Arkansas, United StatesMagnetic latitude 44.0°Population 35,635182 m above sea level
Can you see the northern lights in Hot Springs?
From Hot Springs the aurora is too low for the naked eye except in the most extreme storms, but in severe storms (about Kp 7.3 or more) cameras record a red glow low in the north. Strong enough for photos on 54 nights since 1995 — most recently on 20 January 2026.
Right now
It is still light here. Darkness starts at 19:25.
Updates every minute while this page is open.
Tonight in one minute
Not tonight
- Solar activity Too weak: Kp 4 expected, 7.3 needed here.
- Sky Mostly clear (0% cloud).
- Darkness Dark from 19:25 to 06:28. A bright moon (79%) washes out faint displays.
What to do: Not tonight — your next chance is shown just below.
Wednesday 21 October — No · Kp 4 · Forecast cloud: 0%. · 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 14:26 local time
Unlikely
Best around 19:00. Forecast max Kp 4.0 (this place needs 9+), average cloud 0%.
- Dark enough
- 19:25 – 06:28
- Sunset
- 18:30 · sunrise 07:23
- Moon
- 79% · ↑ 16:01 · ↓ 03:37
- Kp neededKp index: a 0–9 measure of geomagnetic activity. The higher it is, the further from the poles the aurora reaches.
- Kp 9+
- Kp for photos
- In photos: from Kp 7.3 (a red glow low in the north).
- Look towards
- north (4°)
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 | Wed, 19 | Wed, 22 | Thu, 01 | Thu, 04 | Thu, 19 | Thu, 22 | Fri, 01 | Fri, 04 | Fri, 19 | Fri, 22 | Sat, 01 | Sat, 04 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Mid cloud | 3% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| High cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 21% | 19% | 17% | 23% |
| Temperature | 18 °C | 15 °C | 14 °C | 12 °C | 18 °C | 16 °C | 14 °C | 12 °C | 19 °C | 16 °C | 15 °C | 13 °C |
| Feels like | 18 °C | 15 °C | 14 °C | 12 °C | 18 °C | 16 °C | 14 °C | 12 °C | 19 °C | 16 °C | 15 °C | 13 °C |
| Wind | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 2 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 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 Hot Springs
The aurora only shows through clear skies, so the weather matters as much as the Kp index. Here is the general forecast for Hot Springs: temperature, wind and the chance of rain for the coming days.
Planning further ahead? See the hour-by-hour weather forecast for Hot Springs on Atlas of Seasons.
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What you would see from Hot Springs
Facing north. Bands show where the aurora sits at two activity levels.
| Kp | What you see | Lower edge | Ray tops | Distance to the aurora |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Below the horizon | -6° | -4° | 2,057 km |
| 3 | Below the horizon | -5° | -2° | 1,835 km |
| 4 | Below the horizon | -4° | 0° | 1,612 km |
| 5 | Below the horizon | -2° | 2° | 1,390 km |
| 6 | Below the horizon | 0° | 4° | 1,168 km |
| 7 | Below the horizon | 2° | 7° | 945 km |
| 8 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 5° | 12° | 723 km |
| 9 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 10° | 19° | 500 km |
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 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 next 24 h 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) camera in Hot Springs 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
City sky. City lights hide all but the brightest displays. Plan to leave the urban area.
Estimate from NASA VIIRS night-light data (sky-glow model within 50 km). Check access and private land before you go.
Hills and mountains
Terrain is not modelled for this place.
From elevation data (AWS Terrain Tiles) along seven lines of sight up to 30 km.
Best months to see the aurora in Hot Springs
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
Activity of Kp 9+ or more is too rare here for monthly odds to be meaningful. The table still shows how often nights are clear and dark.
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 0% | 76% | 9.8 h | 17° / 31°C |
| October | 0% | 75% | 10.8 h | 11° / 24°C |
| November | 0% | 68% | 11.6 h | 4° / 17°C |
| December | 0% | 57% | 12.1 h | 0° / 12°C |
| January | 0% | 64% | 11.9 h | -2° / 9°C |
| February | 0% | 59% | 11.0 h | 0° / 12°C |
| March | 0% | 60% | 10.3 h | 5° / 17°C |
| April | 0% | 63% | 9.0 h | 9° / 22°C |
Nights when Hot Springs could catch it in photos
Since 1995, nights with Kp 7.3 or more while it was dark here — a red or green glow low on the horizon.
- 20 January 2026 · Kp 7.3
- 19 January 2026 · Kp 7.7
- 12 November 2025 · Kp 7.3
- 11 November 2025 · Kp 8.7
- 31 May 2025 · Kp 7.7
- 10 October 2024 · Kp 8.3
- 16 September 2024 · Kp 7.3
- 10 May 2024 · Kp 9.0
- 23 April 2023 · Kp 8.0
- 23 March 2023 · Kp 8.0
- 3 November 2021 · Kp 7.7
- 25 August 2018 · Kp 7.3
Practical information
- Nearest airport
- Memorial Field Airport (HOT) · 5 km
- Typical low / high in January
- -2° / 9°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 Hot Springs?
From Hot Springs the aurora is too low for the naked eye except in the most extreme storms, but in severe storms (about Kp 7.3 or more) cameras record a red glow low in the north.
Which way should I look for the aurora in Hot Springs?
Around Hot Springs the aurora is often right overhead. Start by facing north, but look up and all around — in strong storms it can fill the whole sky and even appear behind you.
When is the aurora season in Hot Springs?
Hot Springs gets dark enough for the aurora all year round, though the long winter nights give the most hours to watch.
Is there much light pollution in Hot Springs?
City lights hide all but the brightest displays. Plan to leave the urban area.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Hot Springs share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- Township of Hot Springs 1 km
- Euclid Heights 2 km
- Morning Star 6 km
- Piney 6 km
- Rockwell 8 km
- Lake Catherine 9 km
- Township of Lake Hamilton 9 km
- Township of Whittington 9 km
- Fountain Lake 10 km
- Hawes 10 km
- Lake Hamilton 10 km
- Red Oak 10 km
- Ozark Lithia 11 km
- Pleasant Hill 11 km
- Diamondhead 12 km
- Garland County 12 km
- Price 12 km
- Mountain Pine 13 km
- Pettyview 15 km
- Hempwallace 16 km
- Royal 17 km
- Sunshine 17 km
- Township of De Roche 18 km
- Bear 20 km
- Chandler 20 km
- De Roche 20 km
- Lofton 20 km
- Township of Hale 21 km
- Township of Bismarck 23 km
- Bismarck 23 km
- Maddox 23 km
- Oma 23 km
- Pearcy 23 km
- Crystal Springs 26 km
- Crystal Springs Landing 28 km
- Meyers 28 km
- Township of Henderson 29 km
- Avant 30 km
- Mount Moriah 30 km
- Point Cedar 30 km