Minnesota, United StatesMagnetic latitude 55.3°Population 2,768332 m above sea level
Northern lights in Sandstone
Sandstone needs an active night: from about Kp 3.7 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 933 nights.
Right now
It is still light here. Darkness starts at 19:21.
Latest measured half-hour activity worldwide: Hp30 3.3.
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 4.7 expected, 3.7 needed here.
- Sky Mostly clear (33% cloud).
- Darkness Dark from 19:21 to 06:31.
What to do: Go somewhere dark around 19:00, give your eyes 15 minutes to adjust and look north, low over the horizon.
Wednesday 21 October — Good chance · Kp 4.7 · best around 02:30 · Forecast cloud: 33%. · 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 11:52 local time
Excellent chance
Best around 19:00. Forecast max Kp 4.7 (this place needs 3.7), average cloud 33%.
- Dark enough
- 19:21 – 06:31
- Sunset
- 18:16 · sunrise 07:36
- Moon
- 69% · ↑ 15:56 · ↓ 02:16
- Kp neededKp index: a 0–9 measure of geomagnetic activity. The higher it is, the further from the poles the aurora reaches.
- Kp 3.7
- Kp for photos
- In photos: from Kp 2 (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 | Tue, 19 | Tue, 22 | Wed, 01 | Wed, 04 | Wed, 19 | Wed, 22 | Thu, 01 | Thu, 04 | Thu, 19 | Thu, 22 | Fri, 01 | Fri, 04 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Mid cloud | 0% | 17% | 35% | 43% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 8% |
| High cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 12% | 22% | 12% |
| Temperature | 12 °C | 11 °C | 10 °C | 8 °C | 13 °C | 11 °C | 9 °C | 7 °C | 15 °C | 13 °C | 12 °C | 11 °C |
| Feels like | 12 °C | 11 °C | 8 °C | 7 °C | 13 °C | 11 °C | 8 °C | 6 °C | 15 °C | 13 °C | 12 °C | 11 °C |
| Wind | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 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 Sandstone
The aurora only shows through clear skies, so the weather matters as much as the Kp index. Here is the general forecast for Sandstone: temperature, wind and the chance of rain for the coming days.
Planning further ahead? See the hour-by-hour weather forecast for Sandstone on Atlas of Seasons.
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Live webcams near Sandstone
Check the sky for yourself: public cameras within 300 km. They open on the camera owner's website.
- 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 Sandstone? Give them a free aurora forecast page and a QR poster for your property. Create a guest page →
What you would see from Sandstone
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° | 10° | 801 km |
| 3 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 8° | 16° | 578 km |
| 4 | Visible to the north | 15° | 27° | 356 km |
| 5 | Visible to the north | 37° | 55° | 133 km |
| 6 | Overhead and all around | – | – | – |
| 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 Sandstone 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 eye in Sandstone 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
Dark rural sky. Little artificial light. Faint displays are visible once your eyes have adapted.
A noticeably darker area starts about 5 km to the east-south-east. 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 0.3°), 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 Sandstone
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% | 69% | 9.1 h | 11° / 22°C |
| October | 12% | 55% | 10.9 h | 3° / 13°C |
| November | 7% | 45% | 12.0 h | -5° / 4°C |
| December | 6% | 41% | 12.6 h | -13° / -5°C |
| January | 8% | 58% | 12.4 h | -18° / -8°C |
| February | 13% | 66% | 11.4 h | -16° / -6°C |
| March | 15% | 59% | 9.9 h | -7° / 4°C |
| April | 8% | 53% | 7.9 h | 0° / 11°C |
Aurora nights in Sandstone 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
- Duluth International Airport (DLH) · 94 km
- Typical low / high in September
- 11° / 22°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 Sandstone?
Sandstone needs an active night: from about Kp 3.7 the aurora appears low over the north horizon, and it rises higher as activity grows.
Which way should I look for the aurora in Sandstone?
Face north (about 4° from true north). At Kp 3.7 the lower edge of the aurora sits roughly 15° above the horizon; stronger activity lifts it higher and further across the sky.
What is the best month to see the aurora in Sandstone?
Over 2005–2025, September gave the best odds in Sandstone (16% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by March (15%).
When is the aurora season in Sandstone?
Sandstone 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 Sandstone?
Little artificial light. Faint displays are visible once your eyes have adapted. A noticeably darker area starts about 5 km to the east-south-east.
When was the aurora last possible in Sandstone?
Activity last reached storm level (Kp 5 or more) during darkness in Sandstone 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 Sandstone share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- Johnson's Sunset Mobile Home Park 1 km
- City of Sandstone 1 km
- Banning 3 km
- Groningen 5 km
- Friesland 7 km
- Township of Sandstone 7 km
- Township of Finlayson 8 km
- Askov 9 km
- City of Askov 9 km
- Township of Dell Grove 9 km
- Finlayson 9 km
- City of Finlayson 9 km
- Pine County 10 km
- Township of Pine Lake 12 km
- Township of Partridge 13 km
- City of Rutledge 14 km
- Township of Arlone 15 km
- Rutledge 15 km
- Township of Kettle River 18 km
- Township of Danforth 19 km
- Township of Bremen 20 km
- Township of Fleming 21 km
- Giese 21 km
- Township of Wagner 21 km
- Township of Clover 23 km
- Ellson 23 km
- Duxbury 28 km
- Township of Millward 29 km
- Township of Wilma 29 km
- Solana 30 km
- Township of Williams 30 km
- McGrath 33 km
- Township of Ogema 33 km
- City of McGrath 34 km
- Township of Pliny 34 km
- Dads Corner 38 km
- Township of Arna 39 km