Northern Lights Tonight: Forecast & Chance for Every City

Can you see the northern lights tonight? NOAA's 3-day Kp forecast, the Kp your city needs and tonight's dark hours – updated live.

Which Kp does New York need?

New York lies at 49.9° geomagnetic latitude. Aurora low on the horizon is possible from about Kp 6.3, high in the sky from Kp 8.

Which Kp is enough where?

Reykjavik: On the horizon from Kp 0 · High in the sky from Kp 0
Tromsø: On the horizon from Kp 0 · High in the sky from Kp 0
Edinburgh: On the horizon from Kp 2 · High in the sky from Kp 4
Oslo: On the horizon from Kp 1.3 · High in the sky from Kp 3.3
Stockholm: On the horizon from Kp 2.3 · High in the sky from Kp 4
Helsinki: On the horizon from Kp 2.3 · High in the sky from Kp 4.3
Copenhagen: On the horizon from Kp 3.3 · High in the sky from Kp 5.3
Hamburg: On the horizon from Kp 4.3 · High in the sky from Kp 6.3
Berlin: On the horizon from Kp 5 · High in the sky from Kp 7
London: On the horizon from Kp 4.3 · High in the sky from Kp 6.3
Warsaw: On the horizon from Kp 5.7 · High in the sky from Kp 7.7
Munich: On the horizon from Kp 7 · High in the sky from Kp 9
Paris: On the horizon from Kp 6 · High in the sky from Kp 8
Toronto: On the horizon from Kp 4.7 · High in the sky from Kp 6.7
Data: NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center

How long it gets fully dark in New York

The night after the 15th of each month: how long the sun stays more than 18° below the horizon. An aurora needs that dark sky – far north, summer has none at all.
January: 11 h 11 min · 18:30–05:40
February: 10 h 14 min · 19:02–05:16
March: 9 h 0 min · 20:34–05:34
April: 7 h 23 min · 21:14–04:37
May: 5 h 45 min · 21:59–03:44
June: 4 h 43 min · 22:35–03:18
July: 5 h 14 min · 22:25–03:39
August: 6 h 48 min · 21:36–04:24
September: 8 h 27 min · 20:37–05:04
October: 9 h 51 min · 19:46–05:37
November: 10 h 56 min · 18:12–05:09
December: 11 h 27 min · 18:08–05:34

Which Kp is enough in 12 cities?

From this Kp an aurora can appear low on the horizon or high in the sky – on a dark, clear night.
New York: On the horizon from Kp 6 · High in the sky from Kp 8
Los Angeles: On the horizon from Kp 9 · High in the sky from Kp 9
Chicago: On the horizon from Kp 5.7 · High in the sky from Kp 7.7
Houston: On the horizon from Kp 9 · High in the sky from Kp 9
Miami: On the horizon from Kp 9 · High in the sky from Kp 9
Seattle: On the horizon from Kp 4.7 · High in the sky from Kp 6.7
Denver: On the horizon from Kp 7.3 · High in the sky from Kp 9
Boston: On the horizon from Kp 5.3 · High in the sky from Kp 7.3
Toronto: On the horizon from Kp 4.7 · High in the sky from Kp 6.7
London: On the horizon from Kp 4.3 · High in the sky from Kp 6.3
Manchester: On the horizon from Kp 3.3 · High in the sky from Kp 5.3
Edinburgh: On the horizon from Kp 2 · High in the sky from Kp 4

Good chance – the aurora can be high in the sky

How to see it

Look toward the pole: North in the northern hemisphere, south in the southern – away from city lights.

Use your phone's night mode: A camera shows colours the eye cannot see yet – the aurora often looks grey at first.

Be patient: The aurora comes in bursts, often 20–30 minutes apart.

Check the clouds: Without a clear view to the horizon nothing helps.

What does the Kp index mean? The Kp index measures from 0 to 9 how disturbed Earth's magnetic field is. The higher it is, the farther the auroral oval moves toward the equator. From Kp 5 NOAA speaks of a geomagnetic storm.

When is the best time for the northern lights? Around magnetic midnight – in central Europe roughly between 10 pm and 2 am – and around the equinoxes in spring and autumn, when storms are a little more frequent.

How reliable is the forecast? The Kp forecast for the next hours is quite good, for two or three days only rough: solar storms take one to three days to reach Earth, and their exact strength often only shows shortly before.