Queenstown · April 2027
Southern lights in Queenstown in April 2027
Answer
April against the rest of the year
April cloud at Queenstown averages 65% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 2 points clearer than its yearly mean. July is Queenstown's clearest month at 63%. By civil night times clear sky, April scores 4.2 hours at Queenstown, 5th of 12. Anadyr, 12,230 km away, averages 67%, cloudier by 2 points.
Civil night at Queenstown starts April at 11 h 23 min and reaches 12 h 45 min by April 30 as the nights lengthen by 1.4 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 9.8 hours on the 15th.
April night by night
April opens toward a new moon on Apr 7, with full moon on Apr 21, in Pacific/Auckland dates. Queenstown gets 179 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: Apr 3 (5 h), Apr 1 (4 h), Apr 2 (4 h).
- 1
28% lit
6.5 h
- 2
20% lit
7.6 h
- 3
13% lit
8.7 h
- 4
7% lit
9.9 h
- 5
3% lit
11.0 h
- 6
0% lit
11.6 h
- 7
0% lit
11.7 h
- 8
3% lit
11.7 h
- 9
8% lit
11.8 h
- 10
15% lit
11.2 h
- 11
23% lit
10.4 h
- 12
34% lit
9.3 h
- 13
45% lit
8.1 h
- 14
56% lit
6.8 h
- 15
67% lit
5.5 h
- 16
78% lit
4.3 h
- 17
86% lit
3.0 h
- 18
93% lit
1.8 h
- 19
97% lit
0.6 h
- 20
100% lit
0.0 h
- 21
99% lit
0.0 h
- 22
97% lit
0.0 h
- 23
93% lit
0.2 h
- 24
87% lit
0.9 h
- 25
80% lit
1.8 h
- 26
72% lit
2.8 h
- 27
63% lit
3.9 h
- 28
53% lit
5.0 h
- 29
44% lit
6.1 h
- 30
35% lit
7.2 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 Aprils
Queenstown needs Kp 9 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 0 of the 900 April days from 1996 to 2025 (0%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 4th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 12%. 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.
April across New Zealand
Coming from March (10.5 hours at Queenstown), April adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into May (13.3 hours on the 15th).
Darkness and moon, every night
| Night | Civil | Astronomical | Moon-free dark | Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM | Moon lit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thu Apr 1 | 11 h 23 min | 9 h 6 min | 6 h 28 min | 4 h | 28% |
| Fri Apr 2 | 11 h 26 min | 9 h 9 min | 7 h 36 min | 4 h | 20% |
| Sat Apr 3 | 11 h 29 min | 9 h 13 min | 8 h 44 min | 5 h | 13% |
| Sun Apr 4 | 11 h 32 min | 9 h 16 min | 9 h 52 min | 4 h | 7% |
| Mon Apr 5 | 11 h 35 min | 9 h 19 min | 11 h 2 min | 4 h | 3% |
| Tue Apr 6 | 11 h 38 min | 9 h 22 min | 11 h 38 min | 4 h | 0% |
| Wed Apr 7 | 11 h 41 min | 9 h 25 min | 11 h 41 min | 4 h | 0% |
| Thu Apr 8 | 11 h 44 min | 9 h 28 min | 11 h 44 min | 4 h | 3% |
| Fri Apr 9 | 11 h 47 min | 9 h 31 min | 11 h 47 min | 4 h | 8% |
| Sat Apr 10 | 11 h 50 min | 9 h 34 min | 11 h 10 min | 4 h | 15% |
| Sun Apr 11 | 11 h 53 min | 9 h 37 min | 10 h 22 min | 4 h | 23% |
| Mon Apr 12 | 11 h 56 min | 9 h 40 min | 9 h 20 min | 4 h | 34% |
| Tue Apr 13 | 11 h 59 min | 9 h 43 min | 8 h 8 min | 3 h 22 min | 45% |
| Wed Apr 14 | 12 h 2 min | 9 h 46 min | 6 h 50 min | 2 h 3 min | 56% |
| Thu Apr 15 | 12 h 5 min | 9 h 49 min | 5 h 32 min | 44 min | 67% |
| Fri Apr 16 | 12 h 8 min | 9 h 52 min | 4 h 15 min | 0 min | 78% |
| Sat Apr 17 | 12 h 11 min | 9 h 54 min | 3 h | 0 min | 86% |
| Sun Apr 18 | 12 h 13 min | 9 h 57 min | 1 h 46 min | 0 min | 93% |
| Mon Apr 19 | 12 h 16 min | 10 h | 33 min | 0 min | 97% |
| Tue Apr 20 | 12 h 19 min | 10 h 3 min | 0 min | 0 min | 100% |
| Wed Apr 21 | 12 h 22 min | 10 h 5 min | 0 min | 0 min | 99% |
| Thu Apr 22 | 12 h 24 min | 10 h 8 min | 0 min | 0 min | 97% |
| Fri Apr 23 | 12 h 27 min | 10 h 10 min | 13 min | 0 min | 93% |
| Sat Apr 24 | 12 h 30 min | 10 h 13 min | 57 min | 0 min | 87% |
| Sun Apr 25 | 12 h 33 min | 10 h 16 min | 1 h 49 min | 0 min | 80% |
| Mon Apr 26 | 12 h 35 min | 10 h 18 min | 2 h 49 min | 0 min | 72% |
| Tue Apr 27 | 12 h 38 min | 10 h 21 min | 3 h 53 min | 17 min | 63% |
| Wed Apr 28 | 12 h 40 min | 10 h 23 min | 4 h 59 min | 1 h 22 min | 53% |
| Thu Apr 29 | 12 h 43 min | 10 h 25 min | 6 h 6 min | 2 h 27 min | 44% |
| Fri Apr 30 | 12 h 45 min | 10 h 28 min | 7 h 13 min | 3 h 33 min | 35% |
Questions
- Can you see the southern lights in Queenstown in April?
- On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Queenstown have civil darkness, and 0% of past April days reached Kp 9.
- How dark is Queenstown in April?
- Queenstown averages 12.1 hours of civil night a night in April 2027, from 11 h 23 min on the 1st to 12 h 45 min on the last night.
- How cloudy is Queenstown in April?
- NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Queenstown's 1 degree cell 65% mean cloud in April, against 67% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
- What is the best night in April 2027 for aurora in Queenstown?
- By darkness and moon alone, Apr 3, with 5 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Queenstown. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
- Is April or May better in Queenstown?
- By civil night times the clear share, April scores 4.2 hours at Queenstown and May 4.5. May 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.