Turku · January 2027
Northern lights in Turku in January 2027
Answer
January against the rest of the year
January cloud at Turku averages 83% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 11 points cloudier than its yearly mean. May is Turku's clearest month at 61%. By civil night times clear sky, January scores 2.6 hours at Turku, 5th of 12. Espoo, 134 km away, averages 82%, clearer by 1 points.
Civil night at Turku starts January at 16 h and reaches 14 h 23 min by January 31, 1.6 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 11.9 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/Helsinki dates. Turku gets 268 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
29% lit
12.1 h
- 2
21% lit
13.6 h
- 3
14% lit
15.2 h
- 4
8% lit
15.9 h
- 5
3% lit
15.9 h
- 6
1% lit
15.8 h
- 7
0% lit
15.8 h
- 8
1% lit
15.8 h
- 9
4% lit
15.1 h
- 10
8% lit
13.6 h
- 11
14% lit
12.1 h
- 12
22% lit
10.7 h
- 13
31% lit
9.2 h
- 14
40% lit
7.7 h
- 15
51% lit
6.2 h
- 16
62% lit
4.4 h
- 17
72% lit
2.6 h
- 18
82% lit
0.8 h
- 19
90% lit
0.0 h
- 20
96% lit
0.0 h
- 21
99% lit
0.0 h
- 22
100% lit
0.0 h
- 23
97% lit
0.8 h
- 24
92% lit
2.5 h
- 25
84% lit
4.2 h
- 26
75% lit
5.8 h
- 27
66% lit
7.3 h
- 28
56% lit
8.9 h
- 29
46% lit
10.4 h
- 30
36% lit
12.0 h
- 31
27% lit
13.4 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
Turku 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%. Turku sits at 58.4 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 Finland
Turku ranks 21st in Finland for civil night on January 15, behind Rovaniemi at 16.7 hours. Coming from December (16.1 hours at Turku), January loses darkness, and February brings shorter nights (13.2 hours on the 15th).
Darkness and moon, every night
| Night | Civil | Astronomical | Moon-free dark | Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM | Moon lit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fri Jan 1 | 16 h | 12 h 23 min | 12 h 3 min | 4 h | 29% |
| Sat Jan 2 | 15 h 58 min | 12 h 21 min | 13 h 37 min | 4 h | 21% |
| Sun Jan 3 | 15 h 56 min | 12 h 20 min | 15 h 10 min | 4 h | 14% |
| Mon Jan 4 | 15 h 54 min | 12 h 19 min | 15 h 54 min | 4 h | 8% |
| Tue Jan 5 | 15 h 52 min | 12 h 17 min | 15 h 52 min | 4 h | 3% |
| Wed Jan 6 | 15 h 50 min | 12 h 15 min | 15 h 50 min | 4 h | 1% |
| Thu Jan 7 | 15 h 48 min | 12 h 13 min | 15 h 48 min | 4 h | 0% |
| Fri Jan 8 | 15 h 45 min | 12 h 12 min | 15 h 45 min | 4 h | 1% |
| Sat Jan 9 | 15 h 43 min | 12 h 9 min | 15 h 5 min | 4 h | 4% |
| Sun Jan 10 | 15 h 40 min | 12 h 7 min | 13 h 35 min | 4 h | 8% |
| Mon Jan 11 | 15 h 37 min | 12 h 5 min | 12 h 7 min | 4 h | 14% |
| Tue Jan 12 | 15 h 35 min | 12 h 3 min | 10 h 41 min | 4 h | 22% |
| Wed Jan 13 | 15 h 32 min | 12 h | 9 h 14 min | 2 h 49 min | 31% |
| Thu Jan 14 | 15 h 29 min | 11 h 58 min | 7 h 44 min | 1 h 20 min | 40% |
| Fri Jan 15 | 15 h 25 min | 11 h 55 min | 6 h 9 min | 0 min | 51% |
| Sat Jan 16 | 15 h 22 min | 11 h 53 min | 4 h 26 min | 0 min | 62% |
| Sun Jan 17 | 15 h 19 min | 11 h 50 min | 2 h 36 min | 0 min | 72% |
| Mon Jan 18 | 15 h 15 min | 11 h 47 min | 51 min | 0 min | 82% |
| Tue Jan 19 | 15 h 12 min | 11 h 44 min | 0 min | 0 min | 90% |
| Wed Jan 20 | 15 h 8 min | 11 h 41 min | 0 min | 0 min | 96% |
| Thu Jan 21 | 15 h 4 min | 11 h 38 min | 0 min | 0 min | 99% |
| Fri Jan 22 | 15 h 1 min | 11 h 35 min | 0 min | 0 min | 100% |
| Sat Jan 23 | 14 h 57 min | 11 h 31 min | 47 min | 0 min | 97% |
| Sun Jan 24 | 14 h 53 min | 11 h 28 min | 2 h 32 min | 0 min | 92% |
| Mon Jan 25 | 14 h 49 min | 11 h 25 min | 4 h 11 min | 0 min | 84% |
| Tue Jan 26 | 14 h 45 min | 11 h 21 min | 5 h 46 min | 1 h 6 min | 75% |
| Wed Jan 27 | 14 h 41 min | 11 h 17 min | 7 h 19 min | 2 h 42 min | 66% |
| Thu Jan 28 | 14 h 36 min | 11 h 14 min | 8 h 52 min | 4 h | 56% |
| Fri Jan 29 | 14 h 32 min | 11 h 10 min | 10 h 26 min | 4 h | 46% |
| Sat Jan 30 | 14 h 28 min | 11 h 6 min | 12 h | 4 h | 36% |
| Sun Jan 31 | 14 h 23 min | 11 h 2 min | 13 h 27 min | 4 h | 27% |
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Turku in January?
- On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Turku have civil darkness, and 21% of past January days reached Kp 4.
- How dark is Turku in January?
- Turku averages 15.3 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 16 h on the 1st to 14 h 23 min on the last night.
- How cloudy is Turku in January?
- NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Turku's 1 degree cell 83% mean cloud in January, against 72% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
- What is the best night in January 2027 for aurora in Turku?
- By darkness and moon alone, Jan 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Turku. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
- Is January or February better in Turku?
- By civil night times the clear share, January scores 2.6 hours at Turku and February 2.8. 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.