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G1Peak 4 December 1989 at 00:00 UTC

Northern Lights on 4 December 1989 (Kp 5.3): Where They Were Visible

Kp reached 5.3. At that level the edge of the auroral oval reaches about 55.8° magnetic latitude, so the aurora could be seen low on the horizon down to roughly 51.3°. Activity stayed at storm level (Kp 5 or more) for 6 hours.

03579 G1 G3 Sun 3 Dec 00:00 UTC · Kp 4.33 Sun 3 Dec 03:00 UTC · Kp 4.00 Sun 3 Dec 06:00 UTC · Kp 3.33 Sun 3 Dec 09:00 UTC · Kp 4.67 Sun 3 Dec 12:00 UTC · Kp 3.67 Sun 3 Dec 15:00 UTC · Kp 3.67 Sun 3 Dec 18:00 UTC · Kp 3.00 Sun 3 Dec 21:00 UTC · Kp 4.33 Mon 4 Dec 00:00 UTC · Kp 5.33 Mon 4 Dec 03:00 UTC · Kp 5.00 Mon 4 Dec 06:00 UTC · Kp 3.33 Mon 4 Dec 09:00 UTC · Kp 3.00 Mon 4 Dec 12:00 UTC · Kp 3.00 Mon 4 Dec 15:00 UTC · Kp 3.00 Mon 4 Dec 18:00 UTC · Kp 4.33 Mon 4 Dec 21:00 UTC · Kp 5.00 Tue 5 Dec 00:00 UTC · Kp 5.33 Tue 5 Dec 03:00 UTC · Kp 3.33 Sun 3 DecMon 4 DecTue 5 Dec
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

1,694 towns on our list had enough activity while it was dark there. Cloud cover is not included.

CountryPlacesExamplesFurthest from the pole
United States 578 Seattle, Detroit, Milwaukee, Minneapolis Cedar Rapids
Canada 388 Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Ottawa LaSalle
United Kingdom 169 Glasgow, Edinburgh, Belfast, Newcastle upon Tyne Middlesbrough
Sweden 148 Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö, Uppsala Trelleborg
Finland 123 Helsinki, Espoon keskus, Tampere urban area, Vantaa Raseborg
Denmark 93 Copenhagen, Aarhus, Odense, Aalborg Nakskov
Norway 77 Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, Stavanger Mandal
Latvia 39 Riga, Daugavpils, Liepāja, Jelgava Daugavpils
Lithuania 25 Kaunas, Klaipeda City Municipality, Šiauliai, Panevėžys Kaunas
Estonia 21 Tallinn, Tartu, Narva, Pärnu Võru
Iceland 18 Reykjavík, Kópavogur, Hafnarfjörður, Reykjanesbær Vík í Mýrdal
Greenland 6 Nuuk, Sisimiut, Ilulissat, Qaqortoq Qaqortoq
Faroe Islands 4 Tórshavn, Klaksvík, Fuglafjørður, Miðvágur Tórshavn
Ireland 2 Letterkenny, Sligo Sligo
Germany 1 Westerland Westerland
Kazakhstan 1 Petropavl Petropavl
Svalbard & Jan Mayen 1 Longyearbyen Longyearbyen
Based on each place's Kp threshold (terrain included) and the Sun's position during each 3-hour Kp block.

Only in photos

2,551 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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