South Australia, Australia
Southern lights in Mount Gambier
Answer
Tonight
Darkness window open
Civil darkness has begun.
Observed 11:55 UTC, forecast 13:26 UTC, 91 min lead
Clock times in Australia/Adelaide
Storm level needed
Mount Gambier sits at 37.83S 140.78E in South Australia, Australia. The IGRF-14 centered dipole puts Mount Gambier at 45.3 degrees geomagnetic latitude, 7.5 degrees closer to the magnetic pole than its map latitude suggests. Mount Gambier sits at 45.3 degrees geomagnetic. The lowest NOAA storm level whose typical viewing latitude reaches it is G4 (Kp = 8, including a 9-). Even Kp 9 does not put the average oval edge overhead by SWPC's rule.
"aurora has been seen as low as Alabama and northern California (typically 45° geomagnetic lat.)"
The nearest other Glow towns are Hamilton, Victoria (110 km), Warrnambool (162 km), Colac (252 km). Hamilton, Victoria sits 0.2 degrees lower 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 Mount Gambier has some civil darkness; the shortest month sample still has 8.1 hours. Every evening of the year at Mount Gambier clears Glow's dark-season bar of 4 hours of civil night between 18:00 and 06:00. Mount Gambier's longest night of the year, Jun 20, has 13 h 24 min of civil night.
Solar midnight at Mount Gambier, when the sun is lowest, falls at 01:02 on local clocks on December 15 and 00:07 on June 15. That is 1 h 2 min after midnight in December and 7 min after midnight in June, the gap set by daylight saving and the equation of time. So at Mount Gambier the darkest hour sits late in SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window.
Month by month
| Month | Night | Civil | Cloud | Clear dark | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 8.4 h | 5.8 h | 49% | 4.3 h | |
| Feb | 9.5 h | 7.2 h | 52% | 4.6 h | |
| Mar | 10.7 h | 8.6 h | 54% | 4.9 h | |
| Apr | 11.9 h | 9.9 h | 58% | 5.0 h | |
| May | 12.9 h | 10.8 h | 62% | 4.9 h | |
| Jun | 13.4 h | 11.2 h | 60% | 5.4 hbest | |
| Jul | 13.2 h | 11.0 h | 62% | 5.0 h | |
| Aug | 12.3 h | 10.3 h | 62% | 4.7 h | |
| Sep | 11.2 h | 9.2 h | 63% | 4.1 h | |
| Oct | 10.0 h | 7.8 h | 61% | 3.9 h | |
| Nov | 8.8 h | 6.2 h | 63% | 3.3 h | |
| Dec | 8.1 h | 5.3 h | 55% | 3.6 h |
By the 15th-of-the-month sample, June is the darkest month at Mount Gambier with 13.4 hours of civil night and December the lightest at 8.1. Across the year Mount Gambier gets 3,965 hours of civil night. Astronomical night at Mount Gambier, the sun 18 degrees or more below the horizon, lasts 5.3 hours on December 15.
NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology puts mean cloud amount for the 1 degree cell around Mount Gambier at 58% across the year, from 49% in January to 63% in September. In the months with at least 4 hours of civil night Mount Gambier averages 58%, against a median of 60% for Glow towns in Australia.
Multiplying civil night by the clear share of the sky gives June the best score, 5.4 hours, ahead of July at 5.0. Mount Gambier's equinox months score 4.9 in March and 4.1 in September, the weeks SWPC links with larger storms.
Kp history
No whole Kp value puts the average oval edge over Mount Gambier by SWPC's rule, so the GFZ record has no threshold to count. SWPC's G4 row gives the typical latitude where aurora has been seen.
Share of UTC days in each calendar month whose highest 3-hour Kp reached the level. Kp history by year
Moon, next 30 nights
Over the 30 nights from Oct 2, the new moon falls on Oct 11 and the full moon on Oct 26, in Australia/Adelaide dates. 15 of the 30 nights at Mount Gambier have at least 2 moon-free dark hours inside 10 PM to 2 AM, and Oct 4 has the most at 4 h. Tonight Mount Gambier has 10 h 30 min of civil night, 6 h 9 min of it with the moon down.
- 2
61% lit
6.2 h
- 3
50% lit
7.1 h
- 4
39% lit
7.8 h
- 5
28% lit
8.4 h
- 6
19% lit
8.9 h
- 7
11% lit
9.4 h
- 8
5% lit
9.8 h
- 9
1% lit
10.2 h
- 10
0% lit
10.2 h
- 11
1% lit
9.9 h
- 12
4% lit
8.8 h
- 13
9% lit
7.7 h
- 14
15% lit
6.6 h
- 15
22% lit
5.7 h
- 16
31% lit
4.8 h
- 17
40% lit
4.0 h
- 18
49% lit
3.3 h
- 19
59% lit
2.8 h
- 20
68% lit
2.3 h
- 21
77% lit
1.8 h
- 22
85% lit
1.4 h
- 23
92% lit
1.0 h
- 24
97% lit
0.5 h
- 25
99% lit
0.0 h
- 26
100% lit
0.0 h
- 27
97% lit
1.1 h
- 28
92% lit
2.4 h
- 29
85% lit
3.5 h
- 30
75% lit
4.5 h
- 31
65% lit
5.3 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 Australia
Among the 14 Glow towns in Australia, Mount Gambier ranks 9th by dipole latitude against a national median of 45.4 degrees; Hobart sits highest at 49.6. On December 15 Mount Gambier gets 8.1 hours of civil night, 1st longest of 14 in Australia, where the median is 8.0.
Questions
- Can you see the southern lights in Mount Gambier?
- Mount Gambier sits at 45.3 degrees geomagnetic. The lowest NOAA storm level whose typical viewing latitude reaches it is G4 (Kp = 8, including a 9-). Even Kp 9 does not put the average oval edge overhead by SWPC's rule. Clear, dark sky over Mount Gambier still decides it.
- When is it dark enough in Mount Gambier?
- Every night at Mount Gambier has civil darkness. Tonight has 10 h 30 min, and December 15 has 8.1 hours.
- What is the best month for aurora in Mount Gambier?
- June, by civil night at Mount Gambier times the clear share of the sky from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 average.
- How cloudy is Mount Gambier in the dark months?
- About 58% mean cloud amount over Mount Gambier in the months with at least 4 hours of civil night, from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology.
Nearby and related
Nearest Glow towns
Mount Gambier by month
Region and comparisons