Minnesota, United StatesMagnetic latitude 56.5°Population 16,204455 m above sea level
Northern lights in Hibbing
From Hibbing the aurora is visible on most active nights — first low to the north, from about Kp 3.
Right now
It is still light here. Darkness starts at 19:19.
Updates every minute while this page is open.
Tonight in one minute
Yes — good chance tonight
- Solar activity Strong enough: Kp 3.7 expected, 3 needed here.
- Sky Mostly clear (0% cloud).
- Darkness Dark from 19:19 to 06:33. A bright moon (77%) washes out faint displays.
What to do: Go somewhere dark around 22:00, give your eyes 15 minutes to adjust and look north, low over the horizon.
Wednesday 21 October — Good chance · Kp 3.7 · best around 23:30 · Forecast cloud: 0%. · 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 08:26 local time
Excellent chance
Best around 22:00. Forecast max Kp 3.7 (this place needs 3), average cloud 0%.
- Dark enough
- 19:19 – 06:33
- Sunset
- 18:12 · sunrise 07:40
- Moon
- 77% · ↑ 16:17 · ↓ 03:25
- 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 (2°)
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% | 10% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 15% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Mid cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 100% | 98% | 81% | 68% |
| High cloud | 0% | 11% | 20% | 11% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 57% | 64% | 62% | 50% |
| Temperature | 11 °C | 9 °C | 7 °C | 6 °C | 12 °C | 11 °C | 10 °C | 10 °C | 17 °C | 17 °C | 16 °C | 16 °C |
| Feels like | 11 °C | 9 °C | 7 °C | 5 °C | 12 °C | 11 °C | 10 °C | 8 °C | 17 °C | 17 °C | 16 °C | 16 °C |
| Wind | 2 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 2 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 6 m/s | 6 m/s | 6 m/s | 7 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 Hibbing
The aurora only shows through clear skies, so the weather matters as much as the Kp index. Here is the general forecast for Hibbing: temperature, wind and the chance of rain for the coming days.
Planning further ahead? See the hour-by-hour weather forecast for Hibbing on Atlas of Seasons.
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 Hibbing
Check the sky for yourself: public cameras within 300 km. They open on the camera owner's website.
- Gunflint Trail dark sky cam (Chik-Wauk) ↗ Open the live camera (opens in a new tab) All-sky
- Grand Marais harbor, Lake Superior ↗ Open the live camera (opens in a new tab) Scenic
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 Hibbing? Give them a free aurora forecast page and a QR poster for your property. Create a guest page →
What you would see from Hibbing
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 | 6° | 13° | 667 km |
| 3 | Visible to the north | 11° | 22° | 445 km |
| 4 | Visible to the north | 24° | 41° | 222 km |
| 5 | Overhead and all around | – | – | – |
| 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 Hibbing Only under the auroral oval: northern Norway, Swedish and Finnish Lapland, Iceland, Alaska, northern Canada.
- Kp 3 Unsettled eye in Hibbing 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
Rural to suburban. Some sky glow from nearby lights. Moderate displays are fine; faint ones are easier a few kilometres out.
A noticeably darker area starts about 5 km to the 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 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 Hibbing
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
February has been the best month (25% of nights), followed by March (24%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 23% | 67% | 9.1 h | 10° / 22°C |
| October | 19% | 51% | 10.9 h | 2° / 12°C |
| November | 13% | 37% | 12.1 h | -6° / 3°C |
| December | 11% | 37% | 12.9 h | -14° / -6°C |
| January | 19% | 56% | 12.5 h | -19° / -9°C |
| February | 25% | 66% | 11.4 h | -18° / -7°C |
| March | 24% | 58% | 9.9 h | -8° / 2°C |
| April | 14% | 54% | 7.8 h | -1° / 10°C |
Aurora nights in Hibbing 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
- Range Regional Airport (HIB) · 9 km
- Typical low / high in February
- -18° / -7°C
- What to wear
- Arctic cold: wool base layers, insulated jacket and trousers, warm boots, hat and mittens. 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 Hibbing?
From Hibbing 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 Hibbing?
Face north (about 2° from true north). At Kp 3 the lower edge of the aurora sits roughly 11° above the horizon; stronger activity lifts it higher and further across the sky.
What is the best month to see the aurora in Hibbing?
Over 2005–2025, February gave the best odds in Hibbing (25% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by March (24%).
When is the aurora season in Hibbing?
Hibbing 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 Hibbing?
Some sky glow from nearby lights. Moderate displays are fine; faint ones are easier a few kilometres out. A noticeably darker area starts about 5 km to the west.
When was the aurora last possible in Hibbing?
Activity last reached storm level (Kp 5 or more) during darkness in Hibbing on 4 October 2026 (Kp 5.0) — 930 such nights since 1995. Here the aurora also appears on many quieter nights.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Hibbing share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- Brooklyn 2 km
- Ruby Junction 2 km
- Olson's Mobile Home Park 2 km
- City of Hibbing 3 km
- Kerr 3 km
- Redore 3 km
- Birch Lane Mobile Home Park 3 km
- Kitzville 4 km
- Leetonia 4 km
- Mahoning 4 km
- Mitchell 4 km
- Kelly Lake 5 km
- Lavinia 5 km
- Dunwoody Junction 6 km
- Country Estates Mobile Home Park 6 km
- Riley 7 km
- Wilpen 8 km
- Scott 13 km
- Township of Cherry 14 km
- Onega 15 km
- Sherwood 15 km
- Little Swan 17 km
- Cherry 18 km
- Unorganized Territory of McCormack 18 km
- Silica 19 km
- Bengal 20 km
- Unorganized Territory of Janette Lake 21 km
- Township of Lavell 21 km
- Casco 26 km
- Hull 26 km
- Side Lake 27 km
- Township of French 28 km
- Township of Goodland 29 km
- Township of McDavitt 29 km
- Zim 29 km
- Toivola 30 km
- Township of Toivola 32 km
- Township of Cedar Valley 35 km
- Sax 35 km
- Township of Bearville 36 km