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Tralee · January 2027

Northern lights in Tralee in January 2027

Answer

January gives Tralee 14.3 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 2nd darkest of its 12 months, under 76% mean cloud. 2% of January days since 1996 reached Kp 6, enough for the oval edge to reach Tralee.
14.2 h
civil night, average night
SunCalc for 52.27, -9.70; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

January against the rest of the year

January cloud at Tralee averages 76% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, close to its yearly mean of 75%. April is Tralee's clearest month at 72%. By civil night times clear sky, January scores 3.4 hours at Tralee, 3rd of 12. Limerick, 85 km away, averages the same 76%.

Civil night at Tralee starts January at 14 h 43 min and reaches 13 h 36 min by January 31, 1.1 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 Europe/Dublin dates. Tralee gets 245 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

    28% lit

    10.7 h

  2. 2

    20% lit

    12.0 h

  3. 3

    13% lit

    13.2 h

  4. 4

    7% lit

    14.2 h

  5. 5

    3% lit

    14.6 h

  6. 6

    1% lit

    14.6 h

  7. 7

    0% lit

    14.6 h

  8. 8

    1% lit

    14.6 h

  9. 9

    4% lit

    13.6 h

  10. 10

    9% lit

    12.3 h

  11. 11

    15% lit

    11.1 h

  12. 12

    22% lit

    9.9 h

  13. 13

    31% lit

    8.7 h

  14. 14

    41% lit

    7.4 h

  15. 15

    52% lit

    6.0 h

  16. 16

    62% lit

    4.6 h

  17. 17

    73% lit

    3.1 h

  18. 18

    83% lit

    1.8 h

  19. 19

    91% lit

    0.6 h

  20. 20

    96% lit

    0.0 h

  21. 21

    100% lit

    0.0 h

  22. 22

    100% lit

    0.0 h

  23. 23

    97% lit

    1.0 h

  24. 24

    91% lit

    2.5 h

  25. 25

    84% lit

    3.9 h

  26. 26

    75% lit

    5.2 h

  27. 27

    65% lit

    6.5 h

  28. 28

    55% lit

    7.8 h

  29. 29

    45% lit

    9.1 h

  30. 30

    35% lit

    10.3 h

  31. 31

    26% lit

    11.4 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

Tralee needs Kp 6 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 17 of the 930 January days from 1996 to 2025 (2%) 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%. Tralee sits at 55.6 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 6, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less.

January across Ireland

Tralee ranks 3rd in Ireland for civil night on January 15, behind Dublin at 14.4 hours. Coming from December (14.8 hours at Tralee), January loses darkness, and February brings shorter nights (12.7 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on January 15 and January cloud, month-page towns in Ireland
TownCivil nightCloud
Dublin14.4 h78%
Limerick14.4 h76%
Tralee14.3 h76%
Cork14.3 h73%

Darkness and moon, every night

Tralee, 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 43 min11 h 53 min10 h 43 min4 h28%
Sat Jan 214 h 42 min11 h 52 min11 h 58 min4 h20%
Sun Jan 314 h 40 min11 h 51 min13 h 9 min4 h13%
Mon Jan 414 h 39 min11 h 50 min14 h 12 min4 h7%
Tue Jan 514 h 38 min11 h 49 min14 h 38 min4 h3%
Wed Jan 614 h 36 min11 h 48 min14 h 36 min4 h1%
Thu Jan 714 h 35 min11 h 46 min14 h 35 min4 h0%
Fri Jan 814 h 33 min11 h 45 min14 h 33 min4 h1%
Sat Jan 914 h 31 min11 h 44 min13 h 35 min4 h4%
Sun Jan 1014 h 29 min11 h 42 min12 h 20 min4 h9%
Mon Jan 1114 h 28 min11 h 40 min11 h 7 min4 h15%
Tue Jan 1214 h 26 min11 h 39 min9 h 53 min3 h 54 min22%
Wed Jan 1314 h 24 min11 h 37 min8 h 39 min2 h 40 min31%
Thu Jan 1414 h 21 min11 h 35 min7 h 22 min1 h 24 min41%
Fri Jan 1514 h 19 min11 h 33 min6 h 1 min3 min52%
Sat Jan 1614 h 17 min11 h 31 min4 h 36 min0 min62%
Sun Jan 1714 h 15 min11 h 29 min3 h 8 min0 min73%
Mon Jan 1814 h 12 min11 h 27 min1 h 45 min0 min83%
Tue Jan 1914 h 10 min11 h 25 min34 min0 min91%
Wed Jan 2014 h 7 min11 h 23 min0 min0 min96%
Thu Jan 2114 h 5 min11 h 21 min0 min0 min100%
Fri Jan 2214 h 2 min11 h 18 min0 min0 min100%
Sat Jan 2313 h 59 min11 h 16 min59 min0 min97%
Sun Jan 2413 h 57 min11 h 13 min2 h 28 min0 min91%
Mon Jan 2513 h 54 min11 h 11 min3 h 53 min0 min84%
Tue Jan 2613 h 51 min11 h 8 min5 h 14 min1 h 9 min75%
Wed Jan 2713 h 48 min11 h 6 min6 h 33 min2 h 30 min65%
Thu Jan 2813 h 45 min11 h 3 min7 h 51 min3 h 50 min55%
Fri Jan 2913 h 42 min11 h9 h 7 min4 h45%
Sat Jan 3013 h 39 min10 h 58 min10 h 20 min4 h35%
Sun Jan 3113 h 36 min10 h 55 min11 h 25 min4 h26%
Moon lit: SunCalc illuminated fraction at the middle of the 10 PM to 2 AM window.

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Tralee in January?
On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Tralee have civil darkness, and 2% of past January days reached Kp 6.
How dark is Tralee in January?
Tralee averages 14.2 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 14 h 43 min on the 1st to 13 h 36 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Tralee in January?
NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Tralee's 1 degree cell 76% mean cloud in January, against 75% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in January 2027 for aurora in Tralee?
By darkness and moon alone, Jan 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Tralee. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is January or February better in Tralee?
By civil night times the clear share, January scores 3.4 hours at Tralee and February 2.9. 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.