at Kotlas averages 78% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 4 points cloudier than its yearly mean. July is Kotlas's clearest month at 63%. By civil night times clear sky, January scores 3.4 hours at Kotlas, 2nd of 12. Syktyvkar, 226 km away, averages 76%, clearer by 2 points.

Civil night at Kotlas starts January at 16 h 10 min and reaches 14 h 30 min by January 31, 1.7 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 11.9 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. Kotlas gets 271 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
12.1 h
2
21% lit
13.8 h
3
14% lit
15.4 h
4
8% lit
16.1 h
5
4% lit
16.0 h
6
1% lit
16.0 h
7
0% lit
15.9 h
New
8
1% lit
15.9 h
9
4% lit
15.4 h
10
8% lit
13.8 h
11
14% lit
12.3 h
12
21% lit
10.9 h
13
30% lit
9.4 h
14
40% lit
7.9 h
15
50% lit
6.3 h
16
61% lit
4.5 h
17
72% lit
2.6 h
18
81% lit
0.8 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
0.6 h
24
92% lit
2.5 h
25
85% lit
4.1 h
26
76% lit
5.8 h
27
66% lit
7.3 h
28
56% lit
8.9 h
29
46% lit
10.5 h
30
36% lit
12.2 h
31
27% lit
13.8 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 Januarys

Kotlas needs Kp 6 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 17 of the 930 January days from 1996 to 2025 (2%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, one of the three quietest months for that level; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 6%. Kotlas sits at 55.9 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.

January across Russia

Kotlas ranks 25th in Russia for civil night on January 15, behind Norilsk at 17.7 hours. Coming from December (16.3 hours at Kotlas), January loses darkness, and February brings shorter nights (13.2 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%
Kotlas	15.6 h	78%

Darkness and moon, every night

Kotlas, 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 10 min	12 h 26 min	12 h 8 min	4 h	30%
Sat Jan 2	16 h 8 min	12 h 25 min	13 h 45 min	4 h	21%
Sun Jan 3	16 h 6 min	12 h 23 min	15 h 24 min	4 h	14%
Mon Jan 4	16 h 4 min	12 h 22 min	16 h 4 min	4 h	8%
Tue Jan 5	16 h 2 min	12 h 20 min	16 h 2 min	4 h	4%
Wed Jan 6	16 h	12 h 18 min	16 h	4 h	1%
Thu Jan 7	15 h 57 min	12 h 17 min	15 h 57 min	4 h	0%
Fri Jan 8	15 h 55 min	12 h 15 min	15 h 55 min	4 h	1%
Sat Jan 9	15 h 52 min	12 h 13 min	15 h 23 min	4 h	4%
Sun Jan 10	15 h 49 min	12 h 10 min	13 h 50 min	4 h	8%
Mon Jan 11	15 h 47 min	12 h 8 min	12 h 20 min	4 h	14%
Tue Jan 12	15 h 44 min	12 h 6 min	10 h 52 min	4 h	21%
Wed Jan 13	15 h 41 min	12 h 3 min	9 h 24 min	3 h 32 min	30%
Thu Jan 14	15 h 37 min	12 h 1 min	7 h 52 min	2 h 2 min	40%
Fri Jan 15	15 h 34 min	11 h 58 min	6 h 15 min	26 min	50%
Sat Jan 16	15 h 31 min	11 h 55 min	4 h 30 min	0 min	61%
Sun Jan 17	15 h 27 min	11 h 52 min	2 h 37 min	0 min	72%
Mon Jan 18	15 h 24 min	11 h 49 min	45 min	0 min	81%
Tue Jan 19	15 h 20 min	11 h 46 min	0 min	0 min	90%
Wed Jan 20	15 h 16 min	11 h 43 min	0 min	0 min	96%
Thu Jan 21	15 h 12 min	11 h 40 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Fri Jan 22	15 h 8 min	11 h 37 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Sat Jan 23	15 h 4 min	11 h 33 min	38 min	0 min	97%
Sun Jan 24	15 h	11 h 30 min	2 h 27 min	0 min	92%
Mon Jan 25	14 h 56 min	11 h 26 min	4 h 8 min	0 min	85%
Tue Jan 26	14 h 52 min	11 h 22 min	5 h 45 min	24 min	76%
Wed Jan 27	14 h 48 min	11 h 19 min	7 h 19 min	2 h 1 min	66%
Thu Jan 28	14 h 43 min	11 h 15 min	8 h 55 min	3 h 39 min	56%
Fri Jan 29	14 h 39 min	11 h 11 min	10 h 32 min	4 h	46%
Sat Jan 30	14 h 34 min	11 h 7 min	12 h 11 min	4 h	36%
Sun Jan 31	14 h 30 min	11 h 3 min	13 h 46 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 Kotlas in January?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Kotlas have civil darkness, and 2% of past January days reached Kp 6.
How dark is Kotlas in January?: Kotlas averages 15.4 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 16 h 10 min on the 1st to 14 h 30 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Kotlas in January?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Kotlas's 1 degree cell 78% mean cloud in January, against 74% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in January 2027 for aurora in Kotlas?: By darkness and moon alone, Jan 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Kotlas. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is January or February better in Kotlas?: By civil night times the clear share, January scores 3.4 hours at Kotlas and February 3.6. February 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.