AuroraMeteo
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G1Peak 21 September 1996 at 00:00 UTC

Northern Lights on 21 September 1996 (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 9 hours.

03579 G1 G3 Thu 19 Sept 21:00 UTC · Kp 2.33 Fri 20 Sept 00:00 UTC · Kp 4.67 Fri 20 Sept 03:00 UTC · Kp 4.00 Fri 20 Sept 06:00 UTC · Kp 4.33 Fri 20 Sept 09:00 UTC · Kp 5.67 Fri 20 Sept 12:00 UTC · Kp 4.33 Fri 20 Sept 15:00 UTC · Kp 3.33 Fri 20 Sept 18:00 UTC · Kp 3.00 Fri 20 Sept 21:00 UTC · Kp 4.67 Sat 21 Sept 00:00 UTC · Kp 5.00 Sat 21 Sept 03:00 UTC · Kp 4.33 Sat 21 Sept 06:00 UTC · Kp 4.67 Sat 21 Sept 09:00 UTC · Kp 4.33 Sat 21 Sept 12:00 UTC · Kp 3.33 Sat 21 Sept 15:00 UTC · Kp 4.33 Sat 21 Sept 18:00 UTC · Kp 3.33 Sat 21 Sept 21:00 UTC · Kp 3.00 Sun 22 Sept 00:00 UTC · Kp 3.67 Sun 22 Sept 03:00 UTC · Kp 3.67 Sun 22 Sept 06:00 UTC · Kp 5.33 Fri 20 SeptSat 21 SeptSun 22 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

1,260 towns on our list had enough activity while it was dark there. Cloud cover is not included.

CountryPlacesExamplesFurthest from the pole
Canada 352 Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Ottawa Hamilton
United States 270 Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Anchorage Racine
Sweden 145 Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö, Uppsala Oxie
Finland 123 Helsinki, Espoon keskus, Tampere urban area, Vantaa Raseborg
United Kingdom 103 Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee Ashington
Norway 77 Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, Stavanger Mandal
Denmark 75 Copenhagen, Aarhus, Aalborg, Frederiksberg Esbjerg
Latvia 39 Riga, Daugavpils, Liepāja, Jelgava Daugavpils
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
Ireland 1 Letterkenny Letterkenny
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

1,845 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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