Northern Lights Forecast Tonight
Search for your town or share your location to see tonight’s aurora chance where you are. We combine NOAA’s Kp forecast and OVATION aurora map with tonight’s darkness and cloud cover, and tell you when to go out and which way to look. The data time is always shown.
Your place
Loading NOAA data…
Kp forecast, next 48 hours
How we turn the data into a chance: Data & method.
How to read the forecast
- Kp tonight is the highest Kp NOAA predicts for the 3-hour blocks while it is dark at your place. Kp runs from 0 to 9; 5 or more is a geomagnetic storm (Kp index explained).
- Kp needed is worked out from your geomagnetic latitude using NOAA’s rule of thumb. It is approximate: NOAA notes the relationship is an average and does not always hold.
- Right now is NOAA’s OVATION model: the chance of seeing aurora overhead in the next 30 to 90 minutes. It is a short-term forecast, not a forecast for the whole night.
- Clouds come from MET Norway’s weather forecast. The aurora is 80 to 500 km up, so any cloud blocks it (NOAA).
The aurora cannot be predicted to the minute. Use the forecast to decide whether it is worth going out, then look for yourself.
Aurora guides
Questions and answers
What Kp do I need to see the northern lights?
It depends on how far you are from the magnetic pole. NOAA’s rule of thumb is that the edge of the auroral oval sits near 66° magnetic latitude at Kp 0 and moves about 2° towards the equator for each Kp step. The forecast above works out the Kp needed for your place. Bright aurora can also be seen low on the horizon from up to about 1,000 km away (NOAA SWPC).
Which direction should I look?
In the northern hemisphere, look north; in the southern hemisphere, look south. Find a spot with a clear, low view of that horizon. When the aurora is strong it can spread overhead or even to the south of you. The forecast shows the direction of the strongest aurora within about 1,000 km (NOAA SWPC).
What time is best?
NOAA says the best aurora is usually within an hour or two of midnight, between 10 PM and 2 AM local time, and that the active hours stretch into the evening and morning when activity is higher. It must be dark, so the hours of darkness at your place matter too (NOAA SWPC).
How often is the forecast updated?
We fetch NOAA’s OVATION aurora map at most every 5 minutes, the Kp forecast at most every 30 minutes and the cloud forecast as often as MET Norway allows. The time of each data set is shown under the forecast.