New South Wales, AustraliaMagnetic latitude 43.4°Population 8,268991 m above sea level
Can you see the southern lights in Katoomba?
From Katoomba the aurora is too low for the naked eye except in the most extreme storms, but in severe storms (about Kp 7.3 or more) cameras record a red glow low in the south. Strong enough for photos on 52 nights since 1995 — most recently on 10 October 2026.
Right now
Quiet right now (Kp 1.7).
Latest measured half-hour activity worldwide: Hp30 1.3.
Updates every minute while this page is open. Ground data: GFZ Potsdam Hp30 index (CC BY 4.0).
Tonight in one minute
Not tonight
- Solar activity Too weak: Kp 3.3 expected, 7.3 needed here.
- Sky Overcast (100% cloud).
- Darkness Dark from 20:13 to 05:13. A bright moon (76%) washes out faint displays.
What to do: Not tonight — your next chance is shown just below.
Thursday 22 October — No · Kp 3.3 · Forecast cloud: 100%. · Reliability: good
Each box is one night: the colour shows the chance, the number the expected Kp. Tap a night for details.
📅 Add these nights to your calendar — it updates itself (.ics)
How far ahead can the northern lights be forecast?
- Minutes to an hour: satellites 1.5 million km away measure the solar wind before it reaches Earth. This is the surest warning — the “Right now” box uses it.
- 1–3 days: when the Sun throws out a cloud of particles, it takes one to three days to arrive. NOAA's 3-hourly forecast covers these nights; the timing can still be off by a few hours.
- 4–27 days: the Sun turns once every 27 days, and regions that disturbed Earth's field last time often do it again. NOAA's 27-day outlook gives this rough trend — new eruptions are not in it yet.
Tonight
Updated 22:23 local time
Unlikely
Best around 22:00. Forecast max Kp 3.3 (this place needs 9+), average cloud 100%.
- Dark enough
- 20:13 – 05:13
- Sunset
- 19:16 · sunrise 06:09
- Moon
- 76% · ↑ 15:14 · ↓ 03:41
- Kp neededKp index: a 0–9 measure of geomagnetic activity. The higher it is, the further from the poles the aurora reaches.
- Kp 9+
- Kp for photos
- In photos: from Kp 7.3 (a red glow low in the south).
- Look towards
- south (188°)
Cloud layers and weather
Low cloud blocks the aurora completely. Thin high cloud often still lets a bright aurora shine through, so a sky with only high cloud is worth a look.
| Time | Wed, 22 | Thu, 01 | Thu, 04 | Thu, 21 | Fri, 00 | Fri, 03 | Fri, 21 | Sat, 00 | Sat, 03 | Sat, 21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low cloud | 88% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 98% | 80% | 39% | 0% |
| Mid cloud | 0% | 2% | 6% | 21% | 9% | 11% | 25% | 22% | 10% | 33% |
| High cloud | 10% | 19% | 34% | 26% | 10% | 6% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Temperature | 10 °C | 8 °C | 9 °C | 11 °C | 10 °C | 10 °C | 12 °C | 10 °C | 9 °C | 15 °C |
| Feels like | 10 °C | 8 °C | 9 °C | 11 °C | 10 °C | 10 °C | 12 °C | 10 °C | 9 °C | 15 °C |
| Wind | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 0 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s |
Cloud layers and weather: Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0).
Score = activity (NOAA Kp and OVATION) × clear sky (MET Norway) × darkness × moonlight. Methodology
Weather in Katoomba
The aurora only shows through clear skies, so the weather matters as much as the Kp index. Here is the general forecast for Katoomba: temperature, wind and the chance of rain for the coming days.
Planning further ahead? See the hour-by-hour weather forecast for Katoomba on Atlas of Seasons.
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What you would see from Katoomba
Facing south. Bands show where the aurora sits at two activity levels.
| Kp | What you see | Lower edge | Ray tops | Distance to the aurora |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Below the horizon | -7° | -4° | 2,124 km |
| 3 | Below the horizon | -5° | -3° | 1,902 km |
| 4 | Below the horizon | -4° | -1° | 1,679 km |
| 5 | Below the horizon | -2° | 1° | 1,457 km |
| 6 | Below the horizon | -1° | 3° | 1,234 km |
| 7 | Below the horizon | 1° | 6° | 1,012 km |
| 8 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 4° | 10° | 790 km |
| 9 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 8° | 17° | 567 km |
The Kp scale in plain words
Kp is a 0–9 score for how strongly the Earth's magnetic field is being shaken by the solar wind. The higher it goes, the further from the poles the northern lights reach. Kp 0–2 is a quiet night; Kp 5 and above is a geomagnetic storm.
- Kp 0–2 Quiet Only under the auroral oval: northern Norway, Swedish and Finnish Lapland, Iceland, Alaska, northern Canada.
- Kp 3 Unsettled next 24 h Bright in the Arctic; low on the horizon in central Scandinavia and southern Iceland.
- Kp 4 Active Overhead in the Arctic; low in the north from southern Norway, Sweden, Finland and northern Scotland.
- Kp 5 Minor storm (G1) Scotland, southern Scandinavia, the Baltic states, the northern US states and southern Canada.
- Kp 6 Moderate storm (G2) Northern England, Denmark, northern Germany and Poland, the US Midwest — often clearer in photos than to the eye.
