Can you see the northern lights in Yellowknife in January?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Yellowknife have civil darkness, and 6% of past January days reached Kp 5.

How dark is Yellowknife in January?

Yellowknife averages 15.6 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 16 h 25 min on the 1st to 14 h 37 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Yellowknife in January?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Yellowknife's 1 degree cell 56% mean cloud in January, against 63% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in January 2027 for aurora in Yellowknife?

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

Is January or February better in Yellowknife?

By civil night times the clear share, January scores 7.0 hours at Yellowknife and February 6.5. January comes out ahead.

Yellowknife · January 2027

Northern lights in Yellowknife in January 2027

Answer

January gives Yellowknife 15.8 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 2nd darkest of its 12 months, under 56% mean cloud. 6% of January days since 1996 reached storm level, Kp 5.

15.6 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 62.45, -114.37; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

January against the rest of the year

7.0

6.5

5.4

3.0

1.0

0.0

2.1

3.2

2.4

3.8

7.0

January cloud at Yellowknife averages 56% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 7 points clearer than its yearly mean. March is Yellowknife's clearest month at 49%. By civil night times clear sky, January scores 7.0 hours at Yellowknife, 2nd of 12. Fort McMurray, 659 km away, averages 66%, cloudier by 10 points.

Civil night at Yellowknife starts January at 16 h 25 min and reaches 14 h 37 min by January 31, 1.8 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 12.0 hours on the 15th.

January night by night

January opens toward a new moon on Jan 7, with full moon on Jan 22, in America/Edmonton dates. Yellowknife gets 277 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
26% lit
13.2 h
2
18% lit
15.0 h
3
11% lit
16.4 h
4
6% lit
16.3 h
5
2% lit
16.3 h
6
0% lit
16.2 h
7
0% lit
16.2 h
New
8
2% lit
16.1 h
9
5% lit
14.9 h
10
10% lit
13.4 h
11
17% lit
11.8 h
12
25% lit
10.3 h
13
34% lit
8.8 h
14
44% lit
7.2 h
15
54% lit
5.5 h
16
65% lit
3.5 h
17
75% lit
1.5 h
18
85% lit
0.0 h
19
92% lit
0.0 h
20
98% lit
0.0 h
21
100% lit
0.0 h
22
99% lit
0.0 h
Full
23
96% lit
1.5 h
24
90% lit
3.3 h
25
82% lit
5.0 h
26
72% lit
6.6 h
27
62% lit
8.2 h
28
52% lit
9.9 h
29
42% lit
11.7 h
30
33% lit
13.6 h
31
24% lit
14.6 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

Quiet activity already puts the oval edge over Yellowknife, so storm days matter more: 58 of the 930 January days from 1996 to 2025 (6%) reached Kp 5, one of the three quietest months for that level. Yellowknife sits at 68.5 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 0.

January across Canada

No month-page town in Canada has more civil night on January 15 than Yellowknife; the national median is 14.1 hours. Coming from December (16.6 hours at Yellowknife), January loses darkness, and February brings shorter nights (13.3 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on January 15 and January cloud, month-page towns in Canada
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Yellowknife	15.8 h	56%
Whitehorse	15.4 h	67%
Fort McMurray	14.8 h	66%
Fort St. John	14.8 h	70%
Grande Prairie	14.6 h	71%
Edmonton	14.5 h	71%
Prince Albert	14.4 h	68%
Lloydminster	14.4 h	70%
Saskatoon	14.3 h	68%
Red Deer	14.3 h	71%
Calgary	14.2 h	70%
Winnipeg	14.1 h	64%

Darkness and moon, every night

Yellowknife, 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 25 min	12 h 31 min	13 h 13 min	4 h	26%
Sat Jan 2	16 h 23 min	12 h 29 min	14 h 59 min	4 h	18%
Sun Jan 3	16 h 21 min	12 h 28 min	16 h 21 min	4 h	11%
Mon Jan 4	16 h 19 min	12 h 26 min	16 h 19 min	4 h	6%
Tue Jan 5	16 h 16 min	12 h 24 min	16 h 16 min	4 h	2%
Wed Jan 6	16 h 14 min	12 h 22 min	16 h 14 min	4 h	0%
Thu Jan 7	16 h 11 min	12 h 20 min	16 h 11 min	4 h	0%
Fri Jan 8	16 h 9 min	12 h 18 min	16 h 9 min	4 h	2%
Sat Jan 9	16 h 6 min	12 h 16 min	14 h 57 min	4 h	5%
Sun Jan 10	16 h 3 min	12 h 14 min	13 h 22 min	4 h	10%
Mon Jan 11	16 h	12 h 11 min	11 h 51 min	4 h	17%
Tue Jan 12	15 h 56 min	12 h 9 min	10 h 20 min	2 h 37 min	25%
Wed Jan 13	15 h 53 min	12 h 6 min	8 h 48 min	1 h 6 min	34%
Thu Jan 14	15 h 50 min	12 h 3 min	7 h 12 min	0 min	44%
Fri Jan 15	15 h 46 min	12 h	5 h 28 min	0 min	54%
Sat Jan 16	15 h 42 min	11 h 57 min	3 h 33 min	0 min	65%
Sun Jan 17	15 h 39 min	11 h 54 min	1 h 28 min	0 min	75%
Mon Jan 18	15 h 35 min	11 h 51 min	0 min	0 min	85%
Tue Jan 19	15 h 31 min	11 h 48 min	0 min	0 min	92%
Wed Jan 20	15 h 27 min	11 h 44 min	0 min	0 min	98%
Thu Jan 21	15 h 22 min	11 h 41 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Fri Jan 22	15 h 18 min	11 h 38 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Sat Jan 23	15 h 14 min	11 h 34 min	1 h 28 min	0 min	96%
Sun Jan 24	15 h 10 min	11 h 30 min	3 h 16 min	0 min	90%
Mon Jan 25	15 h 5 min	11 h 26 min	4 h 58 min	1 h 14 min	82%
Tue Jan 26	15 h 1 min	11 h 23 min	6 h 36 min	2 h 55 min	72%
Wed Jan 27	14 h 56 min	11 h 19 min	8 h 14 min	4 h	62%
Thu Jan 28	14 h 51 min	11 h 15 min	9 h 54 min	4 h	52%
Fri Jan 29	14 h 47 min	11 h 10 min	11 h 39 min	4 h	42%
Sat Jan 30	14 h 42 min	11 h 6 min	13 h 33 min	4 h	33%
Sun Jan 31	14 h 37 min	11 h 2 min	14 h 37 min	4 h	24%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Yellowknife in January?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Yellowknife have civil darkness, and 6% of past January days reached Kp 5.
How dark is Yellowknife in January?: Yellowknife averages 15.6 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 16 h 25 min on the 1st to 14 h 37 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Yellowknife in January?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Yellowknife's 1 degree cell 56% mean cloud in January, against 63% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in January 2027 for aurora in Yellowknife?: By darkness and moon alone, Jan 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Yellowknife. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is January or February better in Yellowknife?: By civil night times the clear share, January scores 7.0 hours at Yellowknife and February 6.5. 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.