Can you see the northern lights in Yellowknife in July?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 15 of 31 nights at Yellowknife have civil darkness, and 9% of past July days reached Kp 5.

How dark is Yellowknife in July?

Yellowknife averages 1.2 hours of civil night a night in July 2027, from 0 min on the 1st to 3 h 46 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Yellowknife in July?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Yellowknife's 1 degree cell 68% mean cloud in July, against 63% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

By darkness and moon alone, Jul 31, with 2 h 9 min of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Yellowknife. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.

Is July or August better in Yellowknife?

By civil night times the clear share, July scores 0.0 hours at Yellowknife and August 2.1. August comes out ahead.

Yellowknife · July 2027

Northern lights in Yellowknife in July 2027

Answer

July gives Yellowknife 0.0 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 11th darkest of its 12 months, under 68% mean cloud. 9% of July days since 1996 reached storm level, Kp 5.

1.2 h

civil night, average night

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

July 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

July cloud at Yellowknife averages 68% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 5 points cloudier than its yearly mean. March is Yellowknife's clearest month at 49%. By civil night times clear sky, July scores 0.0 hours at Yellowknife, 11th of 12. Fort McMurray, 659 km away, averages 66%, clearer by 2 points.

Civil night at Yellowknife starts July at 0 min and reaches 3 h 46 min by July 31 as the nights lengthen by 3.8 hours. 16 Yellowknife nights this month have no civil darkness at all. No night keeps the 10 PM to 2 AM window fully dark at Yellowknife. The sun never reaches 18 degrees down, so Yellowknife gets no astronomical night in July.

July night by night

July opens toward a new moon on Jul 3, with full moon on Jul 18, in America/Edmonton dates. Yellowknife gets 5 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: Jul 31 (2 h 9 min), Jul 30 (1 h 15 min).

1
5% lit
no night
2
1% lit
no night
3
0% lit
no night
New
4
2% lit
no night
5
7% lit
no night
6
14% lit
no night
7
23% lit
no night
8
34% lit
no night
9
44% lit
no night
10
55% lit
no night
11
65% lit
no night
12
75% lit
no night
13
83% lit
no night
14
90% lit
no night
15
95% lit
no night
16
98% lit
no night
17
100% lit
0.0 h
18
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
19
98% lit
0.0 h
20
94% lit
0.0 h
21
89% lit
0.0 h
22
82% lit
0.0 h
23
74% lit
0.0 h
24
65% lit
0.0 h
25
55% lit
0.0 h
26
44% lit
0.0 h
27
34% lit
0.0 h
28
24% lit
0.0 h
29
14% lit
0.0 h
30
7% lit
1.3 h
31
2% lit
3.4 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 Julys

Quiet activity already puts the oval edge over Yellowknife, so storm days matter more: 81 of the 930 July days from 1996 to 2025 (9%) reached Kp 5, 8th of 12 months. 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.

July across Canada

Yellowknife ranks 23rd in Canada for civil night on July 15, behind Sydney at 7.3 hours. Coming from June (0.0 hours at Yellowknife), July changes little, and the nights keep growing into August (5.9 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on July 15 and July cloud, month-page towns in Canada
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Sydney	7.3 h	66%
Québec	7.2 h	62%
Greater Sudbury	7.2 h	54%
Trois-Rivières	7.2 h	60%
St. John's	7.0 h	73%
Saguenay	6.9 h	70%
Thunder Bay	6.9 h	65%
Winnipeg	6.6 h	50%
Kelowna	6.6 h	44%
Lethbridge	6.6 h	42%
Regina	6.5 h	49%
Kamloops	6.4 h	49%
Yellowknife	0.0 h	68%

Darkness and moon, every night

Yellowknife, July 2027: each night from local noon to the next noon
Night	Civil	Moon-free dark	Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM	Moon lit
Thu Jul 1	0 min	0 min	0 min	5%
Fri Jul 2	0 min	0 min	0 min	1%
Sat Jul 3	0 min	0 min	0 min	0%
Sun Jul 4	0 min	0 min	0 min	2%
Mon Jul 5	0 min	0 min	0 min	7%
Tue Jul 6	0 min	0 min	0 min	14%
Wed Jul 7	0 min	0 min	0 min	23%
Thu Jul 8	0 min	0 min	0 min	34%
Fri Jul 9	0 min	0 min	0 min	44%
Sat Jul 10	0 min	0 min	0 min	55%
Sun Jul 11	0 min	0 min	0 min	65%
Mon Jul 12	0 min	0 min	0 min	75%
Tue Jul 13	0 min	0 min	0 min	83%
Wed Jul 14	0 min	0 min	0 min	90%
Thu Jul 15	0 min	0 min	0 min	95%
Fri Jul 16	0 min	0 min	0 min	98%
Sat Jul 17	19 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Sun Jul 18	58 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Mon Jul 19	1 h 20 min	0 min	0 min	98%
Tue Jul 20	1 h 38 min	0 min	0 min	94%
Wed Jul 21	1 h 54 min	0 min	0 min	89%
Thu Jul 22	2 h 8 min	0 min	0 min	82%
Fri Jul 23	2 h 21 min	0 min	0 min	74%
Sat Jul 24	2 h 33 min	0 min	0 min	65%
Sun Jul 25	2 h 45 min	0 min	0 min	55%
Mon Jul 26	2 h 56 min	0 min	0 min	44%
Tue Jul 27	3 h 6 min	0 min	0 min	34%
Wed Jul 28	3 h 16 min	0 min	0 min	24%
Thu Jul 29	3 h 26 min	0 min	0 min	14%
Fri Jul 30	3 h 36 min	1 h 15 min	1 h 15 min	7%
Sat Jul 31	3 h 46 min	3 h 26 min	2 h 9 min	2%

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 July?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 15 of 31 nights at Yellowknife have civil darkness, and 9% of past July days reached Kp 5.
How dark is Yellowknife in July?: Yellowknife averages 1.2 hours of civil night a night in July 2027, from 0 min on the 1st to 3 h 46 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Yellowknife in July?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Yellowknife's 1 degree cell 68% mean cloud in July, against 63% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in July 2027 for aurora in Yellowknife?: By darkness and moon alone, Jul 31, with 2 h 9 min of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Yellowknife. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is July or August better in Yellowknife?: By civil night times the clear share, July scores 0.0 hours at Yellowknife and August 2.1. August 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.