Victoria, AustraliaMagnetic latitude 48.4°Population 5,435,59025 m above sea level
Can you see the southern lights in Melbourne?
From Melbourne the aurora is seen only during geomagnetic storms (about Kp 7 or more), usually as a glow low in the south. Cameras often pick it up before the eye does. Since 1995 that level (Kp 7) was reached during darkness here on 78 nights.
Right now
Quiet right now (Kp 0.3).
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 2 expected, 7 needed here.
- Sky Mostly clear (0% cloud).
- Darkness Dark from 20:38 to 05:32.
What to do: Not tonight — your next chance is shown just below.
- Detailed forecast Sat 17 2 No · Kp 2
- Sun 18 1.3 No · Kp 1.3
- Mon 19 1.7 No · Kp 1.7
- 27-day trend Tue 20 2 No · Kp 2
- Wed 21 3 No · Kp 3
- Thu 22 4 No · Kp 4
- Fri 23 4 No · Kp 4
- Sat 24 3 No · 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 No · Kp 5
- Sun 1 5 No · Kp 5
- Mon 2 3 No · Kp 3
- Tue 3 2 No · Kp 2
- Wed 4 2 No · Kp 2
- Thu 5 2 No · Kp 2
- Fri 6 3 No · Kp 3
- Sat 7 3 No · Kp 3
Sunday 18 October — No · Kp 2 · Forecast cloud: 0%. · 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 01:38 local time
Unlikely
Best around 01:00. Forecast max Kp 2.0 (this place needs 7), average cloud 0%.
- Dark enough
- 20:38 – 05:32
- Sunset
- 19:39 · sunrise 06:31
- Moon
- 40% · ↑ 11:25 · ↓ 02:03
- Kp neededKp index: a 0–9 measure of geomagnetic activity. The higher it is, the further from the poles the aurora reaches.
- Kp 7
- Kp for photos
- In photos: from Kp 5.3 (a red glow low in the south).
- Look towards
- south (186°)
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 | Sun, 01 | Sun, 04 | Sun, 21 | Mon, 00 | Mon, 03 | Mon, 20 | Mon, 23 | Tue, 02 | Tue, 05 | Tue, 22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Mid cloud | 1% | 0% | 2% | 0% | 0% | 3% | 4% | 0% | 43% | 20% |
| High cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 89% | 96% | 90% | 93% | 93% |
| Temperature | 16 °C | 13 °C | 21 °C | 17 °C | 15 °C | 24 °C | 21 °C | 20 °C | 19 °C | 18 °C |
| Feels like | 16 °C | 12 °C | 21 °C | 17 °C | 14 °C | 22 °C | 19 °C | 18 °C | 17 °C | 19 °C |
| Wind | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 4 m/s | 4 m/s | 2 m/s |
| Visibility | 47 km | 47 km | 50 km | 50 km | 46 km | 34 km | 50 km | 50 km | 50 km | 41 km |
Cloud layers and weather: Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0).
Clearer skies nearby tonight
Tonight's cloud forecast is similar in every direction within 100 km (0% here), so driving is unlikely to help.
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
Seeing it right now?
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What you would see from Melbourne
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 | -3° | 0° | 1,568 km |
| 3 | Below the horizon | -2° | 2° | 1,346 km |
| 4 | Below the horizon | 0° | 5° | 1,123 km |
| 5 | Below the horizon | 3° | 8° | 901 km |
| 6 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 6° | 13° | 678 km |
| 7 | Visible to the south | 11° | 21° | 456 km |
| 8 | Visible to the south | 23° | 39° | 234 km |
| 9 | Visible to the south | 84° | 87° | 11 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 next 24 h 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 Overhead in the Arctic; low in the north from southern Norway, Sweden, Finland and northern Scotland.
- Kp 5 Minor storm (G1) camera in Melbourne 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) eye in Melbourne 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
City sky. City lights hide all but the brightest displays. Plan to leave the urban area.
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 Melbourne
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
April has been the best month (1% of nights), followed by August (1%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March | 0.3% | 79% | 9.6 h | 14° / 24°C |
| April | 0.6% | 72% | 11.0 h | 12° / 20°C |
| May | 0.3% | 67% | 11.9 h | 10° / 17°C |
| June | 0.5% | 58% | 12.3 h | 8° / 14°C |
| July | 0.2% | 53% | 12.1 h | 7° / 13°C |
| August | 0.6% | 56% | 11.3 h | 7° / 14°C |
| September | 0.3% | 62% | 10.3 h | 8° / 16°C |
| October | 0.3% | 67% | 9.0 h | 10° / 19°C |
Aurora nights in Melbourne since 1995
Nights when Kp reached 7 or more while it was dark here.
