Maine, United StatesMagnetic latitude 53.8°Population 7,816137 m above sea level
Northern lights in Caribou
Caribou needs an active night: from about Kp 4.3 the aurora appears low over the north-north-west horizon, and it rises higher as activity grows. Since 1995 storms of Kp 4.7 or more reached this place during darkness on 1,008 nights.
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-west.
Updates every minute while this page is open.
Tonight in one minute
Not tonight
- Solar activity Strong enough: Kp 4.7 expected, 4.3 needed here.
- Sky Overcast (100% cloud).
- Darkness Dark from 18:38 to 05:54. A bright moon (83%) washes out faint displays.
What to do: Not tonight — your next chance is shown just below.
Friday 30 October — Good chance · Kp 5 · best around 23:30 · Forecast cloud: 19%. · Reliability: low (rough trend)
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 03:49 local time
Unlikely
Best around 03:00. Forecast max Kp 4.7 (this place needs 4.3), average cloud 100%.
- Dark enough
- 18:38 – 05:54
- Sunset
- 17:32 · sunrise 07:01
- Moon
- 83% · ↑ 15:52 · ↓ 02:41
- Kp neededKp index: a 0–9 measure of geomagnetic activity. The higher it is, the further from the poles the aurora reaches.
- Kp 4.3
- Kp for photos
- In photos: from Kp 2.7 (a red glow low in the north-north-west).
- Look towards
- north-north-west (344°)
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 | Thu, 03 | Thu, 18 | Thu, 21 | Fri, 00 | Fri, 03 | Fri, 18 | Fri, 21 | Sat, 00 | Sat, 03 | Sat, 18 | Sat, 21 | Sun, 00 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Mid cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| High cloud | 100% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 4% | 22% |
| Temperature | 3 °C | 7 °C | 4 °C | 3 °C | 2 °C | 4 °C | 1 °C | -1 °C | -1 °C | 7 °C | 4 °C | 2 °C |
| Feels like | 3 °C | 4 °C | 0 °C | -2 °C | -3 °C | 1 °C | -2 °C | -3 °C | -4 °C | 6 °C | 2 °C | 1 °C |
| Wind | 1 m/s | 5 m/s | 5 m/s | 5 m/s | 5 m/s | 3 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 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 Caribou
The aurora only shows through clear skies, so the weather matters as much as the Kp index. Here is the general forecast for Caribou: temperature, wind and the chance of rain for the coming days.
Planning further ahead? See the hour-by-hour weather forecast for Caribou on Atlas of Seasons.
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What you would see from Caribou
Facing north-north-west. 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 | 2° | 7° | 967 km |
| 3 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 5° | 11° | 745 km |
| 4 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 9° | 18° | 523 km |
| 5 | Visible to the north-north-west | 18° | 32° | 300 km |
| 6 | Visible to the north-north-west | 53° | 68° | 78 km |
| 7 | Overhead and all around | – | – | – |
| 8 | Overhead, and also to the south-south-east | – | – | – |
| 9 | Overhead, and also to the south-south-east | – | – | – |
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 camera in Caribou Bright in the Arctic; low on the horizon in central Scandinavia and southern Iceland.
- Kp 4 Active eye in Caribou Overhead in the Arctic; low in the north from southern Norway, Sweden, Finland and northern Scotland.
- Kp 5 Minor storm (G1) next 24 h 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 north-west. 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 terrain rises to about 5° above the horizon towards the north-north-west. That hides low aurora: here you need about Kp 4.3 instead of Kp 4.3. A hilltop, shore or open field with a clear view to the north-north-west helps.
From elevation data (AWS Terrain Tiles) along seven lines of sight up to 30 km.
Best months to see the aurora in Caribou
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
September has been the best month (6% of nights), followed by February (4%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 6% | 64% | 9.1 h | 8° / 19°C |
| October | 3% | 52% | 10.9 h | 3° / 12°C |
| November | 3% | 39% | 12.0 h | -5° / 3°C |
| December | 3% | 47% | 12.9 h | -13° / -4°C |
| January | 3% | 56% | 12.4 h | -18° / -8°C |
| February | 4% | 63% | 11.4 h | -17° / -7°C |
| March | 4% | 58% | 9.9 h | -12° / -2°C |
| April | 4% | 53% | 7.8 h | -3° / 7°C |
Aurora nights in Caribou 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
- 7 September 2026 · Kp 5.0
- 3 July 2026 · Kp 7.0
- 24 June 2026 · Kp 5.0
- 15 May 2026 · Kp 5.7
- 18 April 2026 · Kp 5.3
- 17 April 2026 · Kp 5.3
- 2 April 2026 · Kp 5.3
Practical information
- Nearest airport
- Presque Isle International Airport (PQI) · 19 km
- Typical low / high in September
- 8° / 19°C
- What to wear
- Cool nights: layers, a windproof jacket, hat and gloves for standing still outside. 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 Caribou?
Caribou needs an active night: from about Kp 4.3 the aurora appears low over the north-north-west horizon, and it rises higher as activity grows.
Which way should I look for the aurora in Caribou?
Face north-north-west (about 344° from true north). At Kp 4.3 the lower edge of the aurora sits roughly 18° above the horizon; stronger activity lifts it higher and further across the sky.
What is the best month to see the aurora in Caribou?
Over 2005–2025, September gave the best odds in Caribou (6% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by February (4%).
When is the aurora season in Caribou?
Caribou 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 Caribou?
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 north-west.
When was the aurora last possible in Caribou?
Activity last reached storm level (Kp 5 or more) during darkness in Caribou on 4 October 2026 (Kp 5.0) — 1,008 such nights since 1995. Here the aurora also appears on many quieter nights.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Caribou share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- City of Caribou 2 km
- VA Connecticut Healthcare System, Newington Campus 2 km
- Pauls 3 km
- Barretts 4 km
- McGraw 5 km
- Ogren 7 km
- Carson 9 km
- Roberts 9 km
- Town of Woodland 9 km
- Colby 10 km
- Maysville 10 km
- Woodland Center 10 km
- Margison 11 km
- Town of Washburn 11 km
- New Sweden 12 km
- New Sweden Station 12 km
- North Wade 13 km
- Sweden 13 km
- Bugbee 14 km
- Perham 14 km
- Washburn 14 km
- Town of New Sweden 15 km
- Town of Perham 17 km
- Spaulding 17 km
- Jemtland 19 km
- Town of Wade 19 km
- Blackstone 20 km
- Hanford 20 km
- Town of Westmanland 21 km
- Buffalo 36 km
- Town of Portage Lake 38 km
- Nixon 39 km