Northern Lights Minneapolis – Visible Tonight? Kp 4.3 Needed

From Kp 4.3 the aurora can be seen on the horizon in Minneapolis, from Kp 6.3 high in the sky. NOAA's live 3-day Kp forecast and tonight's dark hours.

Aurora over Minneapolis

  • Minneapolis lies at 53° geomagnetic latitude. From Kp 4.3 an aurora can show low over the northern horizon, from Kp 6.3 it can reach overhead – on a dark, clear night away from city lights.

Dark hours in Minneapolis – the next 7 nights

  • Thu, November 5: fully dark from 18:35 to 05:18, moon 13 % lit
  • Fri, November 6: fully dark from 18:34 to 05:19, moon 7 % lit
  • Sat, November 7: fully dark from 18:33 to 05:20, moon 3 % lit
  • Sun, November 8: fully dark from 18:32 to 05:21, moon 0 % lit
  • Mon, November 9: fully dark from 18:31 to 05:22, moon 0 % lit
  • Tue, November 10: fully dark from 18:30 to 05:24, moon 2 % lit
  • Wed, November 11: fully dark from 18:29 to 05:25, moon 6 % 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 Minneapolis

  • 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 21 min · 18:42–06:02
  • February: 10 h 14 min · 19:19–05:33
  • March: 8 h 48 min · 20:57–05:45
  • April: 6 h 52 min · 21:46–04:38
  • May: 4 h 48 min · 22:45–03:33
  • June: 3 h 19 min · 23:34–02:53
  • July: 4 h 6 min · 23:16–03:22
  • August: 6 h 9 min · 22:13–04:22
  • September: 8 h 9 min · 21:03–05:12
  • October: 9 h 47 min · 20:05–05:52
  • November: 11 h 4 min · 18:26–05:29
  • December: 11 h 40 min · 18:18–05:58

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.