New Brunswick, Canada
Northern lights in Saint John
Answer
Tonight
Waiting on darkness
It is not civil-dark yet. The next dusk is listed below.
Observed 11:49 UTC, forecast 13:20 UTC, 91 min lead
Clock times in America/Moncton
Storm level needed
Saint John sits at 45.27N 66.06W in New Brunswick, Canada. The IGRF-14 centered dipole puts Saint John at 54.4 degrees geomagnetic latitude, 9.1 degrees closer to the magnetic pole than its map latitude suggests. Saint John sits at 54.4 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.
"aurora has been seen as low as Illinois and Oregon (typically 50° geomagnetic lat.)"
The nearest other Glow towns are Fredericton (89 km), Lutes Mountain (132 km), Moncton (134 km). Fredericton sits 0.7 degrees higher 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 Saint John has some civil darkness; the shortest month sample still has 7.0 hours. Every evening of the year at Saint John clears Glow's dark-season bar of 4 hours of civil night between 18:00 and 06:00. Saint John's longest night of the year, Dec 17, has 14 h 2 min of civil night.
Solar midnight at Saint John, when the sun is lowest, falls at 00:19 on local clocks on December 15 and 01:25 on June 15. That is 19 min after midnight in December and 1 h 25 min after midnight in June, the gap set by daylight saving and the equation of time. So at Saint John the darkest hour sits near the middle of SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window in winter.
Month by month
| Month | Night | Civil | Cloud | Clear dark | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 13.7 h | 11.3 h | 65% | 4.8 hbest | |
| Feb | 12.4 h | 10.2 h | 65% | 4.3 h | |
| Mar | 11.0 h | 8.7 h | 64% | 4.0 h | |
| Apr | 9.3 h | 6.7 h | 68% | 3.0 h | |
| May | 7.8 h | 4.6 h | 70% | 2.3 h | |
| Jun | 7.0 h | 3.0 h | 68% | 2.2 h | |
| Jul | 7.4 h | 3.8 h | 64% | 2.7 h | |
| Aug | 8.8 h | 6.0 h | 58% | 3.7 h | |
| Sep | 10.4 h | 8.0 h | 55% | 4.7 h | |
| Oct | 12.0 h | 9.7 h | 63% | 4.4 h | |
| Nov | 13.3 h | 11.0 h | 68% | 4.3 h | |
| Dec | 14.0 h | 11.6 h | 68% | 4.5 h |
By the 15th-of-the-month sample, December is the darkest month at Saint John with 14.0 hours of civil night and June the lightest at 7.0. Across the year Saint John gets 3,864 hours of civil night. Astronomical night at Saint John, the sun 18 degrees or more below the horizon, lasts 11.6 hours on December 15.
NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology puts mean cloud amount for the 1 degree cell around Saint John at 65% across the year, from 55% in September to 70% in May. In the months with at least 4 hours of civil night Saint John averages 65%, against a median of 67% for Glow towns in Canada.
Multiplying civil night by the clear share of the sky gives January the best score, 4.8 hours, ahead of September at 4.7. Saint John's equinox months score 4.0 in March and 4.7 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 6 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge over Saint John, on 3% of days. At Saint John's level the share runs from 1% in December to 5% 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 6. 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 26, in America/Moncton dates. 15 of the 30 nights at Saint John have at least 2 moon-free dark hours inside 10 PM to 2 AM, and Oct 5 has the most at 4 h. Tonight Saint John has 11 h 15 min of civil night, 2 h 8 min of it with the moon down.
- 1
66% lit
2.1 h
- 2
55% lit
3.2 h
- 3
44% lit
4.5 h
- 4
33% lit
5.8 h
- 5
23% lit
7.2 h
- 6
14% lit
8.5 h
- 7
7% lit
9.8 h
- 8
3% lit
11.0 h
- 9
0% lit
11.7 h
- 10
0% lit
11.7 h
- 11
2% lit
11.8 h
- 12
6% lit
11.8 h
- 13
12% lit
11.4 h
- 14
19% lit
10.8 h
- 15
27% lit
10.1 h
- 16
36% lit
9.2 h
- 17
45% lit
8.2 h
- 18
54% lit
7.1 h
- 19
64% lit
6.0 h
- 20
73% lit
4.9 h
- 21
81% lit
3.7 h
- 22
89% lit
2.6 h
- 23
95% lit
1.4 h
- 24
98% lit
0.1 h
- 25
100% lit
0.0 h
- 26
99% lit
0.0 h
- 27
95% lit
0.0 h
- 28
88% lit
0.8 h
- 29
79% lit
1.9 h
- 30
69% lit
3.1 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 6 Glow towns in New Brunswick, Saint John ranks 6th by dipole latitude against a regional median of 55.2 degrees; Edmundston sits highest at 56.6. Among the 130 Glow towns in Canada, Saint John ranks 98th by dipole latitude against a national median of 55.3 degrees; Yellowknife sits highest at 68.5. On December 15 Saint John gets 14.0 hours of civil night, 94th longest of 130 in Canada, where the median is 14.2.
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Saint John?
- Saint John sits at 54.4 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. Clear, dark sky over Saint John still decides it.
- When is it dark enough in Saint John?
- Every night at Saint John has civil darkness. Tonight has 11 h 15 min, and December 15 has 14.0 hours.
- What is the best month for aurora in Saint John?
- January, by civil night at Saint John times the clear share of the sky from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 average.
- How cloudy is Saint John in the dark months?
- About 65% mean cloud amount over Saint John 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 Saint John?
- A 3-hour Kp of 6 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge overhead, occurred on 3% of days from 1996 to 2025 in the GFZ Potsdam record.
Nearby and related
Nearest Glow towns
Saint John by month
Region and comparisons