Tasmania, AustraliaMagnetic latitude 54.3°11 m above sea level
Southern lights in Southport / Cockle Creek
Southport / Cockle Creek needs an active night: from about Kp 4 the aurora appears low over the south horizon, and it rises higher as activity grows. Since 1995 that level (Kp 4.7) was reached during darkness here on 859 nights.
Right now
Quiet right now (Kp 1.3).
Updates every minute while this page is open.
Tonight in one minute
Not tonight
- Solar activity Too weak: Kp 2 expected, 4 needed here.
- Sky Mostly clear (39% cloud).
- Darkness Dark from 20:41 to 05:12.
What to do: Not tonight — your next chance is shown just below.
- Detailed forecast Fri 16 2 No · Kp 2
- Sat 17 1.3 No · Kp 1.3
- Sun 18 1.3 No · Kp 1.3
- 27-day trend Mon 19 2 No · Kp 2
- Tue 20 2 No · Kp 2
- Wed 21 3 Photos only · Kp 3
- Thu 22 4 Possible · Kp 4
- Fri 23 4 Possible · Kp 4
- Sat 24 3 Unlikely · Kp 3
- Sun 25 2 No · Kp 2
- Mon 26 2 No · Kp 2
- Tue 27 2 No · Kp 2
- Wed 28 2 No · Kp 2
- Thu 29 2 No · Kp 2
- Fri 30 2 No · Kp 2
- Sat 31 5 Good chance · Kp 5
- Sun 1 5 Good chance · Kp 5
- Mon 2 3 Photos only · Kp 3
- Tue 3 2 No · Kp 2
- Wed 4 2 No · Kp 2
- Thu 5 2 No · Kp 2
- Fri 6 3 Photos only · Kp 3
- Sat 7 3 Photos only · Kp 3
Friday 23 October — Possible · Kp 4 · best around 00:00 · Forecast cloud: 68%. · Reliability: low (rough trend)
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 01:34 local time
Unlikely
Best around 01:00. Forecast max Kp 2.0 (this place needs 4), average cloud 39%.
- Dark enough
- 20:41 – 05:12
- Sunset
- 19:36 · sunrise 06:17
- Moon
- 31% · ↑ 09:55 · ↓ 01:33
- Kp neededKp index: a 0–9 measure of geomagnetic activity. The higher it is, the further from the poles the aurora reaches.
- Kp 4
- Kp for photos
- In photos: from Kp 2.3 (a red glow low in the south).
- Look towards
- south (188°)
Clearer skies nearby tonight
Forecast cloud during tonight's darkness: 35% here. The clearest option within 100 km is about 30 km to the north-west, near Geeveston, with 1%. Open in OpenStreetMap
MET Norway forecast at 24 points within 100 km, averaged over the dark hours. Check roads and conditions before driving.
Score = activity (NOAA Kp and OVATION) × clear sky (MET Norway) × darkness × moonlight. Methodology
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What you would see from Southport / Cockle Creek
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 | 2° | 8° | 912 km |
| 3 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 5° | 13° | 689 km |
| 4 | Visible to the south | 10° | 21° | 467 km |
| 5 | Visible to the south | 22° | 38° | 245 km |
| 6 | Visible to the south | 78° | 83° | 22 km |
| 7 | Overhead and all around | – | – | – |
| 8 | Overhead, and also to the north | – | – | – |
| 9 | Overhead, and also to the north | – | – | – |
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 next 24 h camera in Southport / Cockle Creek Only under the auroral oval: northern Norway, Swedish and Finnish Lapland, Iceland, Alaska, northern Canada.
- Kp 3 Unsettled Bright in the Arctic; low on the horizon in central Scandinavia and southern Iceland.
- Kp 4 Active eye in Southport / Cockle Creek 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) 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
Pristine dark sky. Almost no artificial light: faint aurora and the Milky Way are easy to see.
Estimate from NASA VIIRS night-light data (sky-glow model within 50 km). Check access and private land before you go.
Hills and mountains
The horizon towards the south is open (terrain below 1.1°), so low aurora is not blocked.
