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G2Peak 4 September 1989 at 03:00 UTC

Northern Lights on 4 September 1989 (Kp 6): Where They Were Visible

Kp reached 6. At that level the edge of the auroral oval reaches about 54.5° magnetic latitude, so the aurora could be seen low on the horizon down to roughly 50.0°. Activity stayed at storm level (Kp 5 or more) for 9 hours.

03579 G1 G3 Sun 3 Sept 00:00 UTC · Kp 1.00 Sun 3 Sept 03:00 UTC · Kp 3.00 Sun 3 Sept 06:00 UTC · Kp 2.67 Sun 3 Sept 09:00 UTC · Kp 1.00 Sun 3 Sept 12:00 UTC · Kp 1.33 Sun 3 Sept 15:00 UTC · Kp 1.67 Sun 3 Sept 18:00 UTC · Kp 1.00 Sun 3 Sept 21:00 UTC · Kp 2.67 Mon 4 Sept 00:00 UTC · Kp 5.00 Mon 4 Sept 03:00 UTC · Kp 6.00 Mon 4 Sept 06:00 UTC · Kp 4.67 Mon 4 Sept 09:00 UTC · Kp 4.33 Mon 4 Sept 12:00 UTC · Kp 3.33 Mon 4 Sept 15:00 UTC · Kp 1.33 Mon 4 Sept 18:00 UTC · Kp 1.00 Mon 4 Sept 21:00 UTC · Kp 3.00 Tue 5 Sept 00:00 UTC · Kp 4.67 Tue 5 Sept 03:00 UTC · Kp 4.00 Tue 5 Sept 06:00 UTC · Kp 5.33 Sun 3 SeptMon 4 SeptTue 5 Sept
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

2,118 towns on our list had enough activity while it was dark there. Cloud cover is not included.

CountryPlacesExamplesFurthest from the pole
United States 1,021 Chicago, Seattle, Portland, Detroit Peoria
Canada 407 Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Ottawa Eastern Passage
Sweden 145 Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö, Uppsala Oxie
United Kingdom 142 Glasgow, Edinburgh, Belfast, Aberdeen Wallasey
Finland 112 Helsinki, Espoon keskus, Tampere urban area, Vantaa Raseborg
Denmark 75 Copenhagen, Aarhus, Aalborg, Frederiksberg Esbjerg
Norway 66 Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, Stavanger Mandal
Latvia 39 Riga, Daugavpils, Liepāja, Jelgava Daugavpils
Ireland 37 Dublin, Galway, Tallaght, Drogheda Dublin
Estonia 21 Tallinn, Tartu, Narva, Pärnu Võru
Iceland 18 Reykjavík, Kópavogur, Hafnarfjörður, Reykjanesbær Vík í Mýrdal
Lithuania 18 Klaipeda City Municipality, Šiauliai, Panevėžys, Mažeikiai Utena
Greenland 6 Nuuk, Sisimiut, Ilulissat, Qaqortoq Qaqortoq
Faroe Islands 4 Tórshavn, Klaksvík, Fuglafjørður, Miðvágur Tórshavn
New Zealand 4 Invercargill, Gore, Stewart Island/Rakiura (Oban), The Catlins (Owaka) Gore
Australia 3 Hobart, Bruny Island (Alonnah), Southport / Cockle Creek Hobart
Based on each place's Kp threshold (terrain included) and the Sun's position during each 3-hour Kp block.

Only in photos

2,263 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.

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