Northern & southern lights forecast
Where the aurora is likely right now, around both poles, and how strong tonight's geomagnetic activity is forecast to get. Pick your city to see what it takes to see it from there.
Aurora probability, next ~30–90 minutes
NOAA OVATION model · valid 2026-10-17 04:26 UTCGreen: low chance overhead · lime: moderate · pink: high. The aurora can also be seen low on the horizon from a few hundred kilometres beyond the coloured band. Map: Natural Earth.
Kp index, observed and forecast
Kp runs from 0 (quiet) to 9 (extreme storm). It's a planet-wide index, so the same number applies to both hemispheres. Kp 5 and above is a geomagnetic storm, when the aurora reaches well beyond the polar regions.
Best aurora odds tonight
aurora borealis · 1% cloudGo outside96Murmansk, Russia
aurora borealis · 4% cloudGo outside89Winnipeg, Manitoba
aurora borealis · 11% cloudGo outside87Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
aurora borealis · 11% cloudGo outside65Edmonton, Alberta
aurora borealis · 34% cloudWorth a look64St. Albert, Alberta
aurora borealis · 36% cloudWorth a look56Grande Prairie, Alberta
aurora borealis · 44% cloudWorth a look52Fort McMurray, Alberta
aurora borealis · 47% cloudWorth a look44Oslo, Norway
aurora borealis · 47% cloudMaybe31Trondheim, Norway
aurora borealis · 70% cloudMaybe
Tonight's full score, clouds, darkness and moonlight included, for cities where aurora is in reach.
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How to actually see it
Get away from city lights and face the nearer pole: north in the Northern Hemisphere, south in the Southern. Give your eyes 15 minutes to adjust. A phone camera on night mode often shows colour your eyes can't. Activity comes in bursts, so if the forecast is strong, wait it out for an hour. The best window is usually around local midnight.
The southern lights
The aurora australis is the Southern Hemisphere's twin of the northern lights, driven by the same solar storms at the same moment. Its auroral zone lies mostly over the Southern Ocean and Antarctica, so the best-placed big cities are in Tasmania, New Zealand's South Island and the far south of Argentina and Chile. During strong storms it reaches southern mainland Australia, and in the rarest storms much farther north. Remember the seasons are reversed: the long dark nights of June and July are the southern aurora season.
Data: NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (public domain). Night Sky Alert is independent and not endorsed by NOAA; our visibility estimates are our own. Updated 4 min ago.