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Nanaimo · January 2027

Northern lights in Nanaimo in January 2027

Answer

January gives Nanaimo 14.0 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 2nd darkest of its 12 months, under 81% mean cloud. 2% of January days since 1996 reached Kp 6, enough for the oval edge to reach Nanaimo.
13.9 h
civil night, average night
SunCalc for 49.17, -123.94; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

January against the rest of the year

January cloud at Nanaimo averages 81% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 10 points cloudier than its yearly mean. July is Nanaimo's clearest month at 50%. By civil night times clear sky, January scores 2.7 hours at Nanaimo, 7th of 12. Seattle, 210 km away, averages 80%, clearer by 1 points.

Civil night at Nanaimo starts January at 14 h 21 min and reaches 13 h 21 min by January 31, 1.0 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 11.4 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/Vancouver dates. Nanaimo gets 239 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. 1

    26% lit

    10.7 h

  2. 2

    18% lit

    11.9 h

  3. 3

    11% lit

    13.0 h

  4. 4

    6% lit

    13.9 h

  5. 5

    2% lit

    14.3 h

  6. 6

    0% lit

    14.3 h

  7. 7

    0% lit

    14.2 h

  8. 8

    2% lit

    14.0 h

  9. 9

    5% lit

    12.8 h

  10. 10

    10% lit

    11.7 h

  11. 11

    17% lit

    10.5 h

  12. 12

    25% lit

    9.3 h

  13. 13

    34% lit

    8.1 h

  14. 14

    44% lit

    6.9 h

  15. 15

    55% lit

    5.6 h

  16. 16

    66% lit

    4.2 h

  17. 17

    76% lit

    2.9 h

  18. 18

    85% lit

    1.6 h

  19. 19

    93% lit

    0.5 h

  20. 20

    98% lit

    0.0 h

  21. 21

    100% lit

    0.0 h

  22. 22

    99% lit

    0.0 h

  23. 23

    95% lit

    1.4 h

  24. 24

    89% lit

    2.8 h

  25. 25

    81% lit

    4.2 h

  26. 26

    72% lit

    5.4 h

  27. 27

    62% lit

    6.7 h

  28. 28

    52% lit

    7.9 h

  29. 29

    42% lit

    9.1 h

  30. 30

    32% lit

    10.2 h

  31. 31

    24% lit

    11.2 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

Nanaimo 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%. Nanaimo sits at 54.3 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

Nanaimo ranks 17th in Canada for civil night on January 15, behind Yellowknife at 15.8 hours. Coming from December (14.4 hours at Nanaimo), January loses darkness, and February brings shorter nights (12.6 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on January 15 and January cloud, month-page towns in Canada
TownCivil nightCloud
Yellowknife15.8 h56%
Whitehorse15.4 h67%
Fort McMurray14.8 h66%
Fort St. John14.8 h70%
Grande Prairie14.6 h71%
Edmonton14.5 h71%
Prince Albert14.4 h68%
Lloydminster14.4 h70%
Saskatoon14.3 h68%
Red Deer14.3 h71%
Calgary14.2 h70%
Winnipeg14.1 h64%
Nanaimo14.0 h81%

Darkness and moon, every night

Nanaimo, January 2027: each night from local noon to the next noon
NightCivilAstronomicalMoon-free darkMoon-free, 10 PM to 2 AMMoon lit
Fri Jan 114 h 21 min11 h 43 min10 h 42 min4 h26%
Sat Jan 214 h 20 min11 h 42 min11 h 53 min4 h18%
Sun Jan 314 h 19 min11 h 41 min12 h 58 min4 h11%
Mon Jan 414 h 18 min11 h 40 min13 h 56 min4 h6%
Tue Jan 514 h 16 min11 h 39 min14 h 16 min4 h2%
Wed Jan 614 h 15 min11 h 38 min14 h 15 min4 h0%
Thu Jan 714 h 14 min11 h 37 min14 h 14 min4 h0%
Fri Jan 814 h 12 min11 h 36 min14 h 1 min4 h2%
Sat Jan 914 h 11 min11 h 34 min12 h 50 min4 h5%
Sun Jan 1014 h 9 min11 h 33 min11 h 40 min4 h10%
Mon Jan 1114 h 7 min11 h 32 min10 h 30 min4 h17%
Tue Jan 1214 h 6 min11 h 30 min9 h 20 min2 h 53 min25%
Wed Jan 1314 h 4 min11 h 29 min8 h 8 min1 h 42 min34%
Thu Jan 1414 h 2 min11 h 27 min6 h 54 min28 min44%
Fri Jan 1514 h11 h 25 min5 h 36 min0 min55%
Sat Jan 1613 h 58 min11 h 23 min4 h 14 min0 min66%
Sun Jan 1713 h 56 min11 h 22 min2 h 51 min0 min76%
Mon Jan 1813 h 54 min11 h 20 min1 h 33 min0 min85%
Tue Jan 1913 h 51 min11 h 18 min28 min0 min93%
Wed Jan 2013 h 49 min11 h 16 min0 min0 min98%
Thu Jan 2113 h 47 min11 h 14 min0 min0 min100%
Fri Jan 2213 h 45 min11 h 12 min0 min0 min99%
Sat Jan 2313 h 42 min11 h 10 min1 h 26 min0 min95%
Sun Jan 2413 h 40 min11 h 7 min2 h 50 min0 min89%
Mon Jan 2513 h 37 min11 h 5 min4 h 9 min49 min81%
Tue Jan 2613 h 35 min11 h 3 min5 h 26 min2 h 7 min72%
Wed Jan 2713 h 32 min11 h 1 min6 h 41 min3 h 23 min62%
Thu Jan 2813 h 29 min10 h 58 min7 h 55 min4 h52%
Fri Jan 2913 h 27 min10 h 56 min9 h 7 min4 h42%
Sat Jan 3013 h 24 min10 h 53 min10 h 14 min4 h32%
Sun Jan 3113 h 21 min10 h 51 min11 h 14 min4 h24%
Moon lit: SunCalc illuminated fraction at the middle of the 10 PM to 2 AM window.

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Nanaimo in January?
On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Nanaimo have civil darkness, and 2% of past January days reached Kp 6.
How dark is Nanaimo in January?
Nanaimo averages 13.9 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 14 h 21 min on the 1st to 13 h 21 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Nanaimo in January?
NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Nanaimo's 1 degree cell 81% mean cloud in January, against 71% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in January 2027 for aurora in Nanaimo?
By darkness and moon alone, Jan 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Nanaimo. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is January or February better in Nanaimo?
By civil night times the clear share, January scores 2.7 hours at Nanaimo and February 3.1. February comes out ahead.

Sources and verification

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.