Schleswig-Holstein, GermanyMagnetic latitude 50.3°Population 16,05240 m above sea level
Can you see the northern lights in Bad Segeberg?
From Bad Segeberg the aurora is seen only during geomagnetic storms (about Kp 6 or more), usually as a glow low in the north. Cameras often pick it up before the eye does. Since 1995 that level (Kp 6) was reached during darkness here on 227 nights.
Right now
Quiet right now (Kp 0.0).
Latest measured half-hour activity worldwide: Hp30 0.7.
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 2.3 expected, 6 needed here.
- Sky Partly cloudy (64% cloud) — look for gaps.
- Darkness Dark from 19:31 to 06:36.
What to do: Not tonight — your next chance is shown just below.
Monday 19 October — Photos only · Kp 4.7 · best around 21:30 · Forecast cloud: 17%. · 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 01:00 local time
Unlikely
Best around 01:00. Forecast max Kp 2.3 (this place needs 6), average cloud 64%.
- Dark enough
- 19:31 – 06:36
- Sunset
- 18:12 · sunrise 07:55
- Moon
- 53% · ↑ 16:07 · ↓ 23:06
- Kp neededKp index: a 0–9 measure of geomagnetic activity. The higher it is, the further from the poles the aurora reaches.
- Kp 6
- Kp for photos
- In photos: from Kp 4.3 (a red glow low in the north).
- Look towards
- north (0°)
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 | Mon, 01 | Mon, 04 | Mon, 19 | Mon, 22 | Tue, 01 | Tue, 04 | Tue, 19 | Tue, 22 | Wed, 01 | Wed, 04 | Wed, 19 | Wed, 22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low cloud | 5% | 0% | 3% | 0% | 0% | 9% | 25% | 31% | 39% | 38% | 68% | 69% |
| Mid cloud | 0% | 7% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 22% | 90% | 59% |
| High cloud | 16% | 45% | 7% | 0% | 7% | 6% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 12% | 100% | 70% |
| Temperature | 9 °C | 8 °C | 9 °C | 7 °C | 6 °C | 6 °C | 8 °C | 8 °C | 8 °C | 8 °C | 9 °C | 8 °C |
| Feels like | 7 °C | 6 °C | 6 °C | 4 °C | 3 °C | 3 °C | 6 °C | 5 °C | 6 °C | 6 °C | 6 °C | 6 °C |
| Wind | 5 m/s | 4 m/s | 5 m/s | 4 m/s | 4 m/s | 4 m/s | 4 m/s | 4 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 4 m/s | 4 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 Bad Segeberg
The aurora only shows through clear skies, so the weather matters as much as the Kp index. Here is the general forecast for Bad Segeberg: temperature, wind and the chance of rain for the coming days.
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What you would see from Bad Segeberg
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 | -2° | 2° | 1,357 km |
| 3 | Below the horizon | 0° | 5° | 1,134 km |
| 4 | Below the horizon | 2° | 8° | 912 km |
| 5 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 5° | 13° | 689 km |
| 6 | Visible to the north | 10° | 21° | 467 km |
| 7 | Visible to the north | 22° | 38° | 245 km |
| 8 | Visible to the north | 78° | 83° | 22 km |
| 9 | Overhead and all around | – | – | – |
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 camera in Bad Segeberg 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) eye in Bad Segeberg 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
Suburban sky. Noticeable sky glow. Bright displays are visible, but driving out of town makes a clear difference.
A noticeably darker area starts about 5 km to the north. 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 0.0°), 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 Bad Segeberg
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
September has been the best month (1% of nights), followed by April (1%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 1% | 50% | 8.5 h | 11° / 19°C |
| October | 0.8% | 35% | 10.8 h | 7° / 14°C |
| November | 0.3% | 23% | 12.5 h | 3° / 8°C |
| December | 0% | 14% | 13.5 h | 1° / 4°C |
| January | 0% | 14% | 13.0 h | -1° / 3°C |
| February | 0.2% | 18% | 11.4 h | -1° / 4°C |
| March | 0.5% | 36% | 9.5 h | 1° / 8°C |
| April | 0.8% | 57% | 6.9 h | 4° / 13°C |
Aurora nights in Bad Segeberg since 1995
Nights when Kp reached 6 or more while it was dark here.
Most recent strong nights
- 10 October 2026 · Kp 7.0
- 15 May 2026 · Kp 6.0
- 22 March 2026 · Kp 6.7
- 20 March 2026 · Kp 7.0
- 13 March 2026 · Kp 6.0
- 20 January 2026 · Kp 7.7
- 19 January 2026 · Kp 8.7
- 10 December 2025 · Kp 6.0
Practical information
- Nearest airport
- Hamburg Helmut Schmidt Airport (HAM) · 40 km
- Typical low / high in September
- 11° / 19°C
- What to wear
- Cool nights: layers, a windproof jacket, hat and gloves for standing still outside. Full clothing guide
- Emergency number
- 112
- Winter driving
- Germany has a situational winter tyre rule (§ 2 Abs. 3a StVO): in black ice, snow, slush or frost only tyres with the Alpine (3PMSF) symbol are allowed — M+S-only tyres no longer qualify since 1 Oct 2024; there is no fixed calendar period. Motorway traffic info: Autobahn GmbH (autobahn.de). Road conditions
- Access to land
- Under § 59 BNatSchG everyone may enter open countryside on roads, paths and unused land for recreation (forests under the federal/state forest acts); state laws usually exclude parking vehicles and camping from this right, and nature reserves/national parks may restrict access or path use.
- Weather service
- Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD)
Questions and answers
What Kp do you need to see the aurora in Bad Segeberg?
From Bad Segeberg the aurora is seen only during geomagnetic storms (about Kp 6 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 Bad Segeberg?
Face north (about 0° from true north). At Kp 6 the lower edge of the aurora sits roughly 10° above the horizon; stronger activity lifts it higher and further across the sky.
What is the best month to see the aurora in Bad Segeberg?
Over 2005–2025, September gave the best odds in Bad Segeberg (1% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by April (1%).
When is the aurora season in Bad Segeberg?
Bad Segeberg 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 Bad Segeberg?
Noticeable sky glow. Bright displays are visible, but driving out of town makes a clear difference. A noticeably darker area starts about 5 km to the north.
When was the aurora last possible in Bad Segeberg?
The most recent night in our data when activity reached the level Bad Segeberg needs, during darkness, was 10 October 2026 (Kp 7.0). It has happened on 227 nights since 1995.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Bad Segeberg share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- Stipsdorf 2 km
- Klein Gladebrügge 2 km
- Högersdorf 2 km
- Christianshof 2 km
- Klein Gladebrügge 2 km
- Kleinniendorf 2 km
- Am Gieselteich 2 km
- Högersdorf 3 km
- Stipsdorf 3 km
- Weede 4 km
- Mözen 4 km
- Mielsdorf 4 km
- Groß Gladebrügge 4 km
- Mözen 4 km
- Schwissel 4 km
- Traventhal 4 km
- Schwissel 5 km
- Schieren 5 km
- Quaal 5 km
- Traventhal 5 km
- Weede 5 km
- Warder 6 km
- Neuengörs 6 km
- Dreggers 6 km
- Altengörs 6 km
- Rohlstorf 6 km
- Schieren 6 km
- Steinbek 7 km
- Bühnsdorf 7 km
- Dreggers 7 km
- Neuengörs 7 km
- Wardersee 7 km
- Blunk 8 km
- Stubben 9 km
- Söhren 9 km
- Freudenberg 9 km
- Blunk 9 km