Minnesota, United StatesMagnetic latitude 57.7°Population 1,063331 m above sea level
Northern lights in Baudette
From Baudette the aurora is visible on most active nights — first low to the north, from about Kp 2.3.
Right now
It is still light here. Darkness starts at 19:29.
Latest measured half-hour activity worldwide: Hp30 0.
Updates every minute while this page is open. Ground data: GFZ Potsdam Hp30 index (CC BY 4.0).
Tonight in one minute
Yes — good chance tonight
- Solar activity Strong enough: Kp 4.7 expected, 2.3 needed here.
- Sky Mostly clear (14% cloud).
- Darkness Dark from 19:29 to 06:37.
What to do: Go somewhere dark around 03:00, give your eyes 15 minutes to adjust and look north, low over the horizon.
Monday 19 October — Good chance · Kp 4.7 · best around 23:30 · Forecast cloud: 14%. · Reliability: medium
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 09:31 local time
Excellent chance
Best around 03:00. Forecast max Kp 4.7 (this place needs 2.3), average cloud 14%.
- Dark enough
- 19:29 – 06:37
- Sunset
- 18:20 · sunrise 07:46
- Moon
- 59% · ↑ 15:50 · ↓ 01:06
- Kp neededKp index: a 0–9 measure of geomagnetic activity. The higher it is, the further from the poles the aurora reaches.
- Kp 2.3
- Kp for photos
- In photos: from Kp 0.7 (a red glow low in the north).
- Look towards
- north (4°)
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 | Mon, 19 | Mon, 22 | Tue, 01 | Tue, 04 | Tue, 19 | Tue, 22 | Wed, 01 | Wed, 04 | Wed, 19 | Wed, 22 | Thu, 01 | Thu, 04 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Mid cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| High cloud | 11% | 22% | 29% | 18% | 40% | 59% | 65% | 34% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Temperature | 8 °C | 6 °C | 5 °C | 4 °C | 13 °C | 11 °C | 10 °C | 8 °C | 10 °C | 8 °C | 7 °C | 6 °C |
| Feels like | 6 °C | 4 °C | 3 °C | 1 °C | 13 °C | 11 °C | 10 °C | 8 °C | 9 °C | 7 °C | 6 °C | 4 °C |
| Wind | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 1 m/s | 2 m/s | 1 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 Baudette
The aurora only shows through clear skies, so the weather matters as much as the Kp index. Here is the general forecast for Baudette: temperature, wind and the chance of rain for the coming days.
Seeing it right now?
Tell others in Minnesota. Reports from real visitors move a place up the live ranking.
Reports are anonymous: we do not store your IP address or location. One report per place every few hours.
Live webcams near Baudette
Check the sky for yourself: public cameras within 300 km. They open on the camera owner's website.
These cameras belong to their owners — we only link to them. Most show little in daylight or under cloud, and some pause in summer.
What you would see from Baudette
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 | 9° | 18° | 534 km |
| 3 | Visible to the north | 17° | 31° | 311 km |
| 4 | Visible to the north | 49° | 65° | 89 km |
| 5 | Overhead and all around | – | – | – |
| 6 | Overhead, and also to the south | – | – | – |
| 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 eye in Baudette camera in Baudette 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 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 west-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
Terrain is not modelled for this place.
From elevation data (AWS Terrain Tiles) along seven lines of sight up to 30 km.
Best months to see the aurora in Baudette
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
February has been the best month (30% of nights), followed by March (27%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 26% | 63% | 9.0 h | 11° / 20°C |
| October | 24% | 49% | 10.8 h | 3° / 10°C |
| November | 13% | 35% | 12.3 h | -7° / 0°C |
| December | 17% | 45% | 13.0 h | -17° / -9°C |
| January | 24% | 58% | 12.8 h | -21° / -11°C |
| February | 30% | 62% | 11.4 h | -20° / -9°C |
| March | 27% | 57% | 9.8 h | -9° / 1°C |
| April | 18% | 54% | 7.8 h | 0° / 9°C |
Aurora nights in Baudette 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
- Fort Frances Municipal Airport (YAG) · 85 km
- Typical low / high in February
- -20° / -9°C
- What to wear
- Extreme cold: insulated boots, down jacket, two layers of wool, face protection, chemical hand warmers. 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 Baudette?
From Baudette the aurora is visible on most active nights — first low to the north, from about Kp 2.3.
Which way should I look for the aurora in Baudette?
Face north (about 4° from true north). At Kp 2.3 the lower edge of the aurora sits roughly 17° above the horizon; stronger activity lifts it higher and further across the sky.
What is the best month to see the aurora in Baudette?
Over 2005–2025, February gave the best odds in Baudette (30% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by March (27%).
When is the aurora season in Baudette?
Baudette 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 Baudette?
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 west-north-west.
When was the aurora last possible in Baudette?
Activity last reached storm level (Kp 5 or more) during darkness in Baudette on 4 October 2026 (Kp 5.0) — 924 such nights since 1995. Here the aurora also appears on many quieter nights.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Baudette share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- City of Baudette 1 km
- Judy's East Side Trailer Park 2 km
- Township of Spooner 5 km
- Township of Baudette 6 km
- Township of Gudrid 9 km
- Pitt 10 km
- Clementson 12 km
- Township of Walhalla 12 km
- Township of Wabanica 13 km
- Hackett 14 km
- Township of Boone 14 km
- Wheelers Point 16 km
- Township of Rapid River 16 km
- Graceton 18 km
- Township of Rulien 18 km
- Township of Wheeler 18 km
- Central 19 km
- Township of McDougald 22 km
- Township of Potamo 22 km
- Carp 23 km
- Lake of the Woods County 23 km
- Border 24 km
- Township of Swiftwater 24 km
- Township 158-30 25 km
- Frontier 26 km
- Township of Victory 26 km
- Township of Zippel 26 km
- Williams 27 km
- City of Williams 27 km
- Faunce 29 km
- Wayland 34 km
- Township 157-30 34 km
- Township of Kiel 34 km
- Birchdale 38 km
- Township of Forest Area 38 km