From elevation data (AWS Terrain Tiles) along seven lines of sight up to 30 km.
Best months to see the aurora in Southport / Cockle Creek
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
August has been the best month (8% of nights), followed by April (8%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March | 7% | 65% | 9.5 h | 8° / 19°C |
| April | 8% | 66% | 11.0 h | 7° / 15°C |
| May | 7% | 61% | 12.0 h | 5° / 12°C |
| June | 8% | 64% | 12.8 h | 4° / 10°C |
| July | 6% | 59% | 12.4 h | 3° / 9°C |
| August | 8% | 65% | 11.5 h | 3° / 10°C |
| September | 8% | 67% | 9.9 h | 4° / 12°C |
| October | 8% | 64% | 8.5 h | 5° / 14°C |
Aurora nights in Southport / Cockle Creek since 1995
Nights when Kp reached 4.7 or more while it was dark here.
Most recent strong nights
- 10 October 2026 · Kp 7.3
- 4 October 2026 · Kp 5.0
- 18 August 2026 · Kp 5.3
- 8 August 2026 · Kp 6.0
- 2 August 2026 · Kp 5.7
- 23 July 2026 · Kp 5.0
- 4 July 2026 · Kp 6.7
- 5 June 2026 · Kp 6.0
Where to watch near Southport / Cockle Creek
-
Cockle Creek (Recherche Bay)
Wide beaches at the edge of Southwest National Park with clear southern skies and virtually no light pollution. · about 27 km · Open in OpenStreetMap
-
Recherche Bay Nature Recreation Area
Shoreline camping areas along the bay with open water views and dark skies on the road to Cockle Creek. · about 22 km · Open in OpenStreetMap
-
Southport foreshore
Quiet village bay a few minutes from town, convenient for a quick check when an alert comes in. · about 2 km · Open in OpenStreetMap
Local knowledge
- Cockle Creek on Recherche Bay is the southernmost point in Australia reachable by road and has almost no artificial light.
- The drive from Hobart takes roughly 2-2.5 hours; plan to stay overnight (Cockle Creek campground or Southport) rather than driving back late.
- Fill up with fuel and supplies before heading south, as services in the far south are very limited.
- June to August are the darkest months, giving the most hours of possible viewing.
- There is little or no mobile coverage in parts of the far south, so download aurora forecasts and maps before you leave.
Cockle Creek is within Southwest National Park, so a valid Tasmanian parks pass is required.
The final stretch of road to Cockle Creek is gravel; drive slowly at night and watch for wildlife.
Practical information
- Typical low / high in August
- 3° / 10°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 Southport / Cockle Creek?
Southport / Cockle Creek needs an active night: from about Kp 4 the aurora appears low over the south horizon, and it rises higher as activity grows.
Which way should I look for the aurora in Southport / Cockle Creek?
Face south (about 188° from true north). At Kp 4 the lower edge of the aurora sits roughly 10° above the horizon; stronger activity lifts it higher and further across the sky.
What is the best month to see the aurora in Southport / Cockle Creek?
Over 2005–2025, August gave the best odds in Southport / Cockle Creek (8% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by April (8%).
When is the aurora season in Southport / Cockle Creek?
Southport / Cockle Creek 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 Southport / Cockle Creek?
Almost no artificial light: faint aurora and the Milky Way are easy to see.
When was the aurora last possible in Southport / Cockle Creek?
Activity last reached storm level (Kp 5 or more) during darkness in Southport / Cockle Creek on 10 October 2026 (Kp 7.3) — 859 such nights since 1995. Here the aurora also appears on many quieter nights.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Southport / Cockle Creek share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- Hythe 1 km
- Lady Bay 3 km
- Lady Bay 4 km
- Hastings 5 km
- Lune River 6 km
- Southport Lagoon 7 km
- Point Labillardiere 10 km
- Strathblane 11 km
- Raminoa 11 km
- Leprena 12 km
- Raminea 12 km
- Dover 13 km
- Catamaran 16 km
- Recherche 16 km
- Huon Valley 36 km