Can you see the northern lights in Norilsk in January?

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

How dark is Norilsk in January?

Norilsk averages 17.5 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 18 h 48 min on the 1st to 15 h 55 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Norilsk in January?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Norilsk's 1 degree cell 55% mean cloud in January, against 68% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

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

Is January or February better in Norilsk?

By civil night times the clear share, January scores 8.0 hours at Norilsk and February 5.6. January comes out ahead.

Norilsk · January 2027

Northern lights in Norilsk in January 2027

Answer

January gives Norilsk 17.7 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 2nd darkest of its 12 months, under 55% mean cloud. 48% of January days since 1996 reached Kp 3, enough for the oval edge to reach Norilsk.

17.5 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 69.35, 88.20; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

January against the rest of the year

8.0

5.6

3.7

1.6

0.0

0.3

1.5

2.6

6.6

8.0

January cloud at Norilsk averages 55% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 13 points clearer than its yearly mean. No month at Norilsk is clearer. By civil night times clear sky, January scores 8.0 hours at Norilsk, 2nd of 12. Talnakh, 17 km away, averages the same 55%.

Civil night at Norilsk starts January at 18 h 48 min and reaches 15 h 55 min by January 31, 2.9 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 12.4 hours on the 15th.

January night by night

January opens toward a new moon on Jan 8, with full moon on Jan 22, in Asia/Krasnoyarsk dates. Norilsk gets 318 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
31% lit
15.9 h
2
22% lit
18.8 h
3
15% lit
18.7 h
4
9% lit
18.6 h
5
4% lit
18.6 h
6
1% lit
18.5 h
7
0% lit
18.4 h
8
1% lit
18.3 h
New
9
3% lit
18.3 h
10
7% lit
16.4 h
11
13% lit
14.3 h
12
20% lit
12.4 h
13
29% lit
10.6 h
14
38% lit
8.7 h
15
49% lit
6.4 h
16
59% lit
2.5 h
17
70% lit
0.0 h
18
80% lit
0.0 h
19
88% lit
0.0 h
20
95% lit
0.0 h
21
99% lit
0.0 h
22
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
23
98% lit
0.0 h
24
93% lit
2.5 h
25
86% lit
4.7 h
26
77% lit
6.7 h
27
68% lit
8.9 h
28
58% lit
11.9 h
29
48% lit
16.2 h
30
38% lit
16.0 h
31
29% lit
15.9 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

Norilsk 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%. Norilsk sits at 60.5 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

No month-page town in Russia has more civil night on January 15 than Norilsk; the national median is 17.0 hours. Coming from December (19.0 hours at Norilsk), January loses darkness, and February brings shorter nights (14.0 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%

Darkness and moon, every night

Norilsk, 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	18 h 48 min	13 h 9 min	15 h 52 min	4 h	31%
Sat Jan 2	18 h 45 min	13 h 7 min	18 h 45 min	4 h	22%
Sun Jan 3	18 h 42 min	13 h 5 min	18 h 42 min	4 h	15%
Mon Jan 4	18 h 38 min	13 h 2 min	18 h 38 min	4 h	9%
Tue Jan 5	18 h 34 min	13 h	18 h 34 min	4 h	4%
Wed Jan 6	18 h 29 min	12 h 57 min	18 h 29 min	4 h	1%
Thu Jan 7	18 h 25 min	12 h 54 min	18 h 25 min	4 h	0%
Fri Jan 8	18 h 20 min	12 h 52 min	18 h 20 min	4 h	1%
Sat Jan 9	18 h 15 min	12 h 48 min	18 h 15 min	4 h	3%
Sun Jan 10	18 h 10 min	12 h 45 min	16 h 27 min	4 h	7%
Mon Jan 11	18 h 5 min	12 h 42 min	14 h 20 min	4 h	13%
Tue Jan 12	17 h 59 min	12 h 38 min	12 h 26 min	4 h	20%
Wed Jan 13	17 h 54 min	12 h 35 min	10 h 35 min	2 h 23 min	29%
Thu Jan 14	17 h 48 min	12 h 31 min	8 h 39 min	30 min	38%
Fri Jan 15	17 h 42 min	12 h 27 min	6 h 25 min	0 min	49%
Sat Jan 16	17 h 36 min	12 h 23 min	2 h 33 min	0 min	59%
Sun Jan 17	17 h 30 min	12 h 19 min	0 min	0 min	70%
Mon Jan 18	17 h 24 min	12 h 14 min	0 min	0 min	80%
Tue Jan 19	17 h 18 min	12 h 10 min	0 min	0 min	88%
Wed Jan 20	17 h 11 min	12 h 5 min	0 min	0 min	95%
Thu Jan 21	17 h 5 min	12 h 1 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Fri Jan 22	16 h 58 min	11 h 56 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Sat Jan 23	16 h 51 min	11 h 51 min	1 min	0 min	98%
Sun Jan 24	16 h 45 min	11 h 46 min	2 h 32 min	0 min	93%
Mon Jan 25	16 h 38 min	11 h 41 min	4 h 40 min	0 min	86%
Tue Jan 26	16 h 31 min	11 h 35 min	6 h 41 min	1 h 45 min	77%
Wed Jan 27	16 h 24 min	11 h 30 min	8 h 57 min	3 h 50 min	68%
Thu Jan 28	16 h 17 min	11 h 24 min	11 h 56 min	4 h	58%
Fri Jan 29	16 h 10 min	11 h 19 min	16 h 10 min	4 h	48%
Sat Jan 30	16 h 2 min	11 h 13 min	16 h 2 min	4 h	38%
Sun Jan 31	15 h 55 min	11 h 7 min	15 h 55 min	4 h	29%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Norilsk in January?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Norilsk have civil darkness, and 48% of past January days reached Kp 3.
How dark is Norilsk in January?: Norilsk averages 17.5 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 18 h 48 min on the 1st to 15 h 55 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Norilsk in January?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Norilsk's 1 degree cell 55% mean cloud in January, against 68% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in January 2027 for aurora in Norilsk?: By darkness and moon alone, Jan 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Norilsk. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is January or February better in Norilsk?: By civil night times the clear share, January scores 8.0 hours at Norilsk and February 5.6. 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.