Northern Lights Lethbridge – Visible Tonight? Kp 3 Needed

From Kp 3 the aurora can be seen on the horizon in Lethbridge, from Kp 5 high in the sky. NOAA's live 3-day Kp forecast and tonight's dark hours.

Aurora over Lethbridge

  • Lethbridge lies at 56° geomagnetic latitude. From Kp 3 an aurora can show low over the northern horizon, from Kp 5 it can reach overhead – on a dark, clear night away from city lights.

Dark hours in Lethbridge – the next 7 nights

  • Thu, October 8: fully dark from 20:41 to 05:56, moon 4 % lit
  • Fri, October 9: fully dark from 20:38 to 05:58, moon 1 % lit
  • Sat, October 10: fully dark from 20:36 to 06:00, moon 0 % lit
  • Sun, October 11: fully dark from 20:34 to 06:01, moon 1 % lit
  • Mon, October 12: fully dark from 20:32 to 06:03, moon 5 % lit
  • Tue, October 13: fully dark from 20:30 to 06:04, moon 10 % lit
  • Wed, October 14: fully dark from 20:28 to 06:06, moon 16 % lit

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 Lethbridge

  • 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 32 min · 18:54–06:26
  • February: 10 h 13 min · 19:38–05:51
  • March: 8 h 30 min · 21:24–05:54
  • April: 6 h 7 min · 22:27–04:34
  • May: 3 h 11 min · 23:52–03:02
  • June: never fully dark
  • July: 1 h 46 min · 00:44–02:30
  • August: 5 h 11 min · 23:00–04:11
  • September: 7 h 43 min · 21:35–05:18
  • October: 9 h 41 min · 20:26–06:07
  • November: 11 h 12 min · 19:40–06:52
  • December: 11 h 55 min · 19:29–07:24

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.

FAQ

  • 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.