Michigan, United StatesMagnetic latitude 55.6°Population 13,827188 m above sea level
Northern lights in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
Sault Ste. Marie needs an active night: from about Kp 3.3 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 944 nights.
Right now
It is still light here. Darkness starts at 19:44.
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
Not tonight
- Solar activity Enough for a camera: Kp 2.7 expected, 1.7 needed for photos, 3.3 for the eye.
- Sky Overcast (77% cloud).
- Darkness Dark from 19:44 to 07:00. A bright moon (85%) washes out faint displays.
What to do: Not tonight — your next chance is shown just below.
Sunday 25 October — Possible · Kp 4 · best around 00:30 · Forecast cloud: 68%. · 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 10:14 local time
Possible
Best around 20:00. Forecast max Kp 2.7 (this place needs 3.3), average cloud 77%.
- Dark enough
- 19:44 – 07:00
- Sunset
- 18:38 · sunrise 08:06
- Moon
- 85% · ↑ 16:58 · ↓ 05:02
- Kp neededKp index: a 0–9 measure of geomagnetic activity. The higher it is, the further from the poles the aurora reaches.
- Kp 3.3
- Kp for photos
- In photos: from Kp 1.7 (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 | Thu, 19 | Thu, 22 | Fri, 01 | Fri, 04 | Fri, 19 | Fri, 22 | Sat, 01 | Sat, 04 | Sat, 19 | Sat, 22 | Sun, 01 | Sun, 04 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 10% | 0% | 7% | 24% | 33% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Mid cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 94% | 100% | 95% | 69% |
| High cloud | 0% | 6% | 16% | 13% | 0% | 10% | 29% | 24% | 49% | 43% | 33% | 32% |
| Temperature | 10 °C | 8 °C | 7 °C | 6 °C | 10 °C | 8 °C | 8 °C | 8 °C | 13 °C | 12 °C | 12 °C | 11 °C |
| Feels like | 10 °C | 8 °C | 7 °C | 5 °C | 9 °C | 7 °C | 8 °C | 7 °C | 13 °C | 12 °C | 12 °C | 11 °C |
| Wind | 0 m/s | 0 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 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 Sault Ste. Marie
The aurora only shows through clear skies, so the weather matters as much as the Kp index. Here is the general forecast for Sault Ste. Marie: temperature, wind and the chance of rain for the coming days.
Planning further ahead? See the hour-by-hour weather forecast for Sault Ste. Marie on Atlas of Seasons.
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What you would see from Sault Ste. Marie
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 | 4° | 11° | 767 km |
| 3 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 8° | 17° | 545 km |
| 4 | Visible to the north | 16° | 30° | 322 km |
| 5 | Visible to the north | 46° | 63° | 100 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 Sault Ste. Marie Only under the auroral oval: northern Norway, Swedish and Finnish Lapland, Iceland, Alaska, northern Canada.
- Kp 3 Unsettled eye in Sault Ste. Marie 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) 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
Bright suburban sky. Strong sky glow washes out faint aurora. Head out of town for anything but a bright display.
A noticeably darker area starts about 5 km to the south. 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 0.8°), 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 Sault Ste. Marie
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
September has been the best month (16% of nights), followed by March (15%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 16% | 67% | 9.1 h | 13° / 18°C |
| October | 11% | 50% | 10.9 h | 8° / 12°C |
| November | 5% | 30% | 12.0 h | 2° / 6°C |
| December | 5% | 33% | 12.9 h | -4° / 0°C |
| January | 8% | 44% | 12.4 h | -9° / -4°C |
| February | 11% | 53% | 11.4 h | -9° / -4°C |
| March | 15% | 58% | 9.9 h | -5° / 0°C |
| April | 9% | 53% | 7.9 h | 0° / 5°C |
Aurora nights in Sault Ste. Marie 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
- Sault Ste Marie Airport (YAM) · 13 km
- Typical low / high in September
- 13° / 18°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 Sault Ste. Marie?
Sault Ste. Marie needs an active night: from about Kp 3.3 the aurora appears low over the north horizon, and it rises higher as activity grows.
Which way should I look for the aurora in Sault Ste. Marie?
Face north (about 356° from true north). At Kp 3.3 the lower edge of the aurora sits roughly 16° above the horizon; stronger activity lifts it higher and further across the sky.
What is the best month to see the aurora in Sault Ste. Marie?
Over 2005–2025, September gave the best odds in Sault Ste. Marie (16% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by March (15%).
When is the aurora season in Sault Ste. Marie?
Sault Ste. Marie 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 Sault Ste. Marie?
Strong sky glow washes out faint aurora. Head out of town for anything but a bright display. A noticeably darker area starts about 5 km to the south.
When was the aurora last possible in Sault Ste. Marie?
Activity last reached storm level (Kp 5 or more) during darkness in Sault Ste. Marie on 4 October 2026 (Kp 5.0) — 944 such nights since 1995. Here the aurora also appears on many quieter nights.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Sault Ste. Marie share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- Fornicola Trailer Park 2 km
- Lake Superior Estates 3 km
- Chippewa Travel Trailer Park 4 km
- Gardenville 5 km
- L and M Trailer Park 5 km
- Riverside Mobile Home Village 5 km
- Shallows 8 km
- Baie de Wasai 9 km
- Brassar 10 km
- Rosedale 13 km
- Township of Sugar Island 13 km
- Dafter 16 km
- Payment 16 km
- Churchville 17 km
- Township of Dafter 17 km
- Bay Mills 19 km
- Township of Bruce 19 km
- McCarron 19 km
- Brimley 20 km
- Mission 20 km
- Donaldson 20 km
- Chippewa County 23 km
- Dorgans Crossing 23 km
- Barbeau 24 km
- Homestead 24 km
- Township of Soo 24 km
- Oak Ridge 25 km
- Westons Iroquois Beach 25 km
- Kinross 28 km
- Township of Superior 29 km
- Dollar Settlement 30 km
- Munuscong 30 km
- Kelden 31 km
- Township of Bay Mills 32 km
- Raco 32 km
- Charter Township of Kinross 34 km
- Stirlingville 34 km
- Township of Pickford 35 km
- Rudyard 35 km
- Pickford 38 km