Ontario, CanadaMagnetic latitude 57.5°Population 108,843188 m above sea level
Northern lights in Thunder Bay
From Thunder Bay the aurora is visible on most active nights — first low to the north, from about Kp 2.3.
Right now
It is still light here. Darkness starts at 20:13.
Updates every minute while this page is open.
Tonight in one minute
Only in photos, if at all
- Solar activity Enough for a camera: Kp 1.7 expected, 0.7 needed for photos, 2.3 for the eye.
- Sky Partly cloudy (69% cloud) — look for gaps.
- Darkness Dark from 20:13 to 07:12.
What to do: Point a phone in night mode north (3–10 s exposure). A red or green glow often shows on the screen before you can see it.
- Detailed forecast Fri 16 1.7 Unlikely · Kp 1.7
- Sat 17 1.7 Photos only · Kp 1.7
- 27-day trend Sun 18 2 Unlikely · Kp 2
- Mon 19 2 Photos only · Kp 2
- Tue 20 3 Possible · Kp 3
- Wed 21 4 Good chance · Kp 4
- Thu 22 4 Possible · Kp 4
- Fri 23 3 Possible · Kp 3
- Sat 24 3 Possible · Kp 3
- Sun 25 2 Photos only · Kp 2
- Mon 26 2 Photos only · Kp 2
- Tue 27 2 Photos only · Kp 2
- Wed 28 2 Photos only · Kp 2
- Thu 29 2 Photos only · Kp 2
- Fri 30 5 Good chance · Kp 5
- Sat 31 5 Good chance · Kp 5
- Sun 1 5 Possible · Kp 5
- Mon 2 3 Possible · Kp 3
- Tue 3 2 Unlikely · Kp 2
- Wed 4 2 Unlikely · Kp 2
- Thu 5 3 Possible · Kp 3
- Fri 6 3 Possible · Kp 3
- Sat 7 3 Possible · Kp 3
Wednesday 21 October — Possible · Kp 3 · best around 01:00 · Forecast cloud: 63%. · 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 10:42 local time
Possible
Best around 20:00. Forecast max Kp 1.7 (this place needs 2.3), average cloud 69%.
- Dark enough
- 20:13 – 07:12
- Sunset
- 19:05 · sunrise 08:19
- Moon
- 31% · ↑ 14:53 · ↓ 22:21
- Kp neededKp index: a 0–9 measure of geomagnetic activity. The higher it is, the further from the poles the aurora reaches.
- Kp 2.3
- Kp for photos
- In photos: from Kp 0.7 (a red glow low in the north).
- Look towards
- north (0°)
Score = activity (NOAA Kp and OVATION) × clear sky (MET Norway) × darkness × moonlight. Methodology
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What you would see from Thunder Bay
Facing north. Bands show where the aurora sits at two activity levels.
| Kp | What you see | Lower edge | Ray tops | Distance to the aurora |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 8° | 17° | 556 km |
| 3 | Visible to the north | 16° | 29° | 334 km |
| 4 | Visible to the north | 43° | 60° | 111 km |
| 5 | Overhead and all around | – | – | – |
| 6 | Overhead and all around | – | – | – |
| 7 | Overhead, and also to the south | – | – | – |
| 8 | Overhead, and also to the south | – | – | – |
| 9 | Overhead, and also to the south | – | – | – |
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 eye in Thunder Bay camera in Thunder Bay 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) 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.
A noticeably darker area starts about 5 km to the south-east. Open in OpenStreetMap
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 north is open (terrain below 0.9°), 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 Thunder Bay
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
March has been the best month (27% of nights), followed by February (27%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 26% | 58% | 9.0 h | 13° / 16°C |
| October | 20% | 42% | 10.8 h | 8° / 10°C |
| November | 11% | 28% | 12.3 h | 1° / 4°C |
| December | 13% | 36% | 13.0 h | -5° / -1°C |
| January | 18% | 50% | 12.8 h | -8° / -4°C |
| February | 27% | 56% | 11.4 h | -9° / -5°C |
| March | 27% | 55% | 9.8 h | -5° / 0°C |
| April | 15% | 43% | 7.8 h | 0° / 4°C |
Aurora nights in Thunder Bay since 1995
Nights when Kp reached 4.7 or more while it was dark here.
