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G1Peak 21 May 1990 at 21:00 UTC

Northern Lights on 21 May 1990 (Kp 5): Where They Were Visible

Kp reached 5. At that level the edge of the auroral oval reaches about 56.5° magnetic latitude, so the aurora could be seen low on the horizon down to roughly 52.0°. Activity stayed at storm level (Kp 5 or more) for 3 hours.

03579 G1 G3 Sun 20 May 21:00 UTC · Kp 4.00 Mon 21 May 00:00 UTC · Kp 4.00 Mon 21 May 03:00 UTC · Kp 2.00 Mon 21 May 06:00 UTC · Kp 1.00 Mon 21 May 09:00 UTC · Kp 3.00 Mon 21 May 12:00 UTC · Kp 3.33 Mon 21 May 15:00 UTC · Kp 4.00 Mon 21 May 18:00 UTC · Kp 4.00 Mon 21 May 21:00 UTC · Kp 5.00 Tue 22 May 00:00 UTC · Kp 3.67 Tue 22 May 03:00 UTC · Kp 4.33 Tue 22 May 06:00 UTC · Kp 5.33 Tue 22 May 09:00 UTC · Kp 4.33 Tue 22 May 12:00 UTC · Kp 5.00 Tue 22 May 15:00 UTC · Kp 4.00 Tue 22 May 18:00 UTC · Kp 3.67 Tue 22 May 21:00 UTC · Kp 3.33 Mon 21 MayTue 22 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

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

CountryPlacesExamplesFurthest from the pole
Sweden 126 Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö, Uppsala Oxie
United Kingdom 102 Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee Ashington
Denmark 75 Copenhagen, Aarhus, Aalborg, Frederiksberg Esbjerg
Finland 52 Helsinki, Espoon keskus, Vantaa, Turku Raseborg
Norway 41 Oslo, Stavanger, Kristiansand, Drammen Mandal
Latvia 39 Riga, Daugavpils, Liepāja, Jelgava Daugavpils
Estonia 21 Tallinn, Tartu, Narva, Pärnu Võru
Lithuania 18 Klaipeda City Municipality, Šiauliai, Panevėžys, Mažeikiai Utena
Canada 7 Saguenay, Rimouski, Alma, Sept-Îles Rimouski
Ireland 1 Letterkenny Letterkenny
Based on each place's Kp threshold (terrain included) and the Sun's position during each 3-hour Kp block.

Only in photos

1,140 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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