Michigan, United StatesMagnetic latitude 54.2°Population 10,175180 m above sea level
Northern lights in Alpena
Alpena needs an active night: from about Kp 4 the aurora appears low over the north horizon, and it rises higher as activity grows. Since 1995 storms of Kp 4.7 or more reached this place during darkness on 950 nights.
Right now
It is still light here. Darkness starts at 19:42.
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
Only in photos, if at all
- Solar activity Enough for a camera: Kp 3.7 expected, 2.3 needed for photos, 4 for the eye.
- Sky Partly cloudy (41% cloud) — look for gaps.
- Darkness Dark from 19:42 to 06:54. A bright moon (76%) washes out faint displays.
What to do: Point a phone in night mode north (3–10 s exposure). A red or green glow often shows on the screen before you can see it.
Saturday 24 October — Possible · Kp 4 · best around 00:30 · Forecast cloud: 0%. · 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 08:09 local time
Good chance
Best around 00:00. Forecast max Kp 3.7 (this place needs 4), average cloud 41%.
- Dark enough
- 19:42 – 06:54
- Sunset
- 18:38 · sunrise 07:58
- Moon
- 76% · ↑ 16:35 · ↓ 02:38
- Kp neededKp index: a 0–9 measure of geomagnetic activity. The higher it is, the further from the poles the aurora reaches.
- Kp 4
- Kp for photos
- In photos: from Kp 2.3 (a red glow low in the north).
- Look towards
- north (356°)
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% | 1% | 1% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Mid cloud | 59% | 49% | 8% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| High cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 3% | 8% | 7% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 4% |
| Temperature | 13 °C | 10 °C | 9 °C | 8 °C | 10 °C | 8 °C | 8 °C | 7 °C | 11 °C | 9 °C | 9 °C | 8 °C |
| Feels like | 13 °C | 10 °C | 9 °C | 7 °C | 10 °C | 8 °C | 8 °C | 7 °C | 11 °C | 8 °C | 8 °C | 7 °C |
| Wind | 1 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 1 m/s | 2 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 Alpena
The aurora only shows through clear skies, so the weather matters as much as the Kp index. Here is the general forecast for Alpena: temperature, wind and the chance of rain for the coming days.
Planning further ahead? See the hour-by-hour weather forecast for Alpena on Atlas of Seasons.
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What you would see from Alpena
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 | 2° | 8° | 923 km |
| 3 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 5° | 13° | 701 km |
| 4 | Visible to the north | 10° | 20° | 478 km |
| 5 | Visible to the north | 21° | 36° | 256 km |
| 6 | Visible to the north | 72° | 80° | 33 km |
| 7 | Overhead and all around | – | – | – |
| 8 | Overhead, and also to the south | – | – | – |
| 9 | Overhead, and also to the south | – | – | – |
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 camera in Alpena 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 eye in Alpena 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. 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 is open (terrain below 0.2°), 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 Alpena
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
September has been the best month (9% of nights), followed by March (7%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 9% | 48% | 9.1 h | 15° / 19°C |
| October | 5% | 42% | 10.9 h | 9° / 13°C |
| November | 4% | 24% | 12.0 h | 3° / 7°C |
| December | 2% | 19% | 12.6 h | -2° / 1°C |
| January | 3% | 27% | 12.4 h | -5° / -2°C |
| February | 4% | 34% | 11.4 h | -7° / -2°C |
| March | 7% | 40% | 9.9 h | -3° / 1°C |
| April | 3% | 19% | 8.1 h | 1° / 6°C |
Aurora nights in Alpena 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
- 3 July 2026 · Kp 7.0
- 24 June 2026 · Kp 5.0
- 18 April 2026 · Kp 5.3
- 17 April 2026 · Kp 5.3
- 2 April 2026 · Kp 5.3
Practical information
- Nearest airport
- Alpena County Regional Airport (APN) · 10 km
- Typical low / high in September
- 15° / 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 Alpena?
Alpena needs an active night: from about Kp 4 the aurora appears low over the north horizon, and it rises higher as activity grows.
Which way should I look for the aurora in Alpena?
Face north (about 356° from true north). At Kp 4 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 Alpena?
Over 2005–2025, September gave the best odds in Alpena (9% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by March (7%).
When is the aurora season in Alpena?
Alpena 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 Alpena?
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.
When was the aurora last possible in Alpena?
Activity last reached storm level (Kp 5 or more) during darkness in Alpena on 4 October 2026 (Kp 5.0) — 950 such nights since 1995. Here the aurora also appears on many quieter nights.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Alpena share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- City of Alpena 1 km
- Alpena County 2 km
- Alpena Junction 2 km
- Township of Alpena 8 km
- Lakeshore Estates Mobile Home Park 13 km
- Cathro 14 km
- Lakewood 14 km
- Township of Maple Ridge 14 km
- Paxton 14 km
- McHarg 15 km
- Township of Wilson 15 km
- Sunrise Estates Mobile Home Community 15 km
- Ashland 16 km
- Rockport 16 km
- Emerson Station 17 km
- Herron 17 km
- Bolton 18 km
- Orchard Point 18 km
- Ossineke 18 km
- Township of Sanborn 18 km
- Leroy 19 km
- Riverview Estates Mobile Home Park 19 km
- Bell 21 km
- Lachine 22 km
- Township of Long Rapids 23 km
- Township of Presque Isle 23 km
- Long Rapids 24 km
- Flanders 25 km
- Spratt 25 km
- Polaski 26 km
- Stoneport 26 km
- Township of Krakow 27 km
- Presque Isle 27 km
- Leer 28 km
- Township of Ossineke 28 km
- Black River 29 km
- Township of Green 29 km
- Township of Posen 29 km
- Posen 31 km
- Harbor View 32 km