Minnesota, United StatesMagnetic latitude 54.2°Population 1,785313 m above sea level
Northern lights in Maple Plain
Maple Plain 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 that level (Kp 4.7) was reached during darkness here on 933 nights.
Right now
It is still light here. Darkness starts at 19:31.
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
Yes — good chance tonight
- Solar activity Strong enough: Kp 4 expected, 4 needed here.
- Sky Mostly clear (0% cloud).
- Darkness Dark from 19:31 to 06:29.
What to do: Go somewhere dark around 20:00, give your eyes 15 minutes to adjust and look north, low over the horizon.
- Detailed forecast Fri 16 4 Good chance · Kp 4
- Sat 17 1.7 No · Kp 1.7
- 27-day trend Sun 18 2 No · Kp 2
- Mon 19 2 No · Kp 2
- Tue 20 3 Photos only · Kp 3
- Wed 21 4 Good chance · Kp 4
- Thu 22 4 Possible · Kp 4
- Fri 23 3 Photos only · Kp 3
- Sat 24 2 No · Kp 2
- Sun 25 2 No · Kp 2
- Mon 26 2 No · Kp 2
- Tue 27 2 No · Kp 2
- Wed 28 2 No · Kp 2
- Thu 29 2 No · Kp 2
- Fri 30 5 Good chance · Kp 5
- Sat 31 5 Good chance · Kp 5
- Sun 1 3 Photos only · Kp 3
- Mon 2 2 No · Kp 2
- Tue 3 2 No · Kp 2
- Wed 4 2 No · Kp 2
- Thu 5 3 Photos only · Kp 3
- Fri 6 3 Photos only · Kp 3
Friday 16 October — Good chance · Kp 4 · best around 20:30 · Forecast cloud: 0%. · 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 17:14 local time
Good chance
Best around 20:00. Forecast max Kp 4.0 (this place needs 4), average cloud 0%.
- Dark enough
- 19:31 – 06:29
- Sunset
- 18:27 · sunrise 07:33
- Moon
- 34% · ↑ 13:53 · ↓ 21:58
- 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 (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 | Fri, 19 | Fri, 22 | Sat, 01 | Sat, 04 | Sat, 19 | Sat, 22 | Sun, 01 | Sun, 04 | Sun, 19 | Sun, 22 | Mon, 01 | Mon, 04 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low cloud | 0% | 0% | 2% | 1% | 0% | 1% | 0% | 0% | 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% | 5% | 5% | 0% |
| Temperature | 7 °C | 4 °C | 3 °C | 2 °C | 10 °C | 8 °C | 7 °C | 6 °C | 13 °C | 11 °C | 9 °C | 8 °C |
| Feels like | 4 °C | 1 °C | -1 °C | -2 °C | 5 °C | 3 °C | 2 °C | 1 °C | 9 °C | 7 °C | 6 °C | 5 °C |
| Wind | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 3 m/s | 6 m/s | 6 m/s | 6 m/s | 6 m/s | 4 m/s | 4 m/s | 4 m/s | 3 m/s |
| Visibility | 40 km | 30 km | 20 km | 18 km | 23 km | 21 km | 21 km | 22 km | 24 km | 24 km | 24 km | 24 km |
Cloud layers and weather: Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0).
Score = activity (NOAA Kp and OVATION) × clear sky (MET Norway) × darkness × moonlight. Methodology
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What you would see from Maple Plain
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° | 923 km |
| 3 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 5° | 13° | 701 km |
| 4 | Visible to the north | 10° | 20° | 478 km |
| 5 | Visible to the north | 21° | 36° | 256 km |
| 6 | Visible to the north | 72° | 80° | 33 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 Maple Plain 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 next 24 h eye in Maple Plain 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
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. 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 0.1°), 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 Maple Plain
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
September has been the best month (14% of nights), followed by March (11%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 14% | 75% | 9.1 h | 11° / 23°C |
| October | 9% | 60% | 10.9 h | 4° / 15°C |
| November | 7% | 51% | 12.0 h | -4° / 6°C |
| December | 4% | 43% | 12.6 h | -11° / -3°C |
| January | 5% | 59% | 12.4 h | -16° / -6°C |
| February | 10% | 67% | 11.4 h | -14° / -4°C |
| March | 11% | 61% | 9.9 h | -5° / 6°C |
| April | 7% | 57% | 8.1 h | 1° / 13°C |
Aurora nights in Maple Plain 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
- Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport / Wold–Chamberlain Field (MSP) · 37 km
- Typical low / high in September
- 11° / 23°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 Maple Plain?
Maple Plain 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 Maple Plain?
Face north (about 4° 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 Maple Plain?
Over 2005–2025, September gave the best odds in Maple Plain (14% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by March (11%).
When is the aurora season in Maple Plain?
Maple Plain 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 Maple Plain?
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.
When was the aurora last possible in Maple Plain?
Activity last reached storm level (Kp 5 or more) during darkness in Maple Plain on 4 October 2026 (Kp 5.0) — 933 such nights since 1995. Here the aurora also appears on many quieter nights.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Maple Plain share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- City of Maple Plain 0 km