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Northern Lights in Northwest Territories, Canada

In Northwest Territories the aurora is visible from about Kp 0, first near Yellowknife. Behchokǫ̀ has the darkest skies among the larger places.

Next chance in Northwest Territories

Good chance · Yellowknife · Reliability: medium

Place	Look towards	Light pollution	Population
Yellowknife	NNE	Suburban sky	20,340
Hay River	NNE	Rural to suburban	3,528
Inuvik	NNE	Rural to suburban	3,243
Fort Smith	NNE	City sky	2,542
Behchokǫ̀	NNE	Pristine dark sky	1,746
Fort Simpson	NNE	Rural to suburban	1,100
Norman Wells	NNE	Bright suburban sky	1,027

Best months in Northwest Territories

Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.

February has been the best month (78% of nights), followed by March (76%).

All years Near solar maximum Near solar minimum

Kp 0–2 Quiet eye in Yellowknife Only under the auroral oval: northern Norway, Swedish and Finnish Lapland, Iceland, Alaska, northern Canada.
Kp 3 Unsettled Bright in the Arctic; low on the horizon in central Scandinavia and southern Iceland.
Kp 4 Active Overhead in the Arctic; low in the north from southern Norway, Sweden, Finland and northern Scotland.
Kp 5 Minor storm (G1) Scotland, southern Scandinavia, the Baltic states, the northern US states and southern Canada.
Kp 6 Moderate storm (G2) Northern England, Denmark, northern Germany and Poland, the US Midwest — often clearer in photos than to the eye.
Kp 7 Strong storm (G3) Most of the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Czechia; red glow in photos from France and the northern Alps.
Kp 8 Severe storm (G4) Central Europe to the eye; red sky in photos from northern Italy, Spain, the Balkans and Turkey's Black Sea coast.
Kp 9 Extreme storm (G5) Seen across Europe and the US; in photos as far south as the Mediterranean, Turkey and North Africa (May 2024).

The town pages in this region also cover 29 villages and districts nearby.