Timaru · April 2027
Southern lights in Timaru in April 2027
Answer
April against the rest of the year
April cloud at Timaru averages 65% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, close to its yearly mean of 66%. July is Timaru's clearest month at 61%. By civil night times clear sky, April scores 4.2 hours at Timaru, 5th of 12. Seattle, 12,109 km away, averages 75%, cloudier by 10 points.
Civil night at Timaru starts April at 11 h 23 min and reaches 12 h 44 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. Timaru 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
11.1 h
- 11
23% lit
10.3 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
4.2 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
0.3 h
- 24
87% lit
1.0 h
- 25
80% lit
1.9 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
No whole Kp puts the average oval edge over Timaru by SWPC's rule, so the GFZ record has no threshold to count for April. Timaru sits at 47.8 degrees geomagnetic. The lowest NOAA storm level whose typical viewing latitude reaches it is G4 (Kp = 8, including a 9-). Even Kp 9 does not put the average oval edge overhead by SWPC's rule.
April across New Zealand
Coming from March (10.5 hours at Timaru), 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 8 min | 6 h 29 min | 4 h | 28% |
| Fri Apr 2 | 11 h 26 min | 9 h 11 min | 7 h 37 min | 4 h | 20% |
| Sat Apr 3 | 11 h 29 min | 9 h 14 min | 8 h 44 min | 5 h | 13% |
| Sun Apr 4 | 11 h 32 min | 9 h 17 min | 9 h 52 min | 4 h | 7% |
| Mon Apr 5 | 11 h 35 min | 9 h 20 min | 11 h 1 min | 4 h | 3% |
| Tue Apr 6 | 11 h 38 min | 9 h 23 min | 11 h 38 min | 4 h | 0% |
| Wed Apr 7 | 11 h 41 min | 9 h 26 min | 11 h 41 min | 4 h | 0% |
| Thu Apr 8 | 11 h 44 min | 9 h 29 min | 11 h 44 min | 4 h | 3% |
| Fri Apr 9 | 11 h 47 min | 9 h 32 min | 11 h 45 min | 4 h | 8% |
| Sat Apr 10 | 11 h 50 min | 9 h 35 min | 11 h 8 min | 4 h | 15% |
| Sun Apr 11 | 11 h 53 min | 9 h 38 min | 10 h 19 min | 4 h | 23% |
| Mon Apr 12 | 11 h 55 min | 9 h 41 min | 9 h 17 min | 4 h | 34% |
| Tue Apr 13 | 11 h 58 min | 9 h 44 min | 8 h 5 min | 3 h 30 min | 45% |
| Wed Apr 14 | 12 h 1 min | 9 h 46 min | 6 h 48 min | 2 h 12 min | 56% |
| Thu Apr 15 | 12 h 4 min | 9 h 49 min | 5 h 30 min | 53 min | 67% |
| Fri Apr 16 | 12 h 7 min | 9 h 52 min | 4 h 14 min | 0 min | 78% |
| Sat Apr 17 | 12 h 9 min | 9 h 55 min | 2 h 59 min | 0 min | 86% |
| Sun Apr 18 | 12 h 12 min | 9 h 57 min | 1 h 46 min | 0 min | 93% |
| Mon Apr 19 | 12 h 15 min | 10 h | 34 min | 0 min | 97% |
| Tue Apr 20 | 12 h 18 min | 10 h 3 min | 0 min | 0 min | 100% |
| Wed Apr 21 | 12 h 20 min | 10 h 5 min | 0 min | 0 min | 99% |
| Thu Apr 22 | 12 h 23 min | 10 h 8 min | 0 min | 0 min | 97% |
| Fri Apr 23 | 12 h 26 min | 10 h 11 min | 15 min | 0 min | 93% |
| Sat Apr 24 | 12 h 28 min | 10 h 13 min | 59 min | 0 min | 87% |
| Sun Apr 25 | 12 h 31 min | 10 h 16 min | 1 h 51 min | 0 min | 80% |
| Mon Apr 26 | 12 h 34 min | 10 h 18 min | 2 h 50 min | 0 min | 72% |
| Tue Apr 27 | 12 h 36 min | 10 h 20 min | 3 h 54 min | 9 min | 63% |
| Wed Apr 28 | 12 h 39 min | 10 h 23 min | 5 h | 1 h 13 min | 53% |
| Thu Apr 29 | 12 h 41 min | 10 h 25 min | 6 h 6 min | 2 h 18 min | 44% |
| Fri Apr 30 | 12 h 44 min | 10 h 28 min | 7 h 12 min | 3 h 23 min | 35% |
Questions
- Can you see the southern lights in Timaru in April?
- On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Timaru have civil darkness.
- How dark is Timaru in April?
- Timaru averages 12.1 hours of civil night a night in April 2027, from 11 h 23 min on the 1st to 12 h 44 min on the last night.
- How cloudy is Timaru in April?
- NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Timaru's 1 degree cell 65% mean cloud in April, against 66% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
- What is the best night in April 2027 for aurora in Timaru?
- By darkness and moon alone, Apr 3, with 5 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Timaru. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
- Is April or May better in Timaru?
- By civil night times the clear share, April scores 4.2 hours at Timaru and May 4.7. 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.