British Columbia, Canada
Northern lights in Prince George
Answer
Tonight
Darkness window open
Civil darkness has begun.
Observed 11:55 UTC, forecast 13:26 UTC, 91 min lead
Clock times in America/Vancouver
Storm level needed
Prince George sits at 53.92N 122.75W in British Columbia, Canada. The IGRF-14 centered dipole puts Prince George at 59.1 degrees geomagnetic latitude, 5.2 degrees closer to the magnetic pole than its map latitude suggests. Prince George sits at 59.1 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 4, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less.
"aurora is commonly visible at high latitudes (northern Michigan and Maine)"
The nearest other Glow towns are Fort St. John (286 km), Grande Prairie (290 km), Terrace (386 km). Fort St. John sits 2.5 degrees higher on the dipole, Kp 3 against 4 here.
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 Prince George has some civil darkness; the shortest month sample still has 4.9 hours. Every evening of the year at Prince George clears Glow's dark-season bar of 4 hours of civil night between 18:00 and 06:00. Prince George's longest night of the year, Dec 18, has 15 h 2 min of civil night.
Solar midnight at Prince George, when the sun is lowest, falls at 01:06 on local clocks on December 15 and 01:11 on June 15. That is 1 h 6 min after midnight in December and 1 h 11 min after midnight in June, the gap set by daylight saving and the equation of time. So at Prince George the darkest hour sits late in SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window.
Month by month
| Month | Night | Civil | Cloud | Clear dark | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 14.5 h | 11.6 h | 76% | 3.5 h | |
| Feb | 12.8 h | 10.1 h | 70% | 3.8 hbest | |
| Mar | 10.8 h | 8.0 h | 71% | 3.1 h | |
| Apr | 8.5 h | 5.0 h | 70% | 2.6 h | |
| May | 6.3 h | 0.0 h | 70% | 1.9 h | |
| Jun | 4.9 h | 0.0 h | 71% | 1.4 h | |
| Jul | 5.6 h | 0.0 h | 64% | 2.0 h | |
| Aug | 7.7 h | 3.6 h | 63% | 2.8 h | |
| Sep | 10.0 h | 7.1 h | 67% | 3.3 h | |
| Oct | 12.2 h | 9.4 h | 75% | 3.0 h | |
| Nov | 14.0 h | 11.2 h | 80% | 2.8 h | |
| Dec | 15.0 h | 12.1 h | 76% | 3.6 h |
By the 15th-of-the-month sample, December is the darkest month at Prince George with 15.0 hours of civil night and June the lightest at 4.9. Across the year Prince George gets 3,720 hours of civil night. Astronomical night at Prince George, the sun 18 degrees or more below the horizon, lasts 12.1 hours on December 15.
NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology puts mean cloud amount for the 1 degree cell around Prince George at 71% across the year, from 63% in August to 80% in November. In the months with at least 4 hours of civil night Prince George averages 71%, against a median of 67% for Glow towns in Canada.
Multiplying civil night by the clear share of the sky gives February the best score, 3.8 hours, ahead of December at 3.6. Prince George's equinox months score 3.1 in March and 3.3 in September, the weeks SWPC links with larger storms.
Kp history
From 1996 to 2025, the GFZ Potsdam record shows a 3-hour Kp of 4 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge over Prince George, on 24% of days. At Prince George's level the share runs from 19% in December to 31% in September, while storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 10%.
Share of UTC days in each calendar month whose highest 3-hour Kp reached Kp 4. Kp history by year
Moon, next 30 nights
Over the 30 nights from Oct 1, the new moon falls on Oct 10 and the full moon on Oct 25, in America/Vancouver dates. 15 of the 30 nights at Prince George have at least 2 moon-free dark hours inside 10 PM to 2 AM, and Oct 5 has the most at 4 h. Tonight Prince George has 11 h 12 min of civil night, 1 h 18 min of it with the moon down.
- 1
64% lit
1.3 h
- 2
53% lit
2.5 h
- 3
42% lit
3.9 h
- 4
31% lit
5.4 h
- 5
21% lit
7.0 h
- 6
13% lit
8.5 h
- 7
6% lit
9.9 h
- 8
2% lit
11.3 h
- 9
0% lit
11.8 h
- 10
1% lit
11.8 h
- 11
3% lit
11.9 h
- 12
7% lit
12.0 h
- 13
13% lit
12.0 h
- 14
20% lit
11.8 h
- 15
28% lit
11.1 h
- 16
37% lit
10.1 h
- 17
46% lit
9.0 h
- 18
56% lit
7.7 h
- 19
65% lit
6.5 h
- 20
74% lit
5.2 h
- 21
83% lit
3.9 h
- 22
90% lit
2.5 h
- 23
95% lit
1.2 h
- 24
99% lit
0.0 h
- 25
100% lit
0.0 h
- 26
98% lit
0.0 h
- 27
94% lit
0.0 h
- 28
87% lit
0.2 h
- 29
78% lit
1.3 h
- 30
68% lit
2.7 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 Canada
Among the 19 Glow towns in British Columbia, Prince George ranks 2nd by dipole latitude against a regional median of 55.2 degrees; Fort St. John sits highest at 61.7. Among the 130 Glow towns in Canada, Prince George ranks 16th by dipole latitude against a national median of 55.3 degrees; Yellowknife sits highest at 68.5. On December 15 Prince George gets 15.0 hours of civil night, 7th longest of 130 in Canada, where the median is 14.2.
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Prince George?
- Prince George sits at 59.1 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 4, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less. Clear, dark sky over Prince George still decides it.
- When is it dark enough in Prince George?
- Every night at Prince George has civil darkness. Tonight has 11 h 12 min, and December 15 has 15.0 hours.
- What is the best month for aurora in Prince George?
- February, by civil night at Prince George times the clear share of the sky from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 average.
- How cloudy is Prince George in the dark months?
- About 71% mean cloud amount over Prince George in the months with at least 4 hours of civil night, from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology.
- How often is activity high enough for Prince George?
- A 3-hour Kp of 4 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge overhead, occurred on 24% of days from 1996 to 2025 in the GFZ Potsdam record.
Nearby and related
Nearest Glow towns
Prince George by month
Region and comparisons