Ontario, CanadaMagnetic latitude 51.8°Population 18,615225 m above sea level
Can you see the northern lights in Tillsonburg?
From Tillsonburg the aurora is seen only during geomagnetic storms (about Kp 5.3 or more), usually as a glow low in the north. Cameras often pick it up before the eye does. Since 1995 that level (Kp 5.3) was reached during darkness here on 452 nights.
Right now
It is still light here. Darkness starts at 19:33.
Latest measured half-hour activity worldwide: Hp30 1.
Updates every minute while this page is open. Ground data: GFZ Potsdam Hp30 index (CC BY 4.0).
Tonight in one minute
Only in photos, if at all
- Solar activity Enough for a camera: Kp 4.7 expected, 3.7 needed for photos, 5.3 for the eye.
- Sky Mostly clear (0% cloud).
- Darkness Dark from 19:33 to 06:41.
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.
Tuesday 20 October — Photos only · Kp 4.7 · best around 19:30 · Forecast cloud: 0%. · Reliability: medium
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 08:17 local time
Unlikely
Best around 19:00. Forecast max Kp 4.7 (this place needs 5.3), average cloud 0%.
- Dark enough
- 19:33 – 06:41
- Sunset
- 18:32 · sunrise 07:43
- Moon
- 67% · ↑ 15:59 · ↓ 02:31
- Kp neededKp index: a 0–9 measure of geomagnetic activity. The higher it is, the further from the poles the aurora reaches.
- Kp 5.3
- Kp for photos
- In photos: from Kp 3.7 (a red glow low in the north).
- Look towards
- north (352°)
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 | Tue, 19 | Tue, 22 | Wed, 01 | Wed, 04 | Wed, 19 | Wed, 22 | Thu, 01 | Thu, 04 | Thu, 19 | Thu, 22 | Fri, 01 | Fri, 04 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 24% | 17% | 3% | 0% |
| Mid cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| High cloud | 2% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 5% |
| Temperature | 11 °C | 9 °C | 8 °C | 7 °C | 12 °C | 10 °C | 9 °C | 8 °C | 13 °C | 11 °C | 9 °C | 7 °C |
| Feels like | 11 °C | 7 °C | 6 °C | 5 °C | 12 °C | 10 °C | 9 °C | 7 °C | 13 °C | 11 °C | 7 °C | 5 °C |
| Wind | 4 m/s | 4 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 1 m/s | 0 m/s | 1 m/s | 2 m/s | 1 m/s | 2 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 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 Tillsonburg
The aurora only shows through clear skies, so the weather matters as much as the Kp index. Here is the general forecast for Tillsonburg: temperature, wind and the chance of rain for the coming days.
Planning further ahead? See the hour-by-hour weather forecast for Tillsonburg on Atlas of Seasons.
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What you would see from Tillsonburg
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 | Below the horizon | 0° | 4° | 1,190 km |
| 3 | Below the horizon | 2° | 7° | 967 km |
| 4 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 5° | 11° | 745 km |
| 5 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 9° | 18° | 523 km |
| 6 | Visible to the north | 18° | 32° | 300 km |
| 7 | Visible to the north | 53° | 68° | 78 km |
| 8 | Overhead and all around | – | – | – |
| 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 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 camera in Tillsonburg Overhead in the Arctic; low in the north from southern Norway, Sweden, Finland and northern Scotland.
- Kp 5 Minor storm (G1) next 24 h eye in Tillsonburg 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-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 1.0°), 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 Tillsonburg
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
September has been the best month (4% of nights), followed by October (2%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 4% | 72% | 9.3 h | 13° / 24°C |
| October | 2% | 54% | 10.9 h | 7° / 16°C |
| November | 0.5% | 41% | 12.0 h | 1° / 8°C |
| December | 0% | 22% | 12.6 h | -4° / 2°C |
| January | 0.5% | 35% | 12.3 h | -8° / -1°C |
| February | 0.7% | 39% | 11.1 h | -8° / -1°C |
| March | 1% | 53% | 9.9 h | -4° / 6°C |
| April | 0.6% | 53% | 8.3 h | 1° / 13°C |
Aurora nights in Tillsonburg since 1995
Nights when Kp reached 5.3 or more while it was dark here.
Most recent strong nights
- 3 July 2026 · Kp 7.0
- 15 May 2026 · Kp 5.7
- 18 April 2026 · Kp 5.3
- 17 April 2026 · Kp 5.3
- 2 April 2026 · Kp 5.3
- 21 March 2026 · Kp 6.3
- 20 March 2026 · Kp 7.0
- 13 March 2026 · Kp 6.0
Practical information
- Nearest airport
- London International Airport (YXU) · 39 km
John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport (YHM) · 73 km - Typical low / high in September
- 13° / 24°C
- What to wear
- Cool nights: layers, a windproof jacket, hat and gloves for standing still outside. 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 Tillsonburg?
From Tillsonburg the aurora is seen only during geomagnetic storms (about Kp 5.3 or more), usually as a glow low in the north. Cameras often pick it up before the eye does.
Which way should I look for the aurora in Tillsonburg?
Face north (about 352° from true north). At Kp 5.3 the lower edge of the aurora sits roughly 18° above the horizon; stronger activity lifts it higher and further across the sky.
What is the best month to see the aurora in Tillsonburg?
Over 2005–2025, September gave the best odds in Tillsonburg (4% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by October (2%).
When is the aurora season in Tillsonburg?
Tillsonburg 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 Tillsonburg?
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-south-east.
When was the aurora last possible in Tillsonburg?
The most recent night in our data when activity reached the level Tillsonburg needs, during darkness, was 3 July 2026 (Kp 7.0). It has happened on 452 nights since 1995.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Tillsonburg share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- Glenridge 2 km
- Westmount 2 km
- Bradburn Subdivision 3 km
- Delmer 6 km
- Ostrander 6 km
- Rock's Mills 6 km
- Courtland 8 km
- Eden 8 km
- Rosanna 8 km
- Springford 8 km
- Corinth 10 km
- Cornell 10 km
- Dereham Centre 10 km
- Mabee's Corners 10 km
- North Hall 10 km
- Newark 13 km
- South Middleton 13 km
- Bayham 15 km
- Glen Meyer 15 km
- Milldale 15 km
- Froggetts Corners 17 km
- Mount Vernon 17 km
- Norwich 17 km
- Kinglake 18 km
- Frogmore 20 km
- Marston 20 km
- Fairground 24 km
- Port Burwell 24 km
- Hemlock 27 km