Alberta, Canada
Northern lights in Sherwood Park
Answer
Tonight
Darkness window open
Civil darkness has begun.
Observed 11:49 UTC, forecast 13:20 UTC, 91 min lead
Clock times in America/Edmonton
Storm level needed
Sherwood Park sits at 53.52N 113.32W in Alberta, Canada. The IGRF-14 centered dipole puts Sherwood Park at 60.0 degrees geomagnetic latitude, 6.5 degrees closer to the magnetic pole than its map latitude suggests. Sherwood Park sits at 60.0 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 Edmonton (11 km), Leduc (32 km), Spruce Grove (40 km). Edmonton sits 0.0 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 Sherwood Park has some civil darkness; the shortest month sample still has 5.0 hours. Every evening of the year at Sherwood Park clears Glow's dark-season bar of 4 hours of civil night between 18:00 and 06:00. Sherwood Park's longest night of the year, Dec 20, has 14 h 59 min of civil night.
Solar midnight at Sherwood Park, when the sun is lowest, falls at 01:29 on local clocks on December 15 and 01:34 on June 15. That is 1 h 29 min after midnight in December and 1 h 34 min after midnight in June, the gap set by daylight saving and the equation of time. So at Sherwood Park the darkest hour sits late in SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window.
Month by month
| Month | Night | Civil | Cloud | Clear dark | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 14.4 h | 11.6 h | 71% | 4.2 h | |
| Feb | 12.8 h | 10.1 h | 69% | 4.0 h | |
| Mar | 10.8 h | 8.1 h | 72% | 3.1 h | |
| Apr | 8.6 h | 5.1 h | 69% | 2.7 h | |
| May | 6.4 h | 0.0 h | 63% | 2.4 h | |
| Jun | 5.0 h | 0.0 h | 65% | 1.8 h | |
| Jul | 5.7 h | 0.0 h | 56% | 2.5 h | |
| Aug | 7.8 h | 3.8 h | 58% | 3.3 h | |
| Sep | 10.1 h | 7.1 h | 60% | 4.0 h | |
| Oct | 12.2 h | 9.4 h | 68% | 3.9 h | |
| Nov | 14.0 h | 11.2 h | 76% | 3.4 h | |
| Dec | 14.9 h | 12.0 h | 72% | 4.2 hbest |
By the 15th-of-the-month sample, December is the darkest month at Sherwood Park with 15.0 hours of civil night and June the lightest at 5.0. Across the year Sherwood Park gets 3,730 hours of civil night. Astronomical night at Sherwood Park, the sun 18 degrees or more below the horizon, lasts 12.0 hours on December 15.
NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology puts mean cloud amount for the 1 degree cell around Sherwood Park at 67% across the year, from 56% in July to 76% in November. In the months with at least 4 hours of civil night Sherwood Park averages 67%, against a median of 67% for Glow towns in Canada.
Multiplying civil night by the clear share of the sky gives December the best score, 4.2 hours, ahead of January at 4.2. Sherwood Park's equinox months score 3.1 in March and 4.0 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 Sherwood Park, on 24% of days. At Sherwood Park'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/Edmonton dates. 15 of the 30 nights at Sherwood Park have at least 2 moon-free dark hours inside 10 PM to 2 AM, and Oct 5 has the most at 4 h. Tonight Sherwood Park has 11 h 12 min of civil night, 1 h 20 min of it with the moon down.
- 1
65% lit
1.3 h
- 2
54% 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
8.4 h
- 7
7% 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
11.9 h
- 13
13% lit
12.0 h
- 14
20% lit
11.7 h
- 15
28% lit
11.0 h
- 16
37% lit
10.1 h
- 17
46% lit
8.9 h
- 18
56% lit
7.7 h
- 19
65% lit
6.5 h
- 20
74% lit
5.2 h
- 21
82% lit
3.9 h
- 22
90% lit
2.6 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
0.3 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 17 Glow towns in Alberta, Sherwood Park ranks 5th by dipole latitude against a regional median of 58.7 degrees; Fort McMurray sits highest at 63.4. Among the 130 Glow towns in Canada, Sherwood Park ranks 9th by dipole latitude against a national median of 55.3 degrees; Yellowknife sits highest at 68.5. On December 15 Sherwood Park 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 Sherwood Park?
- Sherwood Park sits at 60.0 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 Sherwood Park still decides it.
- When is it dark enough in Sherwood Park?
- Every night at Sherwood Park has civil darkness. Tonight has 11 h 12 min, and December 15 has 15.0 hours.
- What is the best month for aurora in Sherwood Park?
- December, by civil night at Sherwood Park times the clear share of the sky from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 average.
- How cloudy is Sherwood Park in the dark months?
- About 67% mean cloud amount over Sherwood Park 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 Sherwood Park?
- 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
Sherwood Park by month
Region and comparisons