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Southern Lights in Taranaki Region, New Zealand

In Taranaki Region the aurora is visible from about Kp 8.3, first near New Plymouth. New Plymouth has the darkest skies among the larger places.

Next chance in Taranaki Region

None of the next 20 nights looks active enough here: you need about Kp 8.7 by eye or Kp 7 for photos. Big storms usually show up 1–3 days ahead — this page updates by itself.

Weather in Taranaki Region

General forecast for New Plymouth, the main town in Taranaki Region. Tonight's cloud cover for every town is on its aurora page.

Planning further ahead? See the hour-by-hour weather forecast for New Plymouth on Atlas of Seasons.

PlaceKp neededKp for photosLook towardsLight pollutionPopulation
New Plymouth 8.7 7 SSW Suburban sky 90,100

Best months in Taranaki Region

Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.

Activity of Kp 8.7 or more is too rare here for monthly odds to be meaningful. The table still shows how often nights are clear and dark.

0%10% January: 0% Jan February: 0% Feb March: 0% Mar April: 0% Apr May: 0% May June: 0% Jun July: 0% Jul August: 0% Aug September: 0% Sept October: 0% Oct November: 0% Nov December: 0% Dec
All years Near solar maximum Near solar minimum
  1. Kp 0–2 Quiet Only under the auroral oval: northern Norway, Swedish and Finnish Lapland, Iceland, Alaska, northern Canada.
  2. Kp 3 Unsettled Bright in the Arctic; low on the horizon in central Scandinavia and southern Iceland.
  3. Kp 4 Active Overhead in the Arctic; low in the north from southern Norway, Sweden, Finland and northern Scotland.
  4. Kp 5 Minor storm (G1) Scotland, southern Scandinavia, the Baltic states, the northern US states and southern Canada.
  5. Kp 6 Moderate storm (G2) Northern England, Denmark, northern Germany and Poland, the US Midwest — often clearer in photos than to the eye.
  6. Kp 7 Strong storm (G3) camera in New Plymouth Most of the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Czechia; red glow in photos from France and the northern Alps.
  7. Kp 8 Severe storm (G4) eye in New Plymouth Central Europe to the eye; red sky in photos from northern Italy, Spain, the Balkans and Turkey's Black Sea coast.
  8. 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).

The town pages in this region also cover 71 villages and districts nearby.

Smaller places