Alaska, United StatesMagnetic latitude 70.6°Population 2,17414 m above sea level

Northern lights in Prudhoe Bay

Prudhoe Bay sits right under the auroral oval: on clear, dark nights the aurora is often overhead, even when activity is quiet. Clouds matter far more than the Kp number here.

Right now

Activity is high enough here right now, but the sky is overcast (100 % cloud). Watch for gaps in the clouds and look north-north-east.

Kp 0.0 · 428 km/s · Bz 2.0

Latest measured half-hour activity worldwide: Hp30 3.

Updates every minute while this page is open. Ground data: GFZ Potsdam Hp30 index (CC BY 4.0).

Tonight in one minute

Not tonight

Solar activity Strong enough: Kp 2.3 expected, 0 needed here.
Sky Overcast (100% cloud).
Darkness Dark from 19:57 to 07:20. A bright moon (76%) washes out faint displays.

What to do: Not tonight — your next chance is shown just below.

Your next chance

Wednesday 21 October, around 20:30

Possible · Kp 3.7 is expected — here Kp 0 is enough to see it by eye. Forecast cloud: 61%. The moon will be 82% full.

Reliability: medium Find a dark spot with an open view to the north-north-east.

Best night in this period: Saturday 31 October (possible).

Good chance Possible Photos only No

Detailed forecast Tue 20 2.3

Wed 21 3.7

Thu 22 1.7

27-day trend Fri 23 4

Sat 24 3

Sun 25 2

Mon 26 2

Tue 27 2

Wed 28 2

Thu 29 2

Fri 30 5

Sat 31 5

Sun 1 3

Mon 2 2

Tue 3 2

Wed 4 3

Thu 5 3

Fri 6 3

Sat 7 2

Sun 8 4

Mon 9 3

Tue 10 3

Wed 11 3

Thu 12 2

Fri 13 2

Wednesday 21 October — Possible · Kp 3.7 · best around 20:30 · Forecast cloud: 61%. · Reliability: medium

Each box is one night: the colour shows the chance, the number the expected Kp. Tap a night for details.

📅 Add these nights to your calendar — it updates itself (.ics)

How far ahead can the northern lights be forecast?

Minutes to an hour: satellites 1.5 million km away measure the solar wind before it reaches Earth. This is the surest warning — the “Right now” box uses it.
1–3 days: when the Sun throws out a cloud of particles, it takes one to three days to arrive. NOAA's 3-hourly forecast covers these nights; the timing can still be off by a few hours.
4–27 days: the Sun turns once every 27 days, and regions that disturbed Earth's field last time often do it again. NOAA's 27-day outlook gives this rough trend — new eruptions are not in it yet.

Tonight

Updated 04:09 local time

0/100

Unlikely

Best around 04:00. Forecast max Kp 2.3 (this place needs 0), average cloud 100%.

Dark enough: 19:57 – 07:20
Sunset: 17:38 · sunrise 09:40
Moon: 76% · ↑ 18:00 · ↓ 01:29
Kp neededKp index: a 0–9 measure of geomagnetic activity. The higher it is, the further from the poles the aurora reaches.: Kp 0
Look towards: north-north-east (24°)

Wed 21 Oct60Kp 3.7 · cloud 61%

Thu 22 Oct22Kp 1.7 · cloud 92%

Chance (0–100) Dark enough Cloud cover

Cloud layers and weather

Low cloudMid cloudHigh cloud Dark enough

Low cloud blocks the aurora completely. Thin high cloud often still lets a bright aurora shine through, so a sky with only high cloud is worth a look.

Dark hours
Time	Wed, 04	Wed, 07	Wed, 21	Thu, 00	Thu, 03	Thu, 06	Thu, 20	Thu, 23	Fri, 02	Fri, 05	Fri, 19	Fri, 22
Low cloud	64%	69%	31%	19%	2%	5%	44%	47%	50%	52%	0%	0%
Mid cloud	52%	40%	89%	100%	100%	70%	78%	100%	76%	49%	60%	59%
High cloud	0%	0%	62%	59%	41%	37%	32%	0%	0%	2%	67%	68%
Temperature	-7 °C	-6 °C	-9 °C	-10 °C	-10 °C	-10 °C	-6 °C	-6 °C	-5 °C	-5 °C	-6 °C	-5 °C
Feels like	-13 °C	-13 °C	-16 °C	-17 °C	-18 °C	-18 °C	-14 °C	-14 °C	-13 °C	-13 °C	-12 °C	-11 °C
Wind	5 m/s	5 m/s	4 m/s	5 m/s	5 m/s	6 m/s	8 m/s	8 m/s	8 m/s	8 m/s	4 m/s	5 m/s

Cloud layers and weather: Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0).