- Kp 7 Strong storm (G3) camera in Katoomba Most of the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Czechia; red glow in photos from France and the northern Alps.
- Kp 8 Severe storm (G4) Central Europe to the eye; red sky in photos from northern Italy, Spain, the Balkans and Turkey's Black Sea coast.
- Kp 9 Extreme storm (G5) Seen across Europe and the US; in photos as far south as the Mediterranean, Turkey and North Africa (May 2024).
Light pollution
Rural to suburban. Some sky glow from nearby lights. Moderate displays are fine; faint ones are easier a few kilometres out.
Estimate from NASA VIIRS night-light data (sky-glow model within 50 km). Check access and private land before you go.
Hills and mountains
Terrain is not modelled for this place.
From elevation data (AWS Terrain Tiles) along seven lines of sight up to 30 km.
Best months to see the aurora in Katoomba
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
Activity of Kp 9+ or more is too rare here for monthly odds to be meaningful. The table still shows how often nights are clear and dark.
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March | 0% | 57% | 9.8 h | 12° / 24°C |
| April | 0% | 74% | 11.0 h | 9° / 19°C |
| May | 0% | 76% | 11.6 h | 6° / 15°C |
| June | 0% | 72% | 12.0 h | 4° / 12°C |
| July | 0% | 77% | 11.9 h | 3° / 11°C |
| August | 0% | 82% | 11.3 h | 3° / 13°C |
| September | 0% | 77% | 10.3 h | 6° / 17°C |
| October | 0% | 63% | 9.0 h | 8° / 21°C |
Nights when Katoomba could catch it in photos
Since 1995, nights with Kp 7.3 or more while it was dark here — a red or green glow low on the horizon.
- 10 October 2026 · Kp 7.3
- 20 January 2026 · Kp 7.7
- 12 November 2025 · Kp 7.7
- 1 June 2025 · Kp 7.3
- 16 April 2025 · Kp 7.7
- 1 January 2025 · Kp 8.0
- 11 October 2024 · Kp 7.7
- 10 October 2024 · Kp 7.7
- 12 August 2024 · Kp 8.0
- 28 June 2024 · Kp 7.7
- 11 May 2024 · Kp 9.0
- 10 May 2024 · Kp 8.7
Practical information
- Nearest airport
- Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport (SYD) · 84 km
- Typical low / high in January
- 14° / 28°C
- What to wear
- Cool nights: layers, a windproof jacket, hat and gloves for standing still outside. Full clothing guide
- Emergency number
- 000 (112 also works from mobile phones)
- Winter driving
- Under Victoria's Alpine Resorts (Management) Regulations 2020, every vehicle entering Falls Creek, Mt Baw Baw, Mt Buller, Mt Hotham and Mt Stirling must carry fitting wheel chains during the declared snow season (2026: 7 June - 4 October). Check VicTraffic for live Victorian road disruptions; in Tasmania, elevated roads get snow and ice in winter and closures are posted via Tasmania Police alerts / TasALERT. Road conditions
- Access to land
- Most Tasmanian national parks require a valid Parks & Wildlife Service parks pass per vehicle (24-hour, holiday/8-week, annual options; Cradle Mountain excluded from the 24-hour pass). Check land tenure before parking at night and respect any local closures.
- Official space-weather service
- Bureau of Meteorology Australian Space Weather Forecasting Centre (Aurora Watch/Alert/Outlook)
- Weather service
- Bureau of Meteorology
Questions and answers
What Kp do you need to see the aurora in Katoomba?
From Katoomba the aurora is too low for the naked eye except in the most extreme storms, but in severe storms (about Kp 7.3 or more) cameras record a red glow low in the south.
Which way should I look for the aurora in Katoomba?
Around Katoomba the aurora is often right overhead. Start by facing south, but look up and all around — in strong storms it can fill the whole sky and even appear behind you.
When is the aurora season in Katoomba?
Katoomba gets dark enough for the aurora all year round, though the long winter nights give the most hours to watch.
Is there much light pollution in Katoomba?
Some sky glow from nearby lights. Moderate displays are fine; faint ones are easier a few kilometres out.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Katoomba share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- Leura 2 km
- Blue Mountains 2 km
- North Katoomba 3 km
- Wentworth Falls 6 km
- Megalong 6 km
- Medlow Bath 6 km
- Megalong Valley 7 km
- Blackheath 10 km
- Bullaburra 10 km
- Lawson 11 km
- Hazelbrook 14 km
- Blue Mountains 14 km
- Mount Victoria 15 km
- Woodford 16 km
- Linden 18 km
- Little Hartley 18 km
- Ganbenang 18 km
- Lowther 19 km
- Faulconbridge 21 km
- Hartley Vale 22 km
- Mount Tomah 22 km
- Springwood 23 km
- Hartley 23 km
- Berambing 24 km
- Mount Wilson 25 km
- Hampton 25 km
- Bell 25 km
- Dargan 26 km
- Newnes Junction 28 km
- Jenolan Caves 28 km
- Vale of Clwydd 28 km
- Doctors Gap 28 km
- Hassans Walls 28 km
- South Bowenfels 29 km
- Clarence 29 km
- South Littleton 29 km
- Pottery Estate 29 km
- Sheedys Gully 29 km
- Littleton 29 km
- Old Bowenfels 29 km