Western Australia, AustraliaMagnetic latitude 43.0°Population 13,90428 m above sea level
Can you see the northern lights in Clarkson?
From Clarkson the aurora is too low for the naked eye except in the most extreme storms, but in severe storms (about Kp 4.7 or more) cameras record a red glow low in the south. Strong enough for photos on 927 nights since 1995 — most recently on 10 October 2026.
Right now
Quiet right now (Kp 2.3).
Updates every minute while this page is open.
Tonight in one minute
Not tonight
- Solar activity Too weak: Kp 3 expected, 4.7 needed here.
- Sky Mostly clear (17% cloud).
- Darkness Dark from 19:24 to 04:40.
What to do: Not tonight — your next chance is shown just below.
- Detailed forecast Fri 16 3 No · Kp 3
- 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 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 Photos only · Kp 5
- Sun 1 5 Photos only · 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
Saturday 31 October — Photos only · Kp 5 · best around 23:30 · No cloud forecast this far ahead; in October about 93% of nights are clear here. · 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 01:28 local time
Unlikely
Best around 01:00. Forecast max Kp 3.0 (this place needs 9+), average cloud 17%.
- Dark enough
- 19:24 – 04:40
- Sunset
- 18:29 · sunrise 05:34
- Moon
- 32% · ↑ 09:49 · ↓ 23:58
- 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 4.7 (a red glow low in the south).
- Look towards
- south (182°)
Score = activity (NOAA Kp and OVATION) × clear sky (MET Norway) × darkness × moonlight. Methodology
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What you would see from Clarkson
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° | -5° | 2,168 km |
| 3 | Below the horizon | -6° | -3° | 1,946 km |
| 4 | Below the horizon | -4° | -1° | 1,724 km |
| 5 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | -3° | 1° | 1,501 km |
| 6 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | -1° | 3° | 1,279 km |
| 7 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 1° | 6° | 1,056 km |
| 8 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 3° | 10° | 834 km |
| 9 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 7° | 15° | 612 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) camera in Clarkson 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
Bright suburban sky. Strong sky glow washes out faint aurora. Head out of town for anything but a bright display.
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 Clarkson
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% | 84% | 9.8 h | 16° / 31°C |
| April | 0% | 85% | 10.9 h | 13° / 26°C |
| May | 0% | 88% | 11.6 h | 10° / 22°C |
| June | 0% | 85% | 11.8 h | 8° / 18°C |
| July | 0% | 89% | 11.6 h | 7° / 16°C |
| August | 0% | 89% | 11.1 h | 7° / 17°C |
| September | 0% | 94% | 10.3 h | 8° / 19°C |
| October | 0% | 93% | 9.3 h | 10° / 23°C |
Nights when Clarkson could catch it in photos
Since 1995, nights with Kp 4.7 or more while it was dark here — a red or green glow low on the horizon.
- 10 October 2026 · Kp 7.3
- 4 October 2026 · Kp 5.7
- 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
- 30 June 2026 · Kp 4.7
- 11 June 2026 · Kp 4.7
- 5 June 2026 · Kp 6.0
- 16 May 2026 · Kp 4.7
- 15 May 2026 · Kp 5.3
Practical information
- Nearest airport
- Perth International Airport (PER) · 37 km
- Typical low / high in January
- 17° / 35°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 Clarkson?
From Clarkson the aurora is too low for the naked eye except in the most extreme storms, but in severe storms (about Kp 4.7 or more) cameras record a red glow low in the south.
Which way should I look for the aurora in Clarkson?
Around Clarkson 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 Clarkson?
Clarkson 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 Clarkson?
Strong sky glow washes out faint aurora. Head out of town for anything but a bright display.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Clarkson share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- Quinns Rocks 2 km
- Merriwa 2 km
- Ridgewood 2 km
- Wanneroo 3 km
- Neerabup 3 km
- Tamala Park 3 km
- Kinross 4 km
- Burns Beach 4 km
- Carramar 5 km
- Butler 5 km
- Jindalee 5 km
- Currambine 6 km
- Nowergup 6 km
- Alkimos 7 km
- Joondalup 8 km
- Tapping 8 km
- Banksia Grove 8 km
- Connolly 8 km
- Ashby 9 km
- Ocean Reef 9 km
- Carabooda 9 km
- Wanneroo 10 km
- Sinagra 10 km
- Joondalup 11 km
- Edgewater 11 km
- Beldon 11 km
- Eglinton 11 km
- Pinjar 11 km
- Mariginiup 12 km
- Craigie 12 km
- Kallaroo 12 km
- Yanchep 18 km
- Two Rocks 24 km
- Muchea 26 km
- Bambun 31 km
- Lennard Brook 39 km
- Coonabidgee 40 km