AuroraMeteo
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G1Peak 20 October 1990 at 15:00 UTC

Northern Lights on 20 October 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 6 hours.

03579 G1 G3 Fri 19 Oct 15:00 UTC · Kp 1.00 Fri 19 Oct 18:00 UTC · Kp 1.67 Fri 19 Oct 21:00 UTC · Kp 2.33 Sat 20 Oct 00:00 UTC · Kp 1.33 Sat 20 Oct 03:00 UTC · Kp 2.33 Sat 20 Oct 06:00 UTC · Kp 2.00 Sat 20 Oct 09:00 UTC · Kp 3.00 Sat 20 Oct 12:00 UTC · Kp 4.33 Sat 20 Oct 15:00 UTC · Kp 5.00 Sat 20 Oct 18:00 UTC · Kp 4.67 Sat 20 Oct 21:00 UTC · Kp 4.33 Sun 21 Oct 00:00 UTC · Kp 3.00 Sun 21 Oct 03:00 UTC · Kp 2.67 Sun 21 Oct 06:00 UTC · Kp 3.33 Sun 21 Oct 09:00 UTC · Kp 2.67 Sun 21 Oct 12:00 UTC · Kp 3.00 Sun 21 Oct 15:00 UTC · Kp 1.00 Sun 21 Oct 18:00 UTC · Kp 1.67 Sat 20 OctSun 21 Oct
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

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

CountryPlacesExamplesFurthest from the pole
Sweden 125 Stockholm, Gothenburg, Uppsala, Linköping Halmstad
Finland 123 Helsinki, Espoon keskus, Tampere urban area, Vantaa Raseborg
Norway 77 Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, Stavanger Mandal
Latvia 39 Riga, Daugavpils, Liepāja, Jelgava Daugavpils
United Kingdom 24 Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness, Perth St Andrews
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
Canada 13 Rimouski, Sept-Îles, Baie-Comeau, Corner Brook Miramichi
Denmark 8 Aalborg, Hjørring, Nørresundby, Frederikshavn Skive
New Zealand 7 Dunedin, Invercargill, Mosgiel, Gore Oamaru
Greenland 6 Nuuk, Sisimiut, Ilulissat, Qaqortoq Qaqortoq
Australia 5 Hobart, Launceston, Bruny Island (Alonnah), Southport / Cockle Creek Launceston
Faroe Islands 4 Tórshavn, Klaksvík, Fuglafjørður, Miðvágur Tórshavn
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

672 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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