LIVE TRACKER · Space Weather
Northern Lights Tracker: Live Aurora Forecast & Kp Index Tonight
Will the northern lights be visible tonight?
Aurora activity is currently low. Tonight the lights are expected over the polar regions only.
Source: NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center · Kp is a ~3-hour planetary index · refreshes ~every 10 min. A confident aurora forecast is only about an hour ahead — watch the live number.
The northern lights are the rare bit of space weather you can watch with your own eyes — but only if you're in the right place at the right moment. This hub is built to answer the one question that matters on an aurora night: is it worth going outside right now? The live status block above shows the current Kp index and how far south the lights may be reaching; the map shows the glowing oval itself.
Open the live map and switch on the Aurora layer to see the oval drawn around the pole exactly where tonight's display is most likely.
How to use this tracker tonight
- Read the Kp number above. It runs 0 to 9 and measures how far the aurora has spilled out from the pole.
- Match it to your latitude. Far north, a low Kp is plenty; the further south you are, the higher the Kp you need. Our Kp index explainer has the full latitude-by-latitude breakdown.
- Check your sky. Dark, clear, and facing the nearest pole. A bright moon or city glow can wash out even a strong show.
- Go around midnight. The hours either side of local midnight are usually the most active.
What the aurora oval on the map shows
The Aurora layer isn't a photo — it's a forecast of probability. It paints the band around the pole where charged particles from the Sun are most likely hitting the atmosphere and making it glow right now. When a geomagnetic storm hits, you'll see that oval thicken and bulge southward, creeping toward populated latitudes. That bulge is the visual version of a rising Kp: the lights coming to find you.
Why the forecast is short — and that's normal
Aurora forecasting is honest about its limits. The display is driven by the solar wind, and our most reliable measurement of that wind comes from spacecraft about an hour "upstream" between the Sun and Earth. So a confident call is roughly an hour out. That's not a flaw in this tracker — it's the nature of the science, and it's exactly why aurora chasers watch the live number instead of a week-old outlook. When the oval surges, you have your hour.
The same storm that lights the sky can scramble GPS
There's a fascinating link on the intel side of the map. A strong geomagnetic storm — a high Kp — doesn't just paint the sky; it disturbs the upper atmosphere that satellite-navigation signals pass through, which can degrade GPS accuracy worldwide. So a beautiful aurora night and a bad night for GPS precision are often the same event. Watching the Aurora and GPS Jamming layers side by side is one of those fusion views that no aurora-only site can show you.
Stay oriented
Aurora activity can flare and fade within an hour, so keep this hub open on an active night and refresh for the latest Kp. If the numbers are new to you, the Kp index explainer is the companion read. And remember the golden rule: the Kp says the lights are there — a dark, clear sky is what lets you see them.
Frequently asked questions
Will I be able to see the northern lights tonight?
Check the live Kp index above, then match it to your latitude. The further north you are, the lower the Kp you need: high-latitude places like northern Scandinavia or Alaska can see an aurora at Kp 2–3, the northern US and UK usually need Kp 5 or more, and the mid-latitudes need a strong storm of Kp 7 or higher. You also need a dark, clear sky facing the nearest pole — a high Kp under cloud shows nothing.
What time of night is best for aurora viewing?
The hours around local midnight are usually best, roughly 10 pm to 2 am, when your location has rotated to face the part of the aurora oval that's most active. You also need genuine darkness, so the lights are easiest to catch away from the long twilight of midsummer and well away from city light. Get somewhere dark, give your eyes 15–20 minutes to adjust, and look toward the pole.
How accurate is an aurora forecast?
A confident aurora forecast is only about an hour ahead, because it depends on the solar wind that satellites measure roughly an hour 'upstream' of Earth. Longer-range outlooks are real but are probabilities tied to the Sun's rotation, not guarantees. That's why this tracker leans on the live Kp number and the current oval rather than a multi-day promise — on aurora nights, the live reading is what matters.
Why can't I see the aurora even though the Kp is high?
A high Kp means the aurora is active and has spread toward you, but three things still have to line up: a dark sky (no bright moon, no city glow), a clear sky (clouds block it completely), and an unobstructed view toward the nearest pole. Any one of those failing can hide a strong display. The Kp tells you the aurora is there; your local sky decides whether you actually see it.
SEE IT LIVE
Everything in this guide is on one real-time map.