Can you see the northern lights in Tri-Cities in June?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Tri-Cities have civil darkness, and 1% of past June days reached Kp 7.

How dark is Tri-Cities in June?

Tri-Cities averages 6.9 hours of civil night a night in June 2027, from 7 h 4 min on the 1st to 6 h 52 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Tri-Cities in June?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Tri-Cities's 1 degree cell 46% mean cloud in June, against 56% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in June 2027 for aurora in Tri-Cities?

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

Is June or July better in Tri-Cities?

By civil night times the clear share, June scores 3.7 hours at Tri-Cities and July 5.4. July comes out ahead.

Tri-Cities · June 2027

Northern lights in Tri-Cities in June 2027

Answer

June gives Tri-Cities 6.8 hours of civil night on the 15th, the lightest month of its year, under 46% mean cloud. 1% of June days since 1996 reached Kp 7, enough for the oval edge to reach Tri-Cities.

6.9 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 46.25, -119.20; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

June against the rest of the year

2.9

4.0

3.4

3.6

3.4

3.7

5.4

6.2

6.3

5.3

4.0

3.2

June cloud at Tri-Cities averages 46% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 10 points clearer than its yearly mean. July is Tri-Cities's clearest month at 26%. By civil night times clear sky, June scores 3.7 hours at Tri-Cities, 7th of 12. Seattle, 282 km away, averages 68%, cloudier by 22 points.

Civil night at Tri-Cities starts June at 7 h 4 min and reaches 6 h 52 min by June 30, 0.2 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 2.4 hours on the 15th.

June night by night

June opens toward a new moon on Jun 4, with full moon on Jun 18, in America/Los_Angeles dates. Tri-Cities gets 96 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: Jun 1 (4 h), Jun 2 (4 h), Jun 3 (4 h).

1
9% lit
5.8 h
2
3% lit
6.4 h
3
1% lit
7.0 h
4
0% lit
7.0 h
New
5
3% lit
6.0 h
6
9% lit
5.2 h
7
17% lit
4.6 h
8
26% lit
4.2 h
9
37% lit
3.8 h
10
48% lit
3.4 h
11
59% lit
3.1 h
12
70% lit
2.8 h
13
79% lit
2.4 h
14
87% lit
2.0 h
15
93% lit
1.5 h
16
97% lit
0.9 h
17
99% lit
0.1 h
18
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
19
98% lit
0.4 h
20
95% lit
0.9 h
21
91% lit
1.4 h
22
84% lit
1.8 h
23
77% lit
2.0 h
24
69% lit
2.3 h
25
59% lit
2.6 h
26
49% lit
2.9 h
27
39% lit
3.2 h
28
29% lit
3.6 h
29
20% lit
4.1 h
30
11% lit
4.7 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.

Activity in past Junes

Tri-Cities needs Kp 7 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 10 of the 900 June days from 1996 to 2025 (1%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 7th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 8%. Tri-Cities sits at 52.1 degrees geomagnetic. The lowest NOAA storm level whose typical viewing latitude reaches it is G3 (Kp = 7). By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead only at Kp 7.

June across United States

Tri-Cities ranks 4th in United States for civil night on June 15, behind Buffalo at 7.4 hours. Coming from May (7.7 hours at Tri-Cities), June loses darkness, and the nights keep growing into July (7.3 hours on the 15th). The June solstice falls on June 21, 07:07 Tri-Cities time.

Civil night on June 15 and June cloud, month-page towns in United States
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Buffalo	7.4 h	61%
Portland, Maine	7.3 h	62%
Minneapolis	7.0 h	58%
Tri-Cities	6.8 h	46%
Duluth	6.7 h	61%
Fargo	6.7 h	57%
Seattle	6.5 h	68%
Juneau	2.8 h	81%
Anchorage	0.0 h	81%
Fairbanks	0.0 h	73%
Eagle River	0.0 h	81%

Darkness and moon, every night

Tri-Cities, June 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
Tue Jun 1	7 h 4 min	3 h 4 min	5 h 50 min	4 h	9%
Wed Jun 2	7 h 2 min	3 h	6 h 23 min	4 h	3%
Thu Jun 3	7 h 1 min	2 h 56 min	7 h 1 min	4 h	1%
Fri Jun 4	6 h 59 min	2 h 53 min	6 h 59 min	4 h	0%
Sat Jun 5	6 h 58 min	2 h 50 min	6 h 2 min	3 h 38 min	3%
Sun Jun 6	6 h 57 min	2 h 46 min	5 h 14 min	2 h 50 min	9%
Mon Jun 7	6 h 55 min	2 h 43 min	4 h 37 min	2 h 14 min	17%
Tue Jun 8	6 h 54 min	2 h 40 min	4 h 9 min	1 h 46 min	26%
Wed Jun 9	6 h 53 min	2 h 38 min	3 h 46 min	1 h 23 min	37%
Thu Jun 10	6 h 52 min	2 h 35 min	3 h 25 min	1 h 3 min	48%
Fri Jun 11	6 h 51 min	2 h 33 min	3 h 6 min	44 min	59%
Sat Jun 12	6 h 50 min	2 h 31 min	2 h 47 min	25 min	70%
Sun Jun 13	6 h 50 min	2 h 29 min	2 h 25 min	3 min	79%
Mon Jun 14	6 h 49 min	2 h 27 min	2 h	0 min	87%
Tue Jun 15	6 h 48 min	2 h 26 min	1 h 30 min	0 min	93%
Wed Jun 16	6 h 48 min	2 h 24 min	52 min	0 min	97%
Thu Jun 17	6 h 48 min	2 h 23 min	5 min	0 min	99%
Fri Jun 18	6 h 47 min	2 h 23 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Sat Jun 19	6 h 47 min	2 h 22 min	24 min	0 min	98%
Sun Jun 20	6 h 47 min	2 h 22 min	57 min	32 min	95%
Mon Jun 21	6 h 47 min	2 h 22 min	1 h 23 min	58 min	91%
Tue Jun 22	6 h 47 min	2 h 22 min	1 h 45 min	1 h 20 min	84%
Wed Jun 23	6 h 48 min	2 h 23 min	2 h 3 min	1 h 39 min	77%
Thu Jun 24	6 h 48 min	2 h 24 min	2 h 20 min	1 h 55 min	69%
Fri Jun 25	6 h 48 min	2 h 25 min	2 h 36 min	2 h 12 min	59%
Sat Jun 26	6 h 49 min	2 h 26 min	2 h 53 min	2 h 29 min	49%
Sun Jun 27	6 h 49 min	2 h 28 min	3 h 13 min	2 h 48 min	39%
Mon Jun 28	6 h 50 min	2 h 30 min	3 h 36 min	3 h 11 min	29%
Tue Jun 29	6 h 51 min	2 h 32 min	4 h 5 min	3 h 40 min	20%
Wed Jun 30	6 h 52 min	2 h 34 min	4 h 44 min	4 h	11%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Tri-Cities in June?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Tri-Cities have civil darkness, and 1% of past June days reached Kp 7.
How dark is Tri-Cities in June?: Tri-Cities averages 6.9 hours of civil night a night in June 2027, from 7 h 4 min on the 1st to 6 h 52 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Tri-Cities in June?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Tri-Cities's 1 degree cell 46% mean cloud in June, against 56% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in June 2027 for aurora in Tri-Cities?: By darkness and moon alone, Jun 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Tri-Cities. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is June or July better in Tri-Cities?: By civil night times the clear share, June scores 3.7 hours at Tri-Cities and July 5.4. July 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.