Score = activity (NOAA Kp and OVATION) × clear sky (MET Norway) × darkness × moonlight. Methodology

Weather in Prudhoe Bay

The aurora only shows through clear skies, so the weather matters as much as the Kp index. Here is the general forecast for Prudhoe Bay: temperature, wind and the chance of rain for the coming days.

Planning further ahead? See the hour-by-hour weather forecast for Prudhoe Bay on Atlas of Seasons.

Seeing it right now?

Tell others in Alaska. Reports from real visitors move a place up the live ranking.

Reports are anonymous: we do not store your IP address or location. One report per place every few hours.

Live webcams near Prudhoe Bay

Check the sky for yourself: public cameras within 300 km. They open on the camera owner's website.

Toolik Lake all-sky camera ↗ Open the live camera (opens in a new tab) All-sky 188 km SSW by UAF Geophysical Institute

These cameras belong to their owners — we only link to them. Most show little in daylight or under cloud, and some pause in summer.

Embed this forecast

Show a live northern lights box for Prudhoe Bay on your own website or blog. Copy this code into your page. It updates itself every 10 minutes, uses no cookies and does not track your visitors.

<iframe src="https://aurorameteo.com/widget/en/US/alaska/prudhoe-bay/" width="320" height="180" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Northern lights forecast for Prudhoe Bay – AuroraMeteo"></iframe>

Preview

Do you host guests in Prudhoe Bay? Give them a free aurora forecast page and a QR poster for your property. Create a guest page →

What you would see from Prudhoe Bay

Facing north-north-east. Bands show where the aurora sits at two activity levels.

Computed from the auroral oval position for each Kp level (lower border ~105 km, ray tops ~200 km up). Horizon from elevation data out to 30 km.

Angles above the horizon. Terrain in the look direction is taken into account where modelled.
Kp	What you see	Lower edge	Ray tops	Distance to the aurora
0	Overhead, and also to the south-south-west	–	–	–
2	Overhead, and also to the south-south-west	–	–	–
3	Overhead, and also to the south-south-west	–	–	–
4	Overhead, and also to the south-south-west	–	–	–
5	Overhead, and also to the south-south-west	–	–	–
6	Overhead, and also to the south-south-west	–	–	–
7	Overhead, and also to the south-south-west	–	–	–
8	Overhead, and also to the south-south-west	–	–	–
9	Overhead, and also to the south-south-west	–	–	–

The Kp scale in plain words

Kp is a 0–9 score for how strongly the Earth's magnetic field is being shaken by the solar wind. The higher it goes, the further from the poles the northern lights reach. Kp 0–2 is a quiet night; Kp 5 and above is a geomagnetic storm.

Kp 0–2 Quiet next 24 h eye in Prudhoe Bay Only under the auroral oval: northern Norway, Swedish and Finnish Lapland, Iceland, Alaska, northern Canada.
Kp 3 Unsettled Bright in the Arctic; low on the horizon in central Scandinavia and southern Iceland.
Kp 4 Active Overhead in the Arctic; low in the north from southern Norway, Sweden, Finland and northern Scotland.
Kp 5 Minor storm (G1) Scotland, southern Scandinavia, the Baltic states, the northern US states and southern Canada.
Kp 6 Moderate storm (G2) Northern England, Denmark, northern Germany and Poland, the US Midwest — often clearer in photos than to the eye.
Kp 7 Strong storm (G3) Most of the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Czechia; red glow in photos from France and the northern Alps.
Kp 8 Severe storm (G4) Central Europe to the eye; red sky in photos from northern Italy, Spain, the Balkans and Turkey's Black Sea coast.
Kp 9 Extreme storm (G5) Seen across Europe and the US; in photos as far south as the Mediterranean, Turkey and North Africa (May 2024).

Light pollution

Suburban sky. Noticeable sky glow. Bright displays are visible, but driving out of town makes a clear difference.

