Santiago Metropolitan Region, ChileMagnetic latitude 22.0°Population 4,837,295556 m above sea level
Can you see the southern lights in Santiago?
The aurora is practically never visible from Santiago. At 22.0° magnetic latitude, even the strongest storms rarely reach this far from the poles.
Right now
Quiet right now (Kp 0.7).
Updates every minute while this page is open.
Tonight in one minute
Not tonight
- Solar activity Too weak: Kp 4.7 expected, 9+ needed here.
- Sky Overcast (92% cloud).
- Darkness Dark from 20:56 to 05:56. A bright moon (81%) washes out faint displays.
What to do: Not tonight — your next chance is shown just below.
Thursday 22 October — No · Kp 4.7 · Forecast cloud: 92%. · 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 22:23 local time
Unlikely
Best around 22:00. Forecast max Kp 4.7 (this place needs 9+), average cloud 92%.
- Dark enough
- 20:56 – 05:56
- Sunset
- 20:00 · sunrise 06:53
- Moon
- 81% · ↑ 16:36 · ↓ 04:42
- Kp neededKp index: a 0–9 measure of geomagnetic activity. The higher it is, the further from the poles the aurora reaches.
- Kp 9+
- Look towards
- south (170°)
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 | Wed, 22 | Thu, 01 | Thu, 04 | Thu, 22 | Fri, 01 | Fri, 04 | Fri, 22 | Sat, 01 | Sat, 04 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low cloud | 44% | 50% | 48% | 43% | 53% | 55% | 43% | 55% | 54% |
| Mid cloud | 100% | 100% | 90% | 100% | 100% | 97% | 56% | 20% | 0% |
| High cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Temperature | 14 °C | 13 °C | 13 °C | 13 °C | 12 °C | 11 °C | 11 °C | 10 °C | 9 °C |
| Feels like | 14 °C | 13 °C | 13 °C | 13 °C | 12 °C | 11 °C | 11 °C | 9 °C | 9 °C |
| Wind | 2 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 3 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 3 m/s | 2 m/s | 1 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 Santiago
The aurora only shows through clear skies, so the weather matters as much as the Kp index. Here is the general forecast for Santiago: temperature, wind and the chance of rain for the coming days.
Planning further ahead? See the hour-by-hour weather forecast for Santiago on Atlas of Seasons.
Seeing it right now?
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What you would see from Santiago
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 | -19° | -18° | 4,504 km |
| 3 | Below the horizon | -18° | -17° | 4,281 km |
| 4 | Below the horizon | -17° | -16° | 4,059 km |
| 5 | Below the horizon | -16° | -14° | 3,836 km |
| 6 | Below the horizon | -15° | -13° | 3,614 km |
| 7 | Below the horizon | -14° | -12° | 3,392 km |
| 8 | Below the horizon | -12° | -11° | 3,169 km |
| 9 | Below the horizon | -11° | -9° | 2,947 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 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) next 24 h 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
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 Santiago
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% | 96% | 9.8 h | 13° / 27°C |
| April | 0% | 85% | 11.0 h | 11° / 23°C |
| May | 0% | 60% | 11.6 h | 10° / 20°C |
| June | 0% | 52% | 12.0 h | 8° / 17°C |
| July | 0% | 51% | 11.9 h | 7° / 16°C |
| August | 0% | 58% | 11.3 h | 7° / 17°C |
| September | 0% | 65% | 10.3 h | 7° / 19°C |
| October | 0% | 76% | 9.0 h | 8° / 22°C |
Practical information
- Nearest airport
- Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL) · 15 km
- Typical low / high in January
- 13° / 28°C
- What to wear
- Cool nights: layers, a windproof jacket, hat and gloves for standing still outside. Full clothing guide
- Emergency number
- 131 ambulance (SAMU), 132 fire (Bomberos), 133 Carabineros; 136 Socorro Andino (mountain rescue)
- Winter driving
- MOP's Dirección de Vialidad runs a winter operations plan (coordinated with Argentina from Antofagasta to Magallanes) for snow clearance on routes and border passes; check Vialidad for closures and any chain requirements. Road conditions
- Access to land
- Torres del Paine and other Magallanes protected areas are managed by CONAF; check park opening rules before planning night stops.
- Weather service
- Dirección Meteorológica de Chile (DMC)
Questions and answers
What Kp do you need to see the aurora in Santiago?
The aurora is practically never visible from Santiago. At 22.0° magnetic latitude, even the strongest storms rarely reach this far from the poles.
Which way should I look for the aurora in Santiago?
Around Santiago 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 Santiago?
Santiago 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 Santiago?
City lights hide all but the brightest displays. Plan to leave the urban area.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Santiago share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- Santa Carolina 2 km
- Quinta Normal 3 km
- Lo Valdivieso 3 km
- Barrio Brazil 3 km
- Barrio Bellavista 3 km
- San Miguel 4 km
- Recoleta 4 km
- Ochagavía 4 km
- Los Nogales 4 km
- Lo Contador 4 km
- La Feria 4 km
- Ñuñoa 4 km
- Providencia 4 km
- Santa Julia 5 km
- Providencia 5 km
- Monserrat 5 km
- Macul 5 km
- La Legua de Macul 5 km
- Independencia 5 km
- Pedro Aguirre Cerda 5 km
- San Miguel 5 km
- Estacion Central 5 km
- Recoleta 5 km
- San Joaquin 5 km
- Independencia 5 km
- San Joaquín 6 km
- Ñuñoa 6 km
- El Retamo 6 km
- El Mirador 6 km
- Carrascal 6 km
- Recoleta 6 km
- Villa Presidente Frei 6 km
- Macul 6 km
- Quinta Normal 6 km
- Los Cerrillos 7 km
- Lo Ovalle 7 km
- Lo Hermida Abajo 7 km
- La Lata 7 km
- Errázuriz 7 km
- El Blanqueado 7 km