AuroraMeteo
EN

G3Peak 23 May 1989 at 15:00 UTC

Northern Lights on 23 May 1989 (Kp 7.3): Where They Were Visible

Kp reached 7.3. At that level the edge of the auroral oval reaches about 51.8° magnetic latitude, so the aurora could be seen low on the horizon down to roughly 47.3°. Activity stayed at storm level (Kp 5 or more) for 39 hours.

03579 G1 G3 Mon 22 May 12:00 UTC · Kp 3.00 Mon 22 May 15:00 UTC · Kp 2.33 Mon 22 May 18:00 UTC · Kp 2.67 Mon 22 May 21:00 UTC · Kp 4.00 Tue 23 May 00:00 UTC · Kp 2.33 Tue 23 May 03:00 UTC · Kp 2.67 Tue 23 May 06:00 UTC · Kp 1.33 Tue 23 May 09:00 UTC · Kp 2.00 Tue 23 May 12:00 UTC · Kp 5.67 Tue 23 May 15:00 UTC · Kp 7.33 Tue 23 May 18:00 UTC · Kp 6.00 Tue 23 May 21:00 UTC · Kp 4.67 Wed 24 May 00:00 UTC · Kp 5.33 Wed 24 May 03:00 UTC · Kp 5.00 Wed 24 May 06:00 UTC · Kp 6.00 Wed 24 May 09:00 UTC · Kp 5.00 Wed 24 May 12:00 UTC · Kp 6.00 Wed 24 May 15:00 UTC · Kp 6.33 Wed 24 May 18:00 UTC · Kp 5.67 Wed 24 May 21:00 UTC · Kp 5.67 Thu 25 May 00:00 UTC · Kp 4.67 Thu 25 May 03:00 UTC · Kp 3.67 Thu 25 May 06:00 UTC · Kp 4.00 Thu 25 May 09:00 UTC · Kp 2.67 Thu 25 May 12:00 UTC · Kp 4.00 Thu 25 May 15:00 UTC · Kp 3.33 Thu 25 May 18:00 UTC · Kp 4.33 Thu 25 May 21:00 UTC · Kp 3.33 Fri 26 May 00:00 UTC · Kp 3.33 Tue 23 MayWed 24 MayThu 25 MayFri 26 May
Kp 0–3 Kp 4 Kp 5–6 (G1–G2) Kp 7+ (G3+) Times in UTC; faded bars are forecasts.

Three-hourly Kp from GFZ, one day either side of the storm.

Where the aurora could be seen

2,006 towns on our list had enough activity while it was dark there. Cloud cover is not included.

CountryPlacesExamplesFurthest from the pole
United States 1,012 Chicago, Seattle, Portland, Detroit Peoria
Canada 396 Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Ottawa Eastern Passage
United Kingdom 167 Glasgow, Edinburgh, Belfast, Newcastle upon Tyne Middlesbrough
Sweden 126 Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö, Uppsala Trelleborg
Denmark 93 Copenhagen, Aarhus, Odense, Aalborg Nakskov
Finland 40 Helsinki, Espoon keskus, Vantaa, Turku Raseborg
Latvia 39 Riga, Daugavpils, Liepāja, Jelgava Daugavpils
Norway 39 Oslo, Stavanger, Kristiansand, Drammen Mandal
Lithuania 25 Kaunas, Klaipeda City Municipality, Šiauliai, Panevėžys Kaunas
New Zealand 23 Christchurch, Wellington, Dunedin, Invercargill Wellington
Estonia 21 Tallinn, Tartu, Narva, Pärnu Võru
Australia 15 Melbourne, Geelong, Hobart, Ballarat Ballarat
Kazakhstan 4 Astana, Kostanay, Petropavl, Kokshetau Astana
China 3 Daxing’anling, Tahe Town, Mohe Daxing’anling
Ireland 2 Letterkenny, Sligo Sligo
Germany 1 Westerland Westerland
Based on each place's Kp threshold (terrain included) and the Sun's position during each 3-hour Kp block.

Only in photos

2,700 more towns could have caught a faint red or green glow low on the horizon with a phone or camera.

Whether the aurora was actually seen also depended on the weather. Use this as a guide to where it was possible.

← 7 May 1989 · 4 June 1989 →