A noticeably darker area starts about 5 km to the east-north-east. Open in OpenStreetMap

Estimate from NASA VIIRS night-light data (sky-glow model within 50 km). Check access and private land before you go.

Hills and mountains

The horizon towards the north-north-east is open (terrain below 0.0°), so low aurora is not blocked.

From elevation data (AWS Terrain Tiles) along seven lines of sight up to 30 km.

Best months to see the aurora in Prudhoe Bay

Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.

February has been the best month (53% of nights), followed by January (52%).

All years Near solar maximum Near solar minimum

Good night = darkness + activity at this place's Kp level + night-time satellite cloud ≤ 70%. GFZ Kp, NASA POWER (CERES), 1° grid. Methodology
Month	Good nights	Clear nights	Darkness	Low / high
September	16%	18%	4.9 h	0° / 5°C
October	9%	9%	10.3 h	-9° / -4°C
November	18%	18%	14.0 h	-19° / -14°C
December	41%	41%	16.1 h	-25° / -20°C
January	52%	52%	15.0 h	-27° / -22°C
February	53%	53%	11.6 h	-26° / -20°C
March	45%	45%	7.3 h	-24° / -17°C
April	6%	24%	–	-16° / -9°C

89%chance of ≥1 good night in 3 nights (February)

98%chance of ≥1 good night in 5 nights (February)

99%chance of ≥1 good night in 7 nights (February)

Darkness through the year

No full darkness (Sun 12° below the horizon) from 8 April to 3 September — the sky stays too bright for most auroras.
Midnight sun from 15 May to 29 July.
Polar night from 23 November to 18 January: the sun stays below the horizon, giving the longest viewing windows.
Moon calendar
Next new moon 8 November, next full moon 25 October. The darkest skies are in the week around new moon.

Aurora nights in Prudhoe Bay since 1995

Nights when Kp reached 4.7 or more while it was dark here.

Per year, last 12 years. Cloud cover not included. Source: GFZ Kp.

Most recent strong nights

3 October 2026 · Kp 5.0
7 September 2026 · Kp 5.0
2 April 2026 · Kp 5.3
1 April 2026 · Kp 5.0
24 March 2026 · Kp 5.0
21 March 2026 · Kp 6.3
20 March 2026 · Kp 5.0
13 March 2026 · Kp 5.0

Practical information

Nearest airport: Deadhorse Airport (SCC) · 8 km
Typical low / high in February: -26° / -20°C
What to wear: Extreme cold: insulated boots, down jacket, two layers of wool, face protection, chemical hand warmers. Full clothing guide
Emergency number: 911
Winter driving: Tyre and chain rules are set at state level; check Alaska 511 (511.alaska.gov, Alaska DOT&PF) for Alaska roads, or the relevant state's 511 service elsewhere. Road conditions
Access to land: There is no general right to roam; trespass law is set by each state, so stay on public land (national parks, national forests, BLM land) or get the landowner's permission, and follow each park's night-time and parking rules.
Official space-weather service: NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (aurora dashboard)
Weather service: National Weather Service (NOAA)

Questions and answers

What Kp do you need to see the aurora in Prudhoe Bay?

Prudhoe Bay sits right under the auroral oval: on clear, dark nights the aurora is often overhead, even when activity is quiet. Clouds matter far more than the Kp number here.

Which way should I look for the aurora in Prudhoe Bay?

Around Prudhoe Bay the aurora is often right overhead. Start by facing north-north-east, but look up and all around — in strong storms it can fill the whole sky and even appear behind you.

What is the best month to see the aurora in Prudhoe Bay?

Over 2005–2025, February gave the best odds in Prudhoe Bay (53% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by January (52%).

When is the aurora season in Prudhoe Bay?

From 8 April to 3 September the sky in Prudhoe Bay never gets dark enough. Outside that period the aurora can be seen whenever activity and clouds allow.

Is there much light pollution in Prudhoe Bay?

Noticeable sky glow. Bright displays are visible, but driving out of town makes a clear difference. A noticeably darker area starts about 5 km to the east-north-east.

When was the aurora last possible in Prudhoe Bay?

Activity last reached storm level (Kp 5 or more) during darkness in Prudhoe Bay on 3 October 2026 (Kp 5.0) — 603 such nights since 1995. Here the aurora also appears on many quieter nights.

Also covered by this forecast

Villages and districts around Prudhoe Bay share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.

Deadhorse 9 km