Can you see the northern lights in Whitehorse in May?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Whitehorse have civil darkness, and 74% of past May days reached Kp 2.

How dark is Whitehorse in May?

Whitehorse averages 3.9 hours of civil night a night in May 2027, from 5 h 45 min on the 1st to 1 h 50 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Whitehorse in May?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Whitehorse's 1 degree cell 71% mean cloud in May, against 70% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in May 2027 for aurora in Whitehorse?

By darkness and moon alone, May 1, with 2 h 56 min of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Whitehorse. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.

Is May or June better in Whitehorse?

By civil night times the clear share, May scores 1.2 hours at Whitehorse and June 0.0. May comes out ahead.

Whitehorse · May 2027

Northern lights in Whitehorse in May 2027

Answer

May gives Whitehorse 4.0 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 10th darkest of its 12 months, under 71% mean cloud. 74% of May days since 1996 reached Kp 2, enough for the oval edge to reach Whitehorse.

3.9 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 60.72, -135.05; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

May against the rest of the year

5.1

4.2

2.5

1.2

0.0

0.7

1.7

2.5

2.9

3.8

5.2

May cloud at Whitehorse averages 71% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, close to its yearly mean of 70%. March is Whitehorse's clearest month at 60%. By civil night times clear sky, May scores 1.2 hours at Whitehorse, 10th of 12. Juneau, 271 km away, averages 74%, cloudier by 3 points.

Civil night at Whitehorse starts May at 5 h 45 min and reaches 1 h 50 min by May 31, 3.9 hours shorter. No night keeps the 10 PM to 2 AM window fully dark at Whitehorse. The sun never reaches 18 degrees down, so Whitehorse gets no astronomical night in May.

May night by night

May opens toward a new moon on May 6, with full moon on May 20, in America/Whitehorse dates. Whitehorse gets 64 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: May 1 (2 h 56 min), May 2 (2 h 52 min), May 3 (2 h 49 min).

1
19% lit
5.8 h
2
12% lit
5.6 h
3
6% lit
5.5 h
4
2% lit
5.4 h
5
0% lit
5.3 h
6
1% lit
4.4 h
New
7
5% lit
2.7 h
8
11% lit
1.4 h
9
19% lit
0.8 h
10
29% lit
0.6 h
11
40% lit
0.4 h
12
51% lit
0.3 h
13
62% lit
0.2 h
14
73% lit
0.1 h
15
82% lit
0.1 h
16
89% lit
0.0 h
17
95% lit
0.0 h
18
98% lit
0.0 h
19
100% lit
0.0 h
20
99% lit
0.7 h
Full
21
97% lit
1.8 h
22
92% lit
2.3 h
23
86% lit
2.5 h
24
79% lit
2.5 h
25
71% lit
2.5 h
26
62% lit
2.4 h
27
53% lit
2.3 h
28
43% lit
2.3 h
29
34% lit
2.1 h
30
24% lit
2.0 h
31
16% lit
1.8 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 Mays

Whitehorse needs Kp 2 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 689 of the 930 May days from 1996 to 2025 (74%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 9th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 10%. Whitehorse sits at 63.8 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 2.

May across Canada

Whitehorse ranks 22nd in Canada for civil night on May 15, behind Greater Sudbury at 7.7 hours. Coming from April (7.5 hours at Whitehorse), May loses darkness, and June brings shorter nights (0.0 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on May 15 and May cloud, month-page towns in Canada
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Greater Sudbury	7.7 h	64%
Trois-Rivières	7.7 h	66%
Sydney	7.7 h	72%
Québec	7.6 h	69%
St. John's	7.5 h	77%
Saguenay	7.4 h	71%
Thunder Bay	7.4 h	73%
Lethbridge	7.2 h	65%
Winnipeg	7.1 h	60%
Kelowna	7.1 h	68%
Regina	7.0 h	62%
Kamloops	7.0 h	70%
Whitehorse	4.0 h	71%

Darkness and moon, every night

Whitehorse, May 2027: each night from local noon to the next noon
Night	Civil	Moon-free dark	Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM	Moon lit
Sat May 1	5 h 45 min	5 h 45 min	2 h 56 min	19%
Sun May 2	5 h 38 min	5 h 38 min	2 h 52 min	12%
Mon May 3	5 h 31 min	5 h 31 min	2 h 49 min	6%
Tue May 4	5 h 24 min	5 h 24 min	2 h 46 min	2%
Wed May 5	5 h 17 min	5 h 17 min	2 h 42 min	0%
Thu May 6	5 h 10 min	4 h 26 min	1 h 55 min	1%
Fri May 7	5 h 3 min	2 h 42 min	14 min	5%
Sat May 8	4 h 56 min	1 h 27 min	0 min	11%
Sun May 9	4 h 49 min	50 min	0 min	19%
Mon May 10	4 h 41 min	33 min	0 min	29%
Tue May 11	4 h 34 min	24 min	0 min	40%
Wed May 12	4 h 27 min	17 min	0 min	51%
Thu May 13	4 h 19 min	13 min	0 min	62%
Fri May 14	4 h 12 min	9 min	0 min	73%
Sat May 15	4 h 4 min	5 min	0 min	82%
Sun May 16	3 h 57 min	1 min	0 min	89%
Mon May 17	3 h 49 min	0 min	0 min	95%
Tue May 18	3 h 41 min	0 min	0 min	98%
Wed May 19	3 h 34 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Thu May 20	3 h 26 min	42 min	42 min	99%
Fri May 21	3 h 18 min	1 h 48 min	1 h 42 min	97%
Sat May 22	3 h 10 min	2 h 19 min	1 h 38 min	92%
Sun May 23	3 h 1 min	2 h 29 min	1 h 34 min	86%
Mon May 24	2 h 53 min	2 h 30 min	1 h 30 min	79%
Tue May 25	2 h 45 min	2 h 28 min	1 h 25 min	71%
Wed May 26	2 h 36 min	2 h 24 min	1 h 21 min	62%
Thu May 27	2 h 27 min	2 h 20 min	1 h 16 min	53%
Fri May 28	2 h 19 min	2 h 15 min	1 h 12 min	43%
Sat May 29	2 h 9 min	2 h 9 min	1 h 7 min	34%
Sun May 30	2 h	2 h	1 h 2 min	24%
Mon May 31	1 h 50 min	1 h 50 min	57 min	16%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Whitehorse in May?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Whitehorse have civil darkness, and 74% of past May days reached Kp 2.
How dark is Whitehorse in May?: Whitehorse averages 3.9 hours of civil night a night in May 2027, from 5 h 45 min on the 1st to 1 h 50 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Whitehorse in May?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Whitehorse's 1 degree cell 71% mean cloud in May, against 70% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in May 2027 for aurora in Whitehorse?: By darkness and moon alone, May 1, with 2 h 56 min of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Whitehorse. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is May or June better in Whitehorse?: By civil night times the clear share, May scores 1.2 hours at Whitehorse and June 0.0. 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.