Manitoba, Canada
Northern lights in Winnipeg
Answer
Tonight
Waiting on darkness
It is not civil-dark yet. The next dusk is listed below.
Observed 11:55 UTC, forecast 13:26 UTC, 91 min lead
Clock times in America/Winnipeg
Storm level needed
Winnipeg sits at 49.88N 97.15W in Manitoba, Canada. The IGRF-14 centered dipole puts Winnipeg at 58.1 degrees geomagnetic latitude, 8.2 degrees closer to the magnetic pole than its map latitude suggests. Winnipeg sits at 58.1 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.
"aurora is commonly visible at high latitudes (northern Michigan and Maine)"
The nearest other Glow towns are Steinbach (52 km), Kenora (191 km), Brandon (201 km). Steinbach sits 0.3 degrees lower on the dipole, Kp 5 against 4 here.
Approximate: SWPC calls its Kp to latitude rule an average, and a centered dipole can differ by a degree from fuller field models. How the storm level is matched
The year in darkness
Every night of 2026 at Winnipeg has some civil darkness; the shortest month sample still has 6.1 hours. Every evening of the year at Winnipeg clears Glow's dark-season bar of 4 hours of civil night between 18:00 and 06:00. Winnipeg's longest night of the year, Dec 17, has 14 h 31 min of civil night.
Solar midnight at Winnipeg, when the sun is lowest, falls at 00:24 on local clocks on December 15 and 01:29 on June 15. That is 24 min after midnight in December and 1 h 29 min after midnight in June, the gap set by daylight saving and the equation of time. So at Winnipeg the darkest hour sits near the middle of SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window in winter.
Month by month
| Month | Night | Civil | Cloud | Clear dark | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 14.1 h | 11.4 h | 64% | 5.1 h | |
| Feb | 12.6 h | 10.1 h | 56% | 5.5 hbest | |
| Mar | 10.9 h | 8.4 h | 61% | 4.3 h | |
| Apr | 8.9 h | 6.0 h | 61% | 3.5 h | |
| May | 7.1 h | 2.8 h | 60% | 2.8 h | |
| Jun | 6.0 h | 0.0 h | 60% | 2.4 h | |
| Jul | 6.6 h | 0.9 h | 50% | 3.3 h | |
| Aug | 8.3 h | 5.0 h | 52% | 4.0 h | |
| Sep | 10.2 h | 7.6 h | 55% | 4.6 h | |
| Oct | 12.1 h | 9.6 h | 66% | 4.1 h | |
| Nov | 13.7 h | 11.1 h | 70% | 4.1 h | |
| Dec | 14.5 h | 11.8 h | 68% | 4.6 h |
By the 15th-of-the-month sample, December is the darkest month at Winnipeg with 14.5 hours of civil night and June the lightest at 6.1. Across the year Winnipeg gets 3,800 hours of civil night. Astronomical night at Winnipeg, the sun 18 degrees or more below the horizon, lasts 11.8 hours on December 15.
NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology puts mean cloud amount for the 1 degree cell around Winnipeg at 60% across the year, from 50% in July to 70% in November. In the months with at least 4 hours of civil night Winnipeg averages 60%, against a median of 67% for Glow towns in Canada.
Multiplying civil night by the clear share of the sky gives February the best score, 5.5 hours, ahead of January at 5.1. Winnipeg's equinox months score 4.3 in March and 4.6 in September, the weeks SWPC links with larger storms.
Kp history
From 1996 to 2025, the GFZ Potsdam record shows a 3-hour Kp of 4 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge over Winnipeg, on 24% of days. At Winnipeg's level the share runs from 19% in December to 31% in September, while storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 10%.
Share of UTC days in each calendar month whose highest 3-hour Kp reached Kp 4. Kp history by year
Moon, next 30 nights
Over the 30 nights from Oct 1, the new moon falls on Oct 10 and the full moon on Oct 25, in America/Winnipeg dates. 15 of the 30 nights at Winnipeg have at least 2 moon-free dark hours inside 10 PM to 2 AM, and Oct 5 has the most at 4 h. Tonight Winnipeg has 11 h 14 min of civil night, 1 h 46 min of it with the moon down.
- 1
65% lit
1.8 h
- 2
54% lit
2.9 h
- 3
43% lit
4.2 h
- 4
32% lit
5.7 h
- 5
22% lit
7.1 h
- 6
13% lit
8.5 h
- 7
7% lit
9.8 h
- 8
2% lit
11.2 h
- 9
0% lit
11.7 h
- 10
0% lit
11.8 h
- 11
3% lit
11.8 h
- 12
7% lit
11.9 h
- 13
13% lit
11.8 h
- 14
20% lit
11.3 h
- 15
28% lit
10.5 h
- 16
36% lit
9.6 h
- 17
46% lit
8.5 h
- 18
55% lit
7.4 h
- 19
65% lit
6.2 h
- 20
74% lit
5.0 h
- 21
82% lit
3.8 h
- 22
89% lit
2.6 h
- 23
95% lit
1.3 h
- 24
99% lit
0.0 h
- 25
100% lit
0.0 h
- 26
98% lit
0.0 h
- 27
94% lit
0.0 h
- 28
87% lit
0.6 h
- 29
79% lit
1.6 h
- 30
68% lit
2.9 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.
Within Canada
Among the 3 Glow towns in Manitoba, Winnipeg ranks 1st by dipole latitude against a regional median of 57.8 degrees, the highest of them. Among the 130 Glow towns in Canada, Winnipeg ranks 23rd by dipole latitude against a national median of 55.3 degrees; Yellowknife sits highest at 68.5. On December 15 Winnipeg gets 14.5 hours of civil night, 31st longest of 130 in Canada, where the median is 14.2.
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Winnipeg?
- Winnipeg sits at 58.1 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. Clear, dark sky over Winnipeg still decides it.
- When is it dark enough in Winnipeg?
- Every night at Winnipeg has civil darkness. Tonight has 11 h 14 min, and December 15 has 14.5 hours.
- What is the best month for aurora in Winnipeg?
- February, by civil night at Winnipeg times the clear share of the sky from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 average.
- How cloudy is Winnipeg in the dark months?
- About 60% mean cloud amount over Winnipeg in the months with at least 4 hours of civil night, from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology.
- How often is activity high enough for Winnipeg?
- A 3-hour Kp of 4 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge overhead, occurred on 24% of days from 1996 to 2025 in the GFZ Potsdam record.
Nearby and related
Nearest Glow towns
Winnipeg by month
Region and comparisons