Can you see the northern lights in Le Sud-Ouest in January?

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

How dark is Le Sud-Ouest in January?

Le Sud-Ouest averages 13.6 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 13 h 59 min on the 1st to 13 h 7 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Le Sud-Ouest in January?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Le Sud-Ouest's 1 degree cell 69% mean cloud in January, against 65% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in January 2027 for aurora in Le Sud-Ouest?

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

Is January or February better in Le Sud-Ouest?

By civil night times the clear share, January scores 4.2 hours at Le Sud-Ouest and February 4.0. January comes out ahead.

Le Sud-Ouest · January 2027

Northern lights in Le Sud-Ouest in January 2027

Answer

January gives Le Sud-Ouest 13.7 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 2nd darkest of its 12 months, under 69% mean cloud. 2% of January days since 1996 reached Kp 6, enough for the oval edge to reach Le Sud-Ouest.

13.6 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 45.47, -73.59; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

January against the rest of the year

4.2

4.0

3.8

3.1

2.7

3.1

3.7

4.8

3.8

3.4

January cloud at Le Sud-Ouest averages 69% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 4 points cloudier than its yearly mean. September is Le Sud-Ouest's clearest month at 54%. By civil night times clear sky, January scores 4.2 hours at Le Sud-Ouest, 2nd of 12. Trois-Rivières, 126 km away, averages 66%, clearer by 3 points.

Civil night at Le Sud-Ouest starts January at 13 h 59 min and reaches 13 h 7 min by January 31, 0.9 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 11.3 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/Toronto dates. Le Sud-Ouest gets 233 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
27% lit
10.1 h
2
18% lit
11.3 h
3
12% lit
12.3 h
4
6% lit
13.3 h
5
3% lit
13.9 h
6
0% lit
13.9 h
7
0% lit
13.9 h
New
8
2% lit
13.7 h
9
5% lit
12.6 h
10
10% lit
11.5 h
11
16% lit
10.4 h
12
24% lit
9.3 h
13
33% lit
8.2 h
14
43% lit
7.0 h
15
54% lit
5.8 h
16
65% lit
4.5 h
17
75% lit
3.2 h
18
84% lit
1.9 h
19
92% lit
0.8 h
20
97% lit
0.0 h
21
100% lit
0.0 h
22
99% lit
0.0 h
Full
23
96% lit
1.2 h
24
90% lit
2.6 h
25
82% lit
3.8 h
26
73% lit
5.0 h
27
63% lit
6.2 h
28
53% lit
7.4 h
29
43% lit
8.6 h
30
33% lit
9.6 h
31
25% lit
10.6 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

Le Sud-Ouest 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%. Le Sud-Ouest sits at 54.7 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 6.

January across Canada

Le Sud-Ouest ranks 23rd in Canada for civil night on January 15, behind Yellowknife at 15.8 hours. Coming from December (14.0 hours at Le Sud-Ouest), 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 Canada
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Yellowknife	15.8 h	56%
Whitehorse	15.4 h	67%
Fort McMurray	14.8 h	66%
Fort St. John	14.8 h	70%
Grande Prairie	14.6 h	71%
Edmonton	14.5 h	71%
Prince Albert	14.4 h	68%
Lloydminster	14.4 h	70%
Saskatoon	14.3 h	68%
Red Deer	14.3 h	71%
Calgary	14.2 h	70%
Winnipeg	14.1 h	64%
Le Sud-Ouest	13.7 h	69%

Darkness and moon, every night

Le Sud-Ouest, 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 59 min	11 h 32 min	10 h 7 min	4 h	27%
Sat Jan 2	13 h 58 min	11 h 32 min	11 h 15 min	4 h	18%
Sun Jan 3	13 h 57 min	11 h 31 min	12 h 18 min	4 h	12%
Mon Jan 4	13 h 56 min	11 h 30 min	13 h 16 min	4 h	6%
Tue Jan 5	13 h 55 min	11 h 29 min	13 h 55 min	4 h	3%
Wed Jan 6	13 h 54 min	11 h 28 min	13 h 54 min	4 h	0%
Thu Jan 7	13 h 52 min	11 h 27 min	13 h 52 min	4 h	0%
Fri Jan 8	13 h 51 min	11 h 26 min	13 h 44 min	4 h	2%
Sat Jan 9	13 h 50 min	11 h 25 min	12 h 38 min	4 h	5%
Sun Jan 10	13 h 48 min	11 h 24 min	11 h 31 min	4 h	10%
Mon Jan 11	13 h 47 min	11 h 22 min	10 h 25 min	4 h	16%
Tue Jan 12	13 h 46 min	11 h 21 min	9 h 18 min	4 h	24%
Wed Jan 13	13 h 44 min	11 h 20 min	8 h 11 min	3 h 16 min	33%
Thu Jan 14	13 h 42 min	11 h 18 min	7 h 1 min	2 h 7 min	43%
Fri Jan 15	13 h 41 min	11 h 17 min	5 h 48 min	54 min	54%
Sat Jan 16	13 h 39 min	11 h 15 min	4 h 30 min	0 min	65%
Sun Jan 17	13 h 37 min	11 h 14 min	3 h 11 min	0 min	75%
Mon Jan 18	13 h 35 min	11 h 12 min	1 h 55 min	0 min	84%
Tue Jan 19	13 h 33 min	11 h 10 min	47 min	0 min	92%
Wed Jan 20	13 h 31 min	11 h 9 min	0 min	0 min	97%
Thu Jan 21	13 h 29 min	11 h 7 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Fri Jan 22	13 h 27 min	11 h 5 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Sat Jan 23	13 h 25 min	11 h 3 min	1 h 14 min	0 min	96%
Sun Jan 24	13 h 23 min	11 h 1 min	2 h 34 min	0 min	90%
Mon Jan 25	13 h 21 min	10 h 59 min	3 h 50 min	0 min	82%
Tue Jan 26	13 h 19 min	10 h 57 min	5 h 3 min	30 min	73%
Wed Jan 27	13 h 16 min	10 h 55 min	6 h 14 min	1 h 43 min	63%
Thu Jan 28	13 h 14 min	10 h 53 min	7 h 24 min	2 h 54 min	53%
Fri Jan 29	13 h 12 min	10 h 51 min	8 h 33 min	4 h	43%
Sat Jan 30	13 h 9 min	10 h 49 min	9 h 38 min	4 h	33%
Sun Jan 31	13 h 7 min	10 h 47 min	10 h 38 min	4 h	25%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Le Sud-Ouest in January?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Le Sud-Ouest have civil darkness, and 2% of past January days reached Kp 6.
How dark is Le Sud-Ouest in January?: Le Sud-Ouest averages 13.6 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 13 h 59 min on the 1st to 13 h 7 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Le Sud-Ouest in January?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Le Sud-Ouest's 1 degree cell 69% mean cloud in January, against 65% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in January 2027 for aurora in Le Sud-Ouest?: By darkness and moon alone, Jan 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Le Sud-Ouest. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is January or February better in Le Sud-Ouest?: By civil night times the clear share, January scores 4.2 hours at Le Sud-Ouest and February 4.0. 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.