Otago, New Zealand
Southern lights in Queenstown
Answer
Tonight
Darkness window open
Civil darkness has begun.
Observed 11:55 UTC, forecast 13:26 UTC, 91 min lead
Clock times in Pacific/Auckland
Storm level needed
Queenstown sits at 45.03S 168.66E in Otago, New Zealand. The IGRF-14 centered dipole puts Queenstown at 48.8 degrees geomagnetic latitude, 3.8 degrees closer to the magnetic pole than its map latitude suggests. Queenstown sits at 48.8 degrees geomagnetic. The lowest NOAA storm level whose typical viewing latitude reaches it is G4 (Kp = 8, including a 9-). By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead only at Kp 9.
"aurora has been seen as low as Alabama and northern California (typically 45° geomagnetic lat.)"
The nearest other Glow towns are Wanaka (53 km), Gore (121 km), Invercargill (154 km). Wanaka sits 0.4 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 Queenstown has some civil darkness; the shortest month sample still has 7.0 hours. Every evening of the year at Queenstown clears Glow's dark-season bar of 4 hours of civil night between 18:00 and 06:00. Queenstown's longest night of the year, Jun 19, has 14 h 1 min of civil night.
Solar midnight at Queenstown, when the sun is lowest, falls at 01:40 on local clocks on December 15 and 00:46 on June 15. That is 1 h 40 min after midnight in December and 46 min after midnight in June, the gap set by daylight saving and the equation of time. So at Queenstown the darkest hour sits late in SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window.
Month by month
| Month | Night | Civil | Cloud | Clear dark | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 7.5 h | 4.0 h | 70% | 2.3 h | |
| Feb | 9.0 h | 6.3 h | 66% | 3.1 h | |
| Mar | 10.5 h | 8.1 h | 65% | 3.7 h | |
| Apr | 12.1 h | 9.8 h | 65% | 4.2 h | |
| May | 13.3 h | 11.0 h | 66% | 4.5 h | |
| Jun | 14.0 h | 11.6 h | 64% | 5.0 h | |
| Jul | 13.7 h | 11.3 h | 63% | 5.1 hbest | |
| Aug | 12.6 h | 10.3 h | 66% | 4.3 h | |
| Sep | 11.2 h | 8.9 h | 68% | 3.6 h | |
| Oct | 9.6 h | 7.0 h | 70% | 2.9 h | |
| Nov | 8.0 h | 4.8 h | 72% | 2.2 h | |
| Dec | 7.0 h | 3.1 h | 73% | 1.9 h |
By the 15th-of-the-month sample, June is the darkest month at Queenstown with 14.0 hours of civil night and December the lightest at 7.0. Across the year Queenstown gets 3,908 hours of civil night. Astronomical night at Queenstown, the sun 18 degrees or more below the horizon, lasts 3.1 hours on December 15.
NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology puts mean cloud amount for the 1 degree cell around Queenstown at 67% across the year, from 63% in July to 73% in December. In the months with at least 4 hours of civil night Queenstown averages 67%, against a median of 66% for Glow towns in New Zealand.
Multiplying civil night by the clear share of the sky gives July the best score, 5.1 hours, ahead of June at 5.0. Queenstown's equinox months score 3.7 in March and 3.6 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 9 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge over Queenstown, on 0% of days. At Queenstown's level the share runs from 0% in January to 0% in October, 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 9. 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 Pacific/Auckland dates. 15 of the 30 nights at Queenstown have at least 2 moon-free dark hours inside 10 PM to 2 AM, and Oct 2 has the most at 4 h. Tonight Queenstown has 10 h 16 min of civil night, 6 h 30 min of it with the moon down.
- 2
63% lit
6.5 h
- 3
51% lit
7.4 h
- 4
40% lit
8.1 h
- 5
29% lit
8.6 h
- 6
20% lit
9.0 h
- 7
12% lit
9.3 h
- 8
5% lit
9.6 h
- 9
2% lit
9.9 h
- 10
0% lit
9.8 h
- 11
1% lit
9.6 h
- 12
4% lit
8.4 h
- 13
8% lit
7.2 h
- 14
14% lit
6.0 h
- 15
22% lit
5.0 h
- 16
30% lit
4.1 h
- 17
39% lit
3.4 h
- 18
48% lit
2.8 h
- 19
58% lit
2.3 h
- 20
67% lit
1.8 h
- 21
76% lit
1.4 h
- 22
84% lit
1.1 h
- 23
91% lit
0.8 h
- 24
96% lit
0.4 h
- 25
99% lit
0.0 h
- 26
100% lit
0.0 h
- 27
98% lit
1.1 h
- 28
93% lit
2.5 h
- 29
85% lit
3.7 h
- 30
76% lit
4.7 h
- 31
66% lit
5.4 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 New Zealand
Among the 4 Glow towns in Otago, Queenstown ranks 2nd by dipole latitude against a regional median of 48.7 degrees; Dunedin sits highest at 49.3. Among the 11 Glow towns in New Zealand, Queenstown ranks 4th by dipole latitude against a national median of 48.4 degrees; Invercargill sits highest at 50.2. On December 15 Queenstown gets 7.0 hours of civil night, 7th longest of 11 in New Zealand, where the median is 7.1.
Questions
- Can you see the southern lights in Queenstown?
- Queenstown sits at 48.8 degrees geomagnetic. The lowest NOAA storm level whose typical viewing latitude reaches it is G4 (Kp = 8, including a 9-). By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead only at Kp 9. Clear, dark sky over Queenstown still decides it.
- When is it dark enough in Queenstown?
- Every night at Queenstown has civil darkness. Tonight has 10 h 16 min, and December 15 has 7.0 hours.
- What is the best month for aurora in Queenstown?
- July, by civil night at Queenstown times the clear share of the sky from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 average.
- How cloudy is Queenstown in the dark months?
- About 67% mean cloud amount over Queenstown 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 Queenstown?
- A 3-hour Kp of 9 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge overhead, occurred on 0% of days from 1996 to 2025 in the GFZ Potsdam record.
Nearby and related
Nearest Glow towns
Queenstown by month
Region and comparisons