Michigan, United StatesMagnetic latitude 54.1°Population 1,615182 m above sea level
Northern lights in Elk Rapids
Elk Rapids 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 948 nights.
Right now
Quiet right now (Kp 1.7).
Latest measured half-hour activity worldwide: Hp30 1.3.
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 expected, 2.3 needed for photos, 4 for the eye.
- Sky Mostly clear (0% cloud).
- Darkness Dark from 19:50 to 07:02. 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: 15%. · 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 07:15 local time
Unlikely
Best around 07:00. Forecast max Kp 3.0 (this place needs 4), average cloud 0%.
- Dark enough
- 19:50 – 07:02
- Sunset
- 18:46 · sunrise 08:06
- Moon
- 76% · ↑ 16:42 · ↓ 02:47
- 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, 20 | Wed, 23 | Thu, 02 | Thu, 05 | Thu, 20 | Thu, 23 | Fri, 02 | Fri, 05 | Fri, 20 | Fri, 23 | Sat, 02 | Sat, 05 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 7% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Mid cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| High cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 25% | 44% | 23% |
| Temperature | 11 °C | 10 °C | 9 °C | 8 °C | 11 °C | 9 °C | 8 °C | 7 °C | 12 °C | 11 °C | 10 °C | 9 °C |
| Feels like | 11 °C | 10 °C | 9 °C | 8 °C | 11 °C | 9 °C | 7 °C | 6 °C | 12 °C | 11 °C | 8 °C | 7 °C |
| Wind | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 2 m/s | 1 m/s | 2 m/s | 3 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 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 Elk Rapids
The aurora only shows through clear skies, so the weather matters as much as the Kp index. Here is the general forecast for Elk Rapids: temperature, wind and the chance of rain for the coming days.
Planning further ahead? See the hour-by-hour weather forecast for Elk Rapids on Atlas of Seasons.
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What you would see from Elk Rapids
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° | 934 km |
| 3 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 5° | 12° | 712 km |
| 4 | Visible to the north | 10° | 20° | 489 km |
| 5 | Visible to the north | 20° | 35° | 267 km |
| 6 | Visible to the north | 67° | 77° | 44 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 Elk Rapids 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 eye in Elk Rapids 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-north-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 0.0°), 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 Elk Rapids
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
September has been the best month (12% of nights), followed by March (9%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 12% | 59% | 9.1 h | 10° / 21°C |
| October | 5% | 42% | 10.9 h | 5° / 14°C |
| November | 4% | 26% | 12.0 h | -1° / 6°C |
| December | 3% | 21% | 12.6 h | -7° / -1°C |
| January | 4% | 29% | 12.4 h | -11° / -4°C |
| February | 5% | 38% | 11.4 h | -11° / -4°C |
| March | 9% | 46% | 9.9 h | -6° / 3°C |
| April | 5% | 34% | 8.1 h | -1° / 10°C |
Aurora nights in Elk Rapids 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
- Cherry Capital Airport (TVC) · 22 km
- Typical low / high in September
- 10° / 21°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 Elk Rapids?
Elk Rapids 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 Elk Rapids?
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 Elk Rapids?
Over 2005–2025, September gave the best odds in Elk Rapids (12% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by March (9%).
When is the aurora season in Elk Rapids?
Elk Rapids 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 Elk Rapids?
Little artificial light. Faint displays are visible once your eyes have adapted. A noticeably darker area starts about 5 km to the north-north-east.
When was the aurora last possible in Elk Rapids?
Activity last reached storm level (Kp 5 or more) during darkness in Elk Rapids on 4 October 2026 (Kp 5.0) — 948 such nights since 1995. Here the aurora also appears on many quieter nights.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Elk Rapids share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- Township of Elk Rapids 1 km
- Kewadin 5 km
- Township of Milton 6 km
- Angel 7 km
- Mapleton 7 km
- Old Mission 9 km
- Township of Peninsula 9 km
- Yuba 9 km