Can you see the northern lights in Terrace in January?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Terrace have civil darkness, and 21% of past January days reached Kp 4.

How dark is Terrace in January?

Terrace averages 14.5 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 15 h on the 1st to 13 h 46 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Terrace in January?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Terrace's 1 degree cell 81% mean cloud in January, against 79% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in January 2027 for aurora in Terrace?

By darkness and moon alone, Jan 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Terrace. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.

Is January or February better in Terrace?

By civil night times the clear share, January scores 2.8 hours at Terrace and February 3.3. February comes out ahead.

Terrace · January 2027

Northern lights in Terrace in January 2027

Answer

January gives Terrace 14.6 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 2nd darkest of its 12 months, under 81% mean cloud. 21% of January days since 1996 reached Kp 4, enough for the oval edge to reach Terrace.

14.5 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 54.52, -128.60; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

January against the rest of the year

2.8

3.3

2.3

1.8

1.4

0.8

1.2

2.0

2.2

2.4

3.0

January cloud at Terrace averages 81% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 2 points cloudier than its yearly mean. February is Terrace's clearest month at 74%. By civil night times clear sky, January scores 2.8 hours at Terrace, 3rd of 12. Fort St. John, 526 km away, averages 70%, clearer by 11 points.

Civil night at Terrace starts January at 15 h and reaches 13 h 46 min by January 31, 1.2 hours shorter. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 11.6 hours on the 15th.

January night by night

January opens toward a new moon on Jan 7, with full moon on Jan 22, in America/Vancouver dates. Terrace gets 251 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: Jan 1 (4 h), Jan 2 (4 h), Jan 3 (4 h).

1
26% lit
11.5 h
2
18% lit
12.8 h
3
11% lit
14.0 h
4
6% lit
14.9 h
5
2% lit
14.9 h
6
0% lit
14.9 h
7
0% lit
14.8 h
New
8
2% lit
14.8 h
9
5% lit
13.5 h
10
10% lit
12.2 h
11
17% lit
10.9 h
12
25% lit
9.6 h
13
34% lit
8.3 h
14
44% lit
7.0 h
15
55% lit
5.5 h
16
66% lit
4.0 h
17
76% lit
2.5 h
18
85% lit
1.1 h
19
93% lit
0.1 h
20
98% lit
0.0 h
21
100% lit
0.0 h
22
99% lit
0.0 h
Full
23
95% lit
1.5 h
24
89% lit
3.0 h
25
81% lit
4.5 h
26
72% lit
5.8 h
27
62% lit
7.2 h
28
52% lit
8.6 h
29
42% lit
9.9 h
30
32% lit
11.1 h
31
24% lit
12.2 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 Januarys

Terrace needs Kp 4 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 196 of the 930 January days from 1996 to 2025 (21%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, one of the three quietest months for that level; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 6%. Terrace sits at 58.9 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.

January across Canada

Terrace ranks 5th in Canada for civil night on January 15, behind Yellowknife at 15.8 hours. Coming from December (15.1 hours at Terrace), January loses darkness, and February brings shorter nights (12.8 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on January 15 and January cloud, month-page towns in Canada
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Yellowknife	15.8 h	56%
Whitehorse	15.4 h	67%
Fort McMurray	14.8 h	66%
Fort St. John	14.8 h	70%
Terrace	14.6 h	81%
Grande Prairie	14.6 h	71%
Edmonton	14.5 h	71%
Prince Albert	14.4 h	68%
Lloydminster	14.4 h	70%
Saskatoon	14.3 h	68%
Red Deer	14.3 h	71%
Calgary	14.2 h	70%

Darkness and moon, every night

Terrace, January 2027: each night from local noon to the next noon
Night	Civil	Astronomical	Moon-free dark	Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM	Moon lit
Fri Jan 1	15 h	12 h	11 h 29 min	4 h	26%
Sat Jan 2	14 h 59 min	11 h 59 min	12 h 47 min	4 h	18%
Sun Jan 3	14 h 57 min	11 h 58 min	13 h 58 min	4 h	11%
Mon Jan 4	14 h 56 min	11 h 57 min	14 h 56 min	4 h	6%
Tue Jan 5	14 h 54 min	11 h 56 min	14 h 54 min	4 h	2%
Wed Jan 6	14 h 53 min	11 h 54 min	14 h 53 min	4 h	0%
Thu Jan 7	14 h 51 min	11 h 53 min	14 h 51 min	4 h	0%
Fri Jan 8	14 h 49 min	11 h 51 min	14 h 46 min	4 h	2%
Sat Jan 9	14 h 47 min	11 h 50 min	13 h 28 min	4 h	5%
Sun Jan 10	14 h 45 min	11 h 48 min	12 h 10 min	4 h	10%
Mon Jan 11	14 h 43 min	11 h 46 min	10 h 54 min	3 h 50 min	17%
Tue Jan 12	14 h 41 min	11 h 44 min	9 h 37 min	2 h 34 min	25%
Wed Jan 13	14 h 39 min	11 h 42 min	8 h 19 min	1 h 17 min	34%
Thu Jan 14	14 h 36 min	11 h 40 min	6 h 58 min	0 min	44%
Fri Jan 15	14 h 34 min	11 h 38 min	5 h 32 min	0 min	55%
Sat Jan 16	14 h 31 min	11 h 36 min	4 h 2 min	0 min	66%
Sun Jan 17	14 h 29 min	11 h 34 min	2 h 31 min	0 min	76%
Mon Jan 18	14 h 26 min	11 h 32 min	1 h 8 min	0 min	85%
Tue Jan 19	14 h 23 min	11 h 29 min	4 min	0 min	93%
Wed Jan 20	14 h 20 min	11 h 27 min	0 min	0 min	98%
Thu Jan 21	14 h 18 min	11 h 24 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Fri Jan 22	14 h 15 min	11 h 22 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Sat Jan 23	14 h 12 min	11 h 19 min	1 h 29 min	0 min	95%
Sun Jan 24	14 h 9 min	11 h 16 min	3 h 1 min	0 min	89%
Mon Jan 25	14 h 6 min	11 h 14 min	4 h 27 min	1 h 11 min	81%
Tue Jan 26	14 h 2 min	11 h 11 min	5 h 51 min	2 h 36 min	72%
Wed Jan 27	13 h 59 min	11 h 8 min	7 h 12 min	4 h	62%
Thu Jan 28	13 h 56 min	11 h 5 min	8 h 33 min	4 h	52%
Fri Jan 29	13 h 53 min	11 h 2 min	9 h 52 min	4 h	42%
Sat Jan 30	13 h 49 min	10 h 59 min	11 h 6 min	4 h	32%
Sun Jan 31	13 h 46 min	10 h 56 min	12 h 10 min	4 h	24%

Moon lit: SunCalc illuminated fraction at the middle of the 10 PM to 2 AM window.

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Terrace in January?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Terrace have civil darkness, and 21% of past January days reached Kp 4.
How dark is Terrace in January?: Terrace averages 14.5 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 15 h on the 1st to 13 h 46 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Terrace in January?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Terrace's 1 degree cell 81% mean cloud in January, against 79% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in January 2027 for aurora in Terrace?: By darkness and moon alone, Jan 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Terrace. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is January or February better in Terrace?: By civil night times the clear share, January scores 2.8 hours at Terrace and February 3.3. February 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.