Michigan, United StatesMagnetic latitude 56.3°Population 7,970196 m above sea level
Northern lights in Houghton
From Houghton the aurora is visible on most active nights — first low to the north, from about Kp 3.
Right now
Activity is high enough for a camera right now: point your phone north, low over the horizon.
Updates every minute while this page is open.
Tonight in one minute
Yes — good chance tonight
- Solar activity Strong enough: Kp 4.7 expected, 3 needed here.
- Sky Mostly clear (5% cloud).
- Darkness Dark from 20:02 to 07:15. A bright moon (81%) washes out faint displays.
What to do: Go somewhere dark around 04:00, give your eyes 15 minutes to adjust and look north, low over the horizon.
Thursday 22 October — Good chance · Kp 4.7 · best around 03:30 · Forecast cloud: 5%. · 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 22:32 local time
Excellent chance
Best around 04:00. Forecast max Kp 4.7 (this place needs 3), average cloud 5%.
- Dark enough
- 20:02 – 07:15
- Sunset
- 18:55 · sunrise 08:22
- Moon
- 81% · ↑ 16:58 · ↓ 04:07
- Kp neededKp index: a 0–9 measure of geomagnetic activity. The higher it is, the further from the poles the aurora reaches.
- Kp 3
- Kp for photos
- In photos: from Kp 1.3 (a red glow low in the north).
- Look towards
- north (0°)
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, 22 | Thu, 01 | Thu, 04 | Thu, 07 | Thu, 22 | Fri, 01 | Fri, 04 | Fri, 07 | Fri, 22 | Sat, 01 | Sat, 04 | Sat, 07 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low cloud | 15% | 2% | 1% | 5% | 2% | 0% | 5% | 16% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Mid cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 16% | 47% | 61% | 63% |
| High cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 31% | 17% | 26% | 48% |
| Temperature | 9 °C | 8 °C | 7 °C | 6 °C | 10 °C | 10 °C | 10 °C | 10 °C | 15 °C | 14 °C | 14 °C | 14 °C |
| Feels like | 9 °C | 8 °C | 7 °C | 6 °C | 9 °C | 10 °C | 9 °C | 9 °C | 15 °C | 14 °C | 14 °C | 14 °C |
| Wind | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 3 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 Houghton
The aurora only shows through clear skies, so the weather matters as much as the Kp index. Here is the general forecast for Houghton: temperature, wind and the chance of rain for the coming days.
Planning further ahead? See the hour-by-hour weather forecast for Houghton on Atlas of Seasons.
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Live webcams near Houghton
Check the sky for yourself: public cameras within 300 km. They open on the camera owner's website.
- Isle Royale National Park webcams ↗ Open the live camera (opens in a new tab) Scenic
- Grand Marais harbor, Lake Superior ↗ Open the live camera (opens in a new tab) Scenic
- Gunflint Trail dark sky cam (Chik-Wauk) ↗ Open the live camera (opens in a new tab) All-sky
These cameras belong to their owners — we only link to them. Most show little in daylight or under cloud, and some pause in summer.
Do you host guests in Houghton? Give them a free aurora forecast page and a QR poster for your property. Create a guest page →
What you would see from Houghton
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 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 5° | 13° | 689 km |
| 3 | Visible to the north | 10° | 21° | 467 km |
| 4 | Visible to the north | 22° | 38° | 245 km |
| 5 | Visible to the north | 78° | 83° | 22 km |
| 6 | Overhead and all around | – | – | – |
| 7 | Overhead, and also to the south | – | – | – |
| 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 Houghton Only under the auroral oval: northern Norway, Swedish and Finnish Lapland, Iceland, Alaska, northern Canada.
- Kp 3 Unsettled eye in Houghton 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) 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. That hides low aurora: here you need about Kp 3 instead of Kp 3. A hilltop, shore or open field with a clear view to the north helps.
From elevation data (AWS Terrain Tiles) along seven lines of sight up to 30 km.
Best months to see the aurora in Houghton
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
March has been the best month (14% of nights), followed by October (13%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 11% | 29% | 9.1 h | 12° / 19°C |
| October | 13% | 36% | 10.9 h | 6° / 12°C |
| November | 8% | 21% | 12.0 h | -1° / 4°C |
| December | 4% | 18% | 12.9 h | -6° / -2°C |
| January | 7% | 23% | 12.4 h | -10° / -5°C |
| February | 12% | 33% | 11.4 h | -10° / -5°C |
| March | 14% | 33% | 9.9 h | -6° / 1°C |
| April | 2% | 9% | 7.8 h | 0° / 7°C |
Aurora nights in Houghton 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
- Houghton County Memorial Airport (CMX) · 8 km
- Typical low / high in March
- -6° / 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 Houghton?
From Houghton the aurora is visible on most active nights — first low to the north, from about Kp 3.
Which way should I look for the aurora in Houghton?
Face north (about 0° from true north). At Kp 3 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 Houghton?
Over 2005–2025, March gave the best odds in Houghton (14% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by October (13%).
When is the aurora season in Houghton?
Houghton 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 Houghton?
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 Houghton?
Activity last reached storm level (Kp 5 or more) during darkness in Houghton on 4 October 2026 (Kp 5.0) — 938 such nights since 1995. Here the aurora also appears on many quieter nights.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Houghton share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- City of Houghton 1 km
- Hurontown 1 km
- Ripley 1 km
- Dodgeville 3 km
- Paavola 4 km