Most recent strong nights
- 4 October 2026 · Kp 5.0
- 3 October 2026 · Kp 5.0
- 7 September 2026 · Kp 5.0
- 3 July 2026 · Kp 7.0
- 24 June 2026 · Kp 5.0
- 18 April 2026 · Kp 5.3
- 17 April 2026 · Kp 5.3
- 2 April 2026 · Kp 5.3
Practical information
- Nearest airport
- Thunder Bay International Airport (YQT) · 6 km
- Typical low / high in March
- -5° / 0°C
- What to wear
- Below freezing at night: thermal layers, a warm jacket, hat, gloves and winter boots. Full clothing guide
- Emergency number
- 911
- Winter driving
- Rules are provincial: Québec requires winter tyres (mountain-snowflake symbol or studded) on Québec-registered vehicles Dec 1–Mar 15, and BC requires winter tyres or chains on signed routes Oct 1–Mar 31 (to Apr 30 on mountain passes/high-snowfall routes); road conditions via 511 Yukon (511yukon.ca), DriveNWT (drivenwt.ca), 511 Alberta, Manitoba 511 (manitoba511.ca) and DriveBC. Road conditions
- Access to land
- There is no national right to roam; private land requires the owner's permission, while national/provincial parks and Crown land are generally accessible subject to park rules, which vary by province and territory.
- Official space-weather service
- Space Weather Canada (Natural Resources Canada)
- Weather service
- Environment and Climate Change Canada (weather.gc.ca)
Questions and answers
What Kp do you need to see the aurora in Thunder Bay?
From Thunder Bay the aurora is visible on most active nights — first low to the north, from about Kp 2.3.
Which way should I look for the aurora in Thunder Bay?
Face north (about 0° from true north). At Kp 2.3 the lower edge of the aurora sits roughly 16° above the horizon; stronger activity lifts it higher and further across the sky.
What is the best month to see the aurora in Thunder Bay?
Over 2005–2025, March gave the best odds in Thunder Bay (27% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by February (27%).
When is the aurora season in Thunder Bay?
Thunder Bay 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 Thunder Bay?
Strong sky glow washes out faint aurora. Head out of town for anything but a bright display. A noticeably darker area starts about 5 km to the south-east.
When was the aurora last possible in Thunder Bay?
Activity last reached storm level (Kp 5 or more) during darkness in Thunder Bay on 4 October 2026 (Kp 5.0) — 934 such nights since 1995. Here the aurora also appears on many quieter nights.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Thunder Bay share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- Vickers Park 1 km
- East End 2 km
- Northwood 2 km
- College Park 3 km
- Intercity 3 km
- Westfort 3 km
- West Fort William 4 km
- Academy Heights 4 km
- Parkdale 4 km
- Vickers Heights 6 km
- West End 6 km
- College Heights 7 km
- Thunder Bay 7 km
- Jumbo Gardens 8 km
- County Park 8 km
- Dawson Heights 9 km
- Shuniah 10 km
- North McIntyre 11 km
- Baird 14 km
- Carters Corners 16 km
- Murillo 16 km
- Slate River Valley 16 km
- Jelly 18 km
- McCluskeys Corners 18 km
- Oliver Paipoonge 20 km
- Millar 23 km
- Stanley 24 km
- Kakabeka Falls 27 km
- Harstone 28 km
- Mokomon 30 km
- Conmee 32 km
- Flint 32 km
- O'Connor 32 km
- O'Connor 33 km
- Gillies 34 km
- Sistonens Corners 34 km
- Hymers 35 km
- Sunshine 37 km
- Sellars 38 km