Alaska, United StatesMagnetic latitude 60.1°Population 2,02251 m above sea level
Northern lights in Ridgeway
From Ridgeway the aurora is visible on most active nights — first low to the north-north-east, from about Kp 1.
Right now
It is still light here. Darkness starts at 20:21.
Updates every minute while this page is open.
Tonight in one minute
Maybe — worth a look
- Solar activity Strong enough: Kp 1.7 expected, 1 needed here.
- Sky Partly cloudy (61% cloud) — look for gaps.
- Darkness Dark from 20:21 to 07:18.
What to do: Go somewhere dark around 00:00, give your eyes 15 minutes to adjust and look north-north-east, low over the horizon.
- Detailed forecast Fri 16 1.7 Possible · Kp 1.7
- Sat 17 1.7 Possible · Kp 1.7
- 27-day trend Sun 18 2 Possible · Kp 2
- Mon 19 2 Possible · Kp 2
- Tue 20 3 Possible · Kp 3
- Wed 21 4 Possible · Kp 4
- Thu 22 4 Possible · Kp 4
- Fri 23 3 Possible · Kp 3
- Sat 24 2 Possible · Kp 2
- Sun 25 2 Possible · Kp 2
- Mon 26 2 Possible · Kp 2
- Tue 27 2 Possible · Kp 2
- Wed 28 2 Possible · Kp 2
- Thu 29 2 Good chance · Kp 2
- Fri 30 5 Good chance · Kp 5
- Sat 31 5 Good chance · Kp 5
- Sun 1 3 Good chance · Kp 3
- Mon 2 2 Good chance · Kp 2
- Tue 3 2 Good chance · Kp 2
- Wed 4 2 Good chance · Kp 2
- Thu 5 3 Good chance · Kp 3
- Fri 6 3 Good chance · Kp 3
Friday 16 October — Possible · Kp 1.7 · 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 09:16 local time
Good chance
Best around 00:00. Forecast max Kp 1.7 (this place needs 1), average cloud 61%.
- Dark enough
- 20:21 – 07:18
- Sunset
- 18:50 · sunrise 08:50
- Moon
- 32% · ↑ 17:15 · ↓ 20:33
- Kp neededKp index: a 0–9 measure of geomagnetic activity. The higher it is, the further from the poles the aurora reaches.
- Kp 1
- Kp for photos
- In photos: from Kp 0 (a red glow low in the north-north-east).
- Look towards
- north-north-east (18°)
Score = activity (NOAA Kp and OVATION) × clear sky (MET Norway) × darkness × moonlight. Methodology
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What you would see from Ridgeway
Facing north-north-east. Bands show where the aurora sits at two activity levels.
| Kp | What you see | Lower edge | Ray tops | Distance to the aurora |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Visible to the north-north-east | 10° | 20° | 489 km |
| 2 | Visible to the north-north-east | 20° | 35° | 267 km |
| 3 | Visible to the north-north-east | 67° | 77° | 44 km |
| 4 | Overhead and all around | – | – | – |
| 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 eye in Ridgeway camera in Ridgeway Only under the auroral oval: northern Norway, Swedish and Finnish Lapland, Iceland, Alaska, northern Canada.
- Kp 3 Unsettled next 24 h 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
Dark rural sky. Little artificial light. Faint displays are visible once your eyes have adapted.
A noticeably darker area starts about 5 km to the north. 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 0.8°), 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 Ridgeway
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
March has been the best month (50% of nights), followed by January (47%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 26% | 31% | 7.8 h | 7° / 12°C |
| October | 34% | 41% | 10.6 h | 1° / 5°C |
| November | 39% | 49% | 13.0 h | -6° / -3°C |
| December | 33% | 42% | 14.1 h | -8° / -5°C |
| January | 47% | 52% | 13.6 h | -9° / -6°C |
| February | 41% | 49% | 11.6 h | -9° / -4°C |
| March | 50% | 58% | 8.9 h | -7° / -2°C |
| April | 39% | 53% | 5.3 h | -2° / 3°C |
Darkness through the year
- No full darkness (Sun 12° below the horizon) from 8 May to 4 August — the sky stays too bright for most auroras.
- Next new moon 8 November, next full moon 25 October. The darkest skies are in the week around new moon.
Aurora nights in Ridgeway since 1995
Nights when Kp reached 4.7 or more while it was dark here.
Most recent strong nights
- 4 October 2026 · Kp 5.0
- 3 October 2026 · Kp 5.0
- 7 September 2026 · Kp 5.0
- 18 April 2026 · Kp 5.3
- 17 April 2026 · Kp 5.3
- 2 April 2026 · Kp 5.3
- 1 April 2026 · Kp 5.0
- 24 March 2026 · Kp 5.0
Practical information
- Nearest airport
- Kenai Municipal Airport (ENA) · 10 km
Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) · 93 km - Typical low / high in March
- -7° / -2°C
- What to wear
- Below freezing at night: thermal layers, a warm jacket, hat, gloves and winter boots. 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 Ridgeway?
From Ridgeway the aurora is visible on most active nights — first low to the north-north-east, from about Kp 1.
Which way should I look for the aurora in Ridgeway?
Face north-north-east (about 18° from true north). At Kp 1 the lower edge of the aurora sits roughly 10° above the horizon; stronger activity lifts it higher and further across the sky.
What is the best month to see the aurora in Ridgeway?
Over 2005–2025, March gave the best odds in Ridgeway (50% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by January (47%).
When is the aurora season in Ridgeway?
From 8 May to 4 August the sky in Ridgeway never gets dark enough. Outside that period the aurora can be seen whenever activity and clouds allow.
Is there much light pollution in Ridgeway?
Little artificial light. Faint displays are visible once your eyes have adapted. A noticeably darker area starts about 5 km to the north.
When was the aurora last possible in Ridgeway?
Activity last reached storm level (Kp 5 or more) during darkness in Ridgeway on 4 October 2026 (Kp 5.0) — 704 such nights since 1995. Here the aurora also appears on many quieter nights.