Alaska, United StatesMagnetic latitude 60.1°Population 4,54433 m above sea level
Northern lights in Soldotna
From Soldotna the aurora is visible on most active nights — first low to the north-north-east, from about Kp 1.
Right now
Activity is high enough for a camera right now: point your phone north-north-east, low over the horizon.
Latest measured half-hour activity worldwide: Hp30 0.3.
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 1.3 expected, 1 needed here.
- Sky Overcast (75% cloud).
- Darkness Dark from 20:19 to 07:20.
What to do: Not tonight — your next chance is shown just below.
- Detailed forecast Fri 16 1.3 Possible · Kp 1.3
- Sat 17 1.7 Good chance · Kp 1.7
- Sun 18 1.3 Possible · Kp 1.3
- 27-day trend Mon 19 2 Possible · Kp 2
- Tue 20 3 Possible · Kp 3
- Wed 21 4 Good chance · 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
Saturday 17 October — Possible · Kp 1.3 · best around 06:00 · Forecast cloud: 75%. · Reliability: good
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 06:11 local time
Unlikely
Best around 06:00. Forecast max Kp 1.3 (this place needs 1), average cloud 75%.
- Dark enough
- 20:19 – 07:20
- Sunset
- 18:47 · sunrise 08:53
- Moon
- 40% · ↑ 17:28 · ↓ 22:03
- 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°)
Cloud layers and weather
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.
| Time | Sat, 06 | Sat, 21 | Sun, 00 | Sun, 03 | Sun, 06 | Sun, 21 | Mon, 00 | Mon, 03 | Mon, 06 | Mon, 21 | Tue, 00 | Tue, 03 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low cloud | 96% | 99% | 37% | 11% | 14% | 19% | 90% | 100% | 100% | 85% | 100% | 100% |
| Mid cloud | 4% | 100% | 59% | 26% | 0% | 37% | 100% | 99% | 100% | 95% | 88% | 100% |
| High cloud | 37% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 98% | 95% | 99% | 99% | 91% | 100% | 96% |
| Temperature | 3 °C | 4 °C | 3 °C | 1 °C | -1 °C | 1 °C | 1 °C | 1 °C | 2 °C | 3 °C | 3 °C | 2 °C |
| Feels like | 1 °C | 1 °C | 1 °C | -2 °C | -4 °C | -3 °C | -2 °C | -2 °C | -1 °C | 0 °C | 0 °C | 0 °C |
| Wind | 2 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 2 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s |
| Visibility | 12 km | 50 km | 50 km | 50 km | 50 km | 50 km | 8.9 km | 7.6 km | 6.1 km | 23 km | 2.5 km | 2.4 km |
Cloud layers and weather: Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0).
Score = activity (NOAA Kp and OVATION) × clear sky (MET Norway) × darkness × moonlight. Methodology
Seeing it right now?
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Live webcams near Soldotna
Check the sky for yourself: public cameras within 300 km. They open on the camera owner's website.
These cameras belong to their owners — we only link to them. Most show little in daylight or under cloud, and some pause in summer.
What you would see from Soldotna
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 next 24 h eye in Soldotna camera in Soldotna 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-south-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 2.5°), 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 Soldotna
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
March has been the best month (34% of nights), followed by January (33%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 26% | 31% | 7.8 h | 6° / 12°C |
| October | 25% | 30% | 10.6 h | 1° / 6°C |
| November | 29% | 36% | 13.0 h | -6° / -2°C |
| December | 23% | 29% | 14.1 h | -7° / -3°C |
| January | 33% | 36% | 13.6 h | -8° / -4°C |
| February | 29% | 34% | 11.6 h | -8° / -3°C |
| March | 34% | 38% | 8.9 h | -7° / -1°C |
| April | 29% | 40% | 5.3 h | -1° / 4°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 Soldotna 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) · 14 km
Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) · 96 km - Typical low / high in March
- -7° / -1°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 Soldotna?
From Soldotna 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 Soldotna?
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 Soldotna?
Over 2005–2025, March gave the best odds in Soldotna (34% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by January (33%).
When is the aurora season in Soldotna?
From 8 May to 4 August the sky in Soldotna never gets dark enough. Outside that period the aurora can be seen whenever activity and clouds allow.
Is there much light pollution in Soldotna?
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-south-east.
When was the aurora last possible in Soldotna?
Activity last reached storm level (Kp 5 or more) during darkness in Soldotna on 4 October 2026 (Kp 5.0) — 705 such nights since 1995. Here the aurora also appears on many quieter nights.