Can you see the northern lights in Umeå in January?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Umeå have civil darkness, and 48% of past January days reached Kp 3.

How dark is Umeå in January?

Umeå averages 15.9 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 16 h 46 min on the 1st to 14 h 51 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Umeå in January?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Umeå's 1 degree cell 82% 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 Umeå?

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

Is January or February better in Umeå?

By civil night times the clear share, January scores 2.9 hours at Umeå and February 2.7. January comes out ahead.

Umeå · January 2027

Northern lights in Umeå in January 2027

Answer

January gives Umeå 16.1 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 2nd darkest of its 12 months, under 82% mean cloud. 48% of January days since 1996 reached Kp 3, enough for the oval edge to reach Umeå.

15.9 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 63.83, 20.26; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

January against the rest of the year

2.9

2.7

2.2

0.7

0.0

1.8

2.8

2.9

2.8

3.4

January cloud at Umeå averages 82% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 10 points cloudier than its yearly mean. May is Umeå's clearest month at 61%. By civil night times clear sky, January scores 2.9 hours at Umeå, 2nd of 12. Örnsköldsvik, 97 km away, averages 78%, clearer by 4 points.

Civil night at Umeå starts January at 16 h 46 min and reaches 14 h 51 min by January 31, 1.9 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 12.1 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/Stockholm dates. Umeå gets 283 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
13.0 h
2
20% lit
14.9 h
3
13% lit
16.7 h
4
7% lit
16.7 h
5
3% lit
16.6 h
6
1% lit
16.6 h
7
0% lit
16.5 h
New
8
1% lit
16.5 h
9
4% lit
16.0 h
10
8% lit
14.3 h
11
15% lit
12.7 h
12
22% lit
11.1 h
13
31% lit
9.5 h
14
41% lit
7.9 h
15
51% lit
6.1 h
16
62% lit
4.2 h
17
72% lit
1.9 h
18
82% lit
0.0 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
Full
23
97% lit
0.7 h
24
92% lit
2.7 h
25
84% lit
4.5 h
26
75% lit
6.2 h
27
65% lit
7.8 h
28
55% lit
9.6 h
29
45% lit
11.4 h
30
36% lit
13.8 h
31
27% lit
14.8 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

Umeå needs Kp 3 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 443 of the 930 January days from 1996 to 2025 (48%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 8th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 6%. Umeå sits at 61.9 degrees geomagnetic, inside SWPC's 60 to 75 degree band, where aurora can be seen on more than half of all nights. No storm is needed: by SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 3.

January across Sweden

Umeå ranks 6th in Sweden for civil night on January 15, behind Kiruna at 17.1 hours. Coming from December (16.9 hours at Umeå), January loses darkness, and February brings shorter nights (13.4 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on January 15 and January cloud, month-page towns in Sweden
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Kiruna	17.1 h	76%
Luleå	16.5 h	80%
Boden	16.5 h	76%
Piteå	16.4 h	76%
Skellefteå	16.3 h	78%
Umeå	16.1 h	82%
Örnsköldsvik	16.0 h	78%
Östersund	15.9 h	79%
Sundsvall	15.8 h	76%
Härnösand	15.8 h	76%
Hudiksvall	15.6 h	78%
Uppsala	15.3 h	85%

Darkness and moon, every night

Umeå, January 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
Fri Jan 1	16 h 46 min	12 h 38 min	12 h 59 min	4 h	29%
Sat Jan 2	16 h 44 min	12 h 36 min	14 h 54 min	4 h	20%
Sun Jan 3	16 h 42 min	12 h 34 min	16 h 42 min	4 h	13%
Mon Jan 4	16 h 40 min	12 h 33 min	16 h 40 min	4 h	7%
Tue Jan 5	16 h 37 min	12 h 31 min	16 h 37 min	4 h	3%
Wed Jan 6	16 h 34 min	12 h 29 min	16 h 34 min	4 h	1%
Thu Jan 7	16 h 32 min	12 h 27 min	16 h 32 min	4 h	0%
Fri Jan 8	16 h 29 min	12 h 25 min	16 h 29 min	4 h	1%
Sat Jan 9	16 h 26 min	12 h 22 min	15 h 58 min	4 h	4%
Sun Jan 10	16 h 22 min	12 h 20 min	14 h 16 min	4 h	8%
Mon Jan 11	16 h 19 min	12 h 17 min	12 h 39 min	4 h	15%
Tue Jan 12	16 h 16 min	12 h 14 min	11 h 5 min	4 h	22%
Wed Jan 13	16 h 12 min	12 h 12 min	9 h 31 min	3 h 37 min	31%
Thu Jan 14	16 h 8 min	12 h 9 min	7 h 53 min	2 h 1 min	41%
Fri Jan 15	16 h 4 min	12 h 6 min	6 h 7 min	17 min	51%
Sat Jan 16	16 h 1 min	12 h 3 min	4 h 10 min	0 min	62%
Sun Jan 17	15 h 56 min	11 h 59 min	1 h 55 min	0 min	72%
Mon Jan 18	15 h 52 min	11 h 56 min	0 min	0 min	82%
Tue Jan 19	15 h 48 min	11 h 53 min	0 min	0 min	90%
Wed Jan 20	15 h 44 min	11 h 49 min	0 min	0 min	96%
Thu Jan 21	15 h 39 min	11 h 46 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Fri Jan 22	15 h 35 min	11 h 42 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Sat Jan 23	15 h 30 min	11 h 38 min	44 min	0 min	97%
Sun Jan 24	15 h 25 min	11 h 34 min	2 h 40 min	0 min	92%
Mon Jan 25	15 h 21 min	11 h 30 min	4 h 27 min	0 min	84%
Tue Jan 26	15 h 16 min	11 h 26 min	6 h 10 min	22 min	75%
Wed Jan 27	15 h 11 min	11 h 22 min	7 h 51 min	2 h 6 min	65%
Thu Jan 28	15 h 6 min	11 h 18 min	9 h 35 min	3 h 53 min	55%
Fri Jan 29	15 h 1 min	11 h 13 min	11 h 27 min	4 h	45%
Sat Jan 30	14 h 56 min	11 h 9 min	13 h 48 min	4 h	36%
Sun Jan 31	14 h 51 min	11 h 4 min	14 h 51 min	4 h	27%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Umeå in January?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Umeå have civil darkness, and 48% of past January days reached Kp 3.
How dark is Umeå in January?: Umeå averages 15.9 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 16 h 46 min on the 1st to 14 h 51 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Umeå in January?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Umeå's 1 degree cell 82% 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 Umeå?: By darkness and moon alone, Jan 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Umeå. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is January or February better in Umeå?: By civil night times the clear share, January scores 2.9 hours at Umeå and February 2.7. January 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.