Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, PolandMagnetic latitude 50.2°Population 3,320147 m above sea level
Can you see the northern lights in Piecki?
From Piecki 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 220 nights.
Right now
Quiet right now (Kp 1.7).
Magnetometer at Tartu (593 km away): low magnetic activity.
Updates every minute while this page is open. Ground data: FMI MIRACLE R-index (CC BY 4.0).
Tonight in one minute
Not tonight
- Solar activity Too weak: Kp 4 expected, 6 needed here.
- Sky Partly cloudy (55% cloud) — look for gaps.
- Darkness Dark from 18:49 to 05:50.
What to do: Not tonight — your next chance is shown just below.
- Detailed forecast Fri 16 4 No · Kp 4
- Sat 17 2 No · Kp 2
- Sun 18 1.7 No · Kp 1.7
- 27-day trend Mon 19 2 No · Kp 2
- Tue 20 3 No · Kp 3
- Wed 21 4 No · Kp 4
- Thu 22 4 No · Kp 4
- Fri 23 4 No · Kp 4
- Sat 24 3 No · Kp 3
- Sun 25 2 No · Kp 2
- Mon 26 2 No · Kp 2
- Tue 27 2 No · Kp 2
- Wed 28 2 No · Kp 2
- Thu 29 2 No · Kp 2
- Fri 30 5 Photos only · Kp 5
- Sat 31 5 Photos only · Kp 5
- Sun 1 5 Unlikely · Kp 5
- Mon 2 3 No · Kp 3
- Tue 3 2 No · Kp 2
- Wed 4 2 No · Kp 2
- Thu 5 3 No · Kp 3
- Fri 6 3 No · Kp 3
- Sat 7 3 No · Kp 3
Friday 30 October — Photos only · Kp 5 · best around 22:30 · No cloud forecast this far ahead; in October about 48% of nights are clear here. · 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 01:12 local time
Unlikely
Best around 02:00. Forecast max Kp 4.0 (this place needs 6), average cloud 55%.
- Dark enough
- 18:49 – 05:50
- Sunset
- 17:33 · sunrise 07:07
- Moon
- 34% · ↑ 14:36 · ↓ 20:01
- 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 | Sat, 01 | Sat, 04 | Sat, 19 | Sat, 22 | Sun, 01 | Sun, 04 | Sun, 19 | Sun, 22 | Mon, 01 | Mon, 04 | Mon, 19 | Mon, 22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 100% | 100% | 69% | 0% | 10% | 100% |
| Mid cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 31% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 0% |
| High cloud | 0% | 8% | 65% | 100% | 75% | 65% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 77% | 0% | 88% |
| Temperature | 5 °C | 4 °C | 8 °C | 5 °C | 5 °C | 5 °C | 9 °C | 9 °C | 7 °C | 4 °C | 7 °C | 7 °C |
| Feels like | 3 °C | 2 °C | 6 °C | 4 °C | 3 °C | 4 °C | 7 °C | 6 °C | 5 °C | 1 °C | 4 °C | 4 °C |
| Wind | 2 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 4 m/s | 3 m/s |
| Visibility | 2.0 km | 1.7 km | 6.4 km | 2.3 km | 2.1 km | 2.1 km | 3.8 km | 50 km | 9.0 km | 50 km | 26 km | 34 km |
Cloud layers and weather: Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0).
Score = activity (NOAA Kp and OVATION) × clear sky (MET Norway) × darkness × moonlight. Methodology
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What you would see from Piecki
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° | 1,368 km |
| 3 | Below the horizon | 0° | 5° | 1,145 km |
| 4 | Below the horizon | 2° | 8° | 923 km |
| 5 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 5° | 13° | 701 km |
| 6 | Visible to the north | 10° | 20° | 478 km |
| 7 | Visible to the north | 21° | 36° | 256 km |
| 8 | Visible to the north | 72° | 80° | 33 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 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 next 24 h camera in Piecki 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 Piecki 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
Dark rural sky. Little artificial light. Faint displays are visible once your eyes have adapted.
A noticeably darker area starts about 5 km to the east-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 0.3°), 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 Piecki
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 March (1%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 1% | 65% | 8.5 h | 10° / 19°C |
| October | 0.5% | 48% | 10.8 h | 4° / 12°C |
| November | 0.5% | 23% | 12.5 h | 1° / 5°C |
| December | 0.5% | 19% | 13.5 h | -3° / 1°C |
| January | 0.2% | 11% | 13.0 h | -6° / -1°C |
| February | 0.2% | 19% | 11.4 h | -6° / 0°C |
| March | 1% | 39% | 9.5 h | -2° / 6°C |
| April | 0.6% | 61% | 6.9 h | 2° / 13°C |
Aurora nights in Piecki 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
- 4 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
Practical information
- Nearest airport
- Olsztyn-Mazury Airport (SZY) · 41 km
- Typical low / high in September
- 10° / 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
- Poland has no legal winter tyre requirement (minimum tread depth 1.6 mm applies year-round). Road conditions: GDDKiA map service for national roads (winter-condition icons use IMGW data); GDDKiA hotline 19 111. Road conditions
- Access to land
- State forests are open to the public by default under Art. 26 of the Forest Act, except permanently closed areas (young plantings under 4 m, refuges, erosion zones) and signposted temporary bans (e.g. high fire risk, logging); national parks have their own access rules.
- Weather service
- Institute of Meteorology and Water Management (IMGW-PIB)
Questions and answers
What Kp do you need to see the aurora in Piecki?
From Piecki 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 Piecki?
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 Piecki?
Over 2005–2025, September gave the best odds in Piecki (1% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by March (1%).
When is the aurora season in Piecki?
Piecki 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 Piecki?
Little artificial light. Faint displays are visible once your eyes have adapted. A noticeably darker area starts about 5 km to the east-south-east.
When was the aurora last possible in Piecki?
The most recent night in our data when activity reached the level Piecki needs, during darkness, was 10 October 2026 (Kp 7.0). It has happened on 220 nights since 1995.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Piecki share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- Piersławek 2 km
- Ostrów Pieckowski 2 km
- Młyniska 3 km
- Czaszkowo 3 km
- Brejdyny 3 km
- Zdrojewo 4 km
- Krzywy Róg 4 km
- Dobry Lasek 4 km
- Piecki 4 km
- Probark Mały 5 km
- Nawiady 5 km
- Goleń 5 km
- Cierzpięty 5 km
- Dłużec 6 km
- Rutkowo 7 km
- Prusinowo 7 km
- Mojtyny 7 km
- Lipowo 7 km
- Machary 8 km
- Głogno 8 km
- Wólka Prusinowska 9 km
- Nowe Kiełbonki 10 km
- Gant 10 km
- Stare Kiełbonki 11 km
- Nowy Zyzdrój 11 km
- Babięta 11 km
- Zyzdrojowy Piecek 12 km
- Zyzdrojowa Wola 12 km