Northern lights in Yellowknife in May
A long shot — only 10% of May nights offer a window.
10%of nights offer a window
0 hof darkness per night
99%of days with enough solar activity
10%of nights with a clear hour
The numbers behind it: May nights in Yellowknife average about 0 dark hours, geomagnetic activity reaches local viewing levels on 99% of days, and 10% of nights offer at least one reasonably clear hour after dark.
The sky itself is the main obstacle in May — clouds spoil more nights than quiet solar activity does. Build in spare nights, and be ready to drive toward whatever gap the cloud forecast shows.
Numbers come from 1996–2025 Kp records (GFZ Potsdam) and 2015–2024 hourly cloud history for Yellowknife itself — the full method is on the methodology page. Travelling soon? Check tonight's live Yellowknife forecast.
May against the rest of the year
- Jan54% of nights
- Feb65% of nights
- Mar61% of nights
- Apr59% of nights
- May10% of nights
- Junmidnight sun
- Julmidnight sun
- Aug50% of nights
- Sep59% of nights
- Oct41% of nights
- Nov35% of nights
- Dec47% of nights
April in Yellowknife · June in Yellowknife · full year overview