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Thunder Bay · January 2027

Northern lights in Thunder Bay in January 2027

Answer

January gives Thunder Bay 13.9 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 2nd darkest of its 12 months, under 70% mean cloud. 6% of January days since 1996 reached Kp 5, enough for the oval edge to reach Thunder Bay.
13.9 h
civil night, average night
SunCalc for 48.38, -89.25; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

January against the rest of the year

January cloud at Thunder Bay averages 70% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, close to its yearly mean of 70%. August is Thunder Bay's clearest month at 64%. That makes January the best month of Thunder Bay's year by civil night times clear sky, 4.2 hours. Duluth, 278 km away, averages 63%, clearer by 7 points.

Civil night at Thunder Bay starts January at 14 h 16 min and reaches 13 h 18 min by January 31, 1.0 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 11.4 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/Toronto dates. Thunder Bay gets 238 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. 1

    27% lit

    10.5 h

  2. 2

    18% lit

    11.7 h

  3. 3

    12% lit

    12.8 h

  4. 4

    6% lit

    13.7 h

  5. 5

    3% lit

    14.2 h

  6. 6

    0% lit

    14.2 h

  7. 7

    0% lit

    14.2 h

  8. 8

    2% lit

    14.0 h

  9. 9

    5% lit

    12.9 h

  10. 10

    10% lit

    11.7 h

  11. 11

    16% lit

    10.6 h

  12. 12

    24% lit

    9.4 h

  13. 13

    33% lit

    8.2 h

  14. 14

    43% lit

    7.0 h

  15. 15

    54% lit

    5.7 h

  16. 16

    65% lit

    4.4 h

  17. 17

    75% lit

    3.0 h

  18. 18

    84% lit

    1.7 h

  19. 19

    92% lit

    0.6 h

  20. 20

    97% lit

    0.0 h

  21. 21

    100% lit

    0.0 h

  22. 22

    99% lit

    0.0 h

  23. 23

    96% lit

    1.3 h

  24. 24

    90% lit

    2.7 h

  25. 25

    82% lit

    4.0 h

  26. 26

    73% lit

    5.3 h

  27. 27

    63% lit

    6.5 h

  28. 28

    53% lit

    7.7 h

  29. 29

    43% lit

    8.9 h

  30. 30

    33% lit

    10.0 h

  31. 31

    25% lit

    11.0 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

Thunder Bay needs Kp 5 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 58 of the 930 January days from 1996 to 2025 (6%) 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%. Thunder Bay sits at 57.1 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 5, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less.

January across Canada

Thunder Bay ranks 17th in Canada for civil night on January 15, behind Yellowknife at 15.8 hours. Coming from December (14.3 hours at Thunder Bay), January loses darkness, and February brings shorter nights (12.6 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on January 15 and January cloud, month-page towns in Canada
TownCivil nightCloud
Yellowknife15.8 h56%
Whitehorse15.4 h67%
Fort McMurray14.8 h66%
Fort St. John14.8 h70%
Grande Prairie14.6 h71%
Edmonton14.5 h71%
Prince Albert14.4 h68%
Lloydminster14.4 h70%
Saskatoon14.3 h68%
Red Deer14.3 h71%
Calgary14.2 h70%
Winnipeg14.1 h64%
Thunder Bay13.9 h70%

Darkness and moon, every night

Thunder Bay, January 2027: each night from local noon to the next noon
NightCivilAstronomicalMoon-free darkMoon-free, 10 PM to 2 AMMoon lit
Fri Jan 114 h 16 min11 h 41 min10 h 30 min4 h27%
Sat Jan 214 h 15 min11 h 40 min11 h 39 min4 h18%
Sun Jan 314 h 14 min11 h 39 min12 h 45 min4 h12%
Mon Jan 414 h 13 min11 h 38 min13 h 43 min4 h6%
Tue Jan 514 h 12 min11 h 37 min14 h 12 min4 h3%
Wed Jan 614 h 10 min11 h 36 min14 h 10 min4 h0%
Thu Jan 714 h 9 min11 h 35 min14 h 9 min4 h0%
Fri Jan 814 h 8 min11 h 34 min14 h 1 min4 h2%
Sat Jan 914 h 6 min11 h 33 min12 h 52 min4 h5%
Sun Jan 1014 h 5 min11 h 31 min11 h 42 min4 h10%
Mon Jan 1114 h 3 min11 h 30 min10 h 33 min4 h16%
Tue Jan 1214 h 1 min11 h 28 min9 h 24 min3 h 18 min24%
Wed Jan 1313 h 59 min11 h 27 min8 h 14 min2 h 8 min33%
Thu Jan 1413 h 58 min11 h 25 min7 h 1 min56 min43%
Fri Jan 1513 h 56 min11 h 24 min5 h 44 min0 min54%
Sat Jan 1613 h 54 min11 h 22 min4 h 23 min0 min65%
Sun Jan 1713 h 52 min11 h 20 min3 h 1 min0 min75%
Mon Jan 1813 h 50 min11 h 18 min1 h 43 min0 min84%
Tue Jan 1913 h 48 min11 h 16 min36 min0 min92%
Wed Jan 2013 h 45 min11 h 15 min0 min0 min97%
Thu Jan 2113 h 43 min11 h 13 min0 min0 min100%
Fri Jan 2213 h 41 min11 h 11 min0 min0 min99%
Sat Jan 2313 h 39 min11 h 8 min1 h 18 min0 min96%
Sun Jan 2413 h 36 min11 h 6 min2 h 41 min0 min90%
Mon Jan 2513 h 34 min11 h 4 min4 h22 min82%
Tue Jan 2613 h 31 min11 h 2 min5 h 16 min1 h 40 min73%
Wed Jan 2713 h 29 min11 h6 h 30 min2 h 55 min63%
Thu Jan 2813 h 26 min10 h 57 min7 h 43 min4 h53%
Fri Jan 2913 h 23 min10 h 55 min8 h 54 min4 h43%
Sat Jan 3013 h 21 min10 h 53 min10 h 2 min4 h33%
Sun Jan 3113 h 18 min10 h 50 min11 h 2 min4 h25%
Moon lit: SunCalc illuminated fraction at the middle of the 10 PM to 2 AM window.

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Thunder Bay in January?
On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Thunder Bay have civil darkness, and 6% of past January days reached Kp 5.
How dark is Thunder Bay in January?
Thunder Bay averages 13.9 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 14 h 16 min on the 1st to 13 h 18 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Thunder Bay in January?
NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Thunder Bay's 1 degree cell 70% mean cloud in January, against 70% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in January 2027 for aurora in Thunder Bay?
By darkness and moon alone, Jan 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Thunder Bay. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is January or February better in Thunder Bay?
By civil night times the clear share, January scores 4.2 hours at Thunder Bay and February 4.2. January comes out ahead.

Sources and verification

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.