Most recent strong nights
- 10 October 2026 · Kp 7.3
- 22 March 2026 · Kp 7.0
- 20 January 2026 · Kp 7.7
- 12 November 2025 · Kp 7.7
- 2 June 2025 · Kp 7.0
- 1 June 2025 · Kp 7.3
- 16 April 2025 · Kp 7.7
- 1 January 2025 · Kp 8.0
Where to watch near Melbourne
-
Cape Schanck Lighthouse
Southern tip of the Mornington Peninsula with viewing platforms and panoramic views over Bass Strait. · about 95 km · Open in OpenStreetMap
-
Flinders Blowhole
Clifftop lookout facing Bass Strait about 15 minutes from Cape Schanck, with a dark ocean horizon. · about 90 km · Open in OpenStreetMap
-
Point Lonsdale Lighthouse
Headland at the entrance to Port Phillip with open southern views over the ocean and the lighthouse as a foreground. · about 105 km · Open in OpenStreetMap
-
Werribee South Beach
Quiet south-facing beach that is the closest reasonably dark option to the city for strong displays. · about 40 km · Open in OpenStreetMap
Local knowledge
- Aurora is only visible from the Melbourne area during strong geomagnetic storms; watch Bureau of Meteorology Space Weather Services aurora alerts.
- City light washes out faint displays, so head to the dark, south-facing coasts of the Mornington and Bellarine peninsulas.
- Displays are typically brightest between about 10pm and 2am and may only last one to three hours.
- Cameras pick up far more colour than the eye; a long exposure often shows aurora that looks like a faint glow in person.
- Scout your spot in daylight to make sure the southern horizon is free of trees, buildings and streetlights.
Clifftop lookouts at Cape Schanck and Flinders have steep drops and slippery boardwalks; carry a torch and stay on paths.
Ocean beaches on Bass Strait have strong surf and rips; stay well back from the water at night.
Practical information
- Nearest airport
- Melbourne Essendon Airport (MEB) · 11 km
Melbourne Airport (MEL) · 19 km - Typical low / high in April
- 12° / 20°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 Melbourne?
From Melbourne the aurora is seen only during geomagnetic storms (about Kp 7 or more), usually as a glow low in the south. Cameras often pick it up before the eye does.
Which way should I look for the aurora in Melbourne?
Face south (about 186° from true north). At Kp 7 the lower edge of the aurora sits roughly 11° above the horizon; stronger activity lifts it higher and further across the sky.
What is the best month to see the aurora in Melbourne?
Over 2005–2025, April gave the best odds in Melbourne (1% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by August (1%).
When is the aurora season in Melbourne?
Melbourne 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 Melbourne?
City lights hide all but the brightest displays. Plan to leave the urban area.
When was the aurora last possible in Melbourne?
The most recent night in our data when activity reached the level Melbourne needs, during darkness, was 10 October 2026 (Kp 7.3). It has happened on 78 nights since 1995.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Melbourne share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- Melbourne City Centre 0 km
- West Melbourne 1 km
- Southbank 1 km
- Docklands 1 km
- South Melbourne 2 km
- North Melbourne 2 km
- Fitzroy 2 km
- Carlton 2 km
- East Melbourne 2 km
- Jolimont 2 km
- Melbourne 2 km
- South Wharf 2 km
- Yarra 3 km
- Richmond 3 km
- Port Melbourne 3 km
- Fitzroy North 3 km
- Cremorne 3 km
- Collingwood 3 km
- Carlton North 3 km
- Albert Park 3 km
- City of Port Phillip 3 km
- South Yarra 4 km
- Parkville 4 km
- Kensington 4 km
- Clifton Hill 4 km
- Abbotsford 4 km
- Port Phillip 4 km
- Princes Hill 4 km
- Travancore 4 km
- Middle Park 4 km
- Flemington 4 km
- Beacon Cove 4 km
- Windsor 5 km
- Toorak 5 km
- Prahran 5 km
- Burnley 5 km
- Brunswick East 5 km
- Brunswick 5 km
- Ascot Vale 5 km
- St Kilda West 5 km