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G3Peak 17 September 2003 at 12:00 UTC

Northern Lights on 17 September 2003 (Kp 7): Where They Were Visible

Kp reached 7. At that level the edge of the auroral oval reaches about 52.5° magnetic latitude, so the aurora could be seen low on the horizon down to roughly 48.0°. Activity stayed at storm level (Kp 5 or more) for 60 hours.

03579 G1 G3 Tue 16 Sept 00:00 UTC · Kp 4.67 Tue 16 Sept 03:00 UTC · Kp 4.00 Tue 16 Sept 06:00 UTC · Kp 4.33 Tue 16 Sept 09:00 UTC · Kp 4.00 Tue 16 Sept 12:00 UTC · Kp 5.67 Tue 16 Sept 15:00 UTC · Kp 4.33 Tue 16 Sept 18:00 UTC · Kp 4.33 Tue 16 Sept 21:00 UTC · Kp 3.00 Wed 17 Sept 00:00 UTC · Kp 5.33 Wed 17 Sept 03:00 UTC · Kp 5.33 Wed 17 Sept 06:00 UTC · Kp 5.00 Wed 17 Sept 09:00 UTC · Kp 6.33 Wed 17 Sept 12:00 UTC · Kp 7.00 Wed 17 Sept 15:00 UTC · Kp 5.33 Wed 17 Sept 18:00 UTC · Kp 5.00 Wed 17 Sept 21:00 UTC · Kp 5.67 Thu 18 Sept 00:00 UTC · Kp 5.00 Thu 18 Sept 03:00 UTC · Kp 5.67 Thu 18 Sept 06:00 UTC · Kp 4.33 Thu 18 Sept 09:00 UTC · Kp 6.00 Thu 18 Sept 12:00 UTC · Kp 4.67 Thu 18 Sept 15:00 UTC · Kp 5.00 Thu 18 Sept 18:00 UTC · Kp 4.67 Thu 18 Sept 21:00 UTC · Kp 5.00 Fri 19 Sept 00:00 UTC · Kp 4.67 Fri 19 Sept 03:00 UTC · Kp 3.67 Fri 19 Sept 06:00 UTC · Kp 5.33 Fri 19 Sept 09:00 UTC · Kp 5.33 Fri 19 Sept 12:00 UTC · Kp 5.00 Fri 19 Sept 15:00 UTC · Kp 4.33 Fri 19 Sept 18:00 UTC · Kp 4.67 Fri 19 Sept 21:00 UTC · Kp 3.33 Sat 20 Sept 00:00 UTC · Kp 4.00 Sat 20 Sept 03:00 UTC · Kp 4.67 Sat 20 Sept 06:00 UTC · Kp 4.67 Sat 20 Sept 09:00 UTC · Kp 3.67 Sat 20 Sept 12:00 UTC · Kp 4.00 Sat 20 Sept 15:00 UTC · Kp 4.67 Sat 20 Sept 18:00 UTC · Kp 2.67 Tue 16 SeptWed 17 SeptThu 18 SeptFri 19 SeptSat 20 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

5,343 towns on our list had enough activity while it was dark there. Cloud cover is not included.

CountryPlacesExamplesFurthest from the pole
United States 2,228 Chicago, Seattle, Portland, Detroit Carmel
Canada 900 Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Ottawa Leamington
Sweden 474 Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö, Uppsala Trelleborg
Finland 454 Helsinki, Espoon keskus, Tampere urban area, Vantaa Hanko
United Kingdom 419 Glasgow, Edinburgh, Belfast, Newcastle upon Tyne Middlesbrough
Norway 276 Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, Stavanger Mandal
Denmark 255 Copenhagen, Aarhus, Odense, Aalborg Nakskov
Latvia 76 Riga, Daugavpils, Liepāja, Jelgava Daugavpils
Estonia 65 Tallinn, Tartu, Narva, Pärnu Võru
Lithuania 54 Kaunas, Klaipeda City Municipality, Šiauliai, Panevėžys Garliava
New Zealand 41 Christchurch, Dunedin, Invercargill, Rolleston Greymouth
Iceland 37 Reykjavík, Kópavogur, Hafnarfjörður, Reykjanesbær Vík í Mýrdal
Australia 28 Melbourne, Geelong, Hobart, Ballarat Ballarat
Greenland 14 Nuuk, Sisimiut, Ilulissat, Qaqortoq Nanortalik
Faroe Islands 11 Tórshavn, Klaksvík, Hoyvík, Argir Argir
Ireland 6 Letterkenny, Sligo, Buncrana, Ballybofey Sligo
Germany 2 Westerland, Glücksburg Glücksburg
China 1 Mohe Mohe
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

4,272 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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