Minnesota, United StatesMagnetic latitude 56.5°Population 1,813233 m above sea level
Northern lights in Silver Bay
From Silver Bay the aurora is visible on most active nights — first low to the north, from about Kp 3.
Right now
The aurora may be in view right now — go outside and look north!
Updates every minute while this page is open.
Tonight in one minute
Yes — good chance tonight
- Solar activity Strong enough: Kp 4.7 expected, 3 needed here.
- Sky Mostly clear (0% cloud).
- Darkness Dark from 19:12 to 06:26. A bright moon (82%) washes out faint displays.
What to do: Go somewhere dark around 03:00, give your eyes 15 minutes to adjust and look north, low over the horizon.
Thursday 22 October — Good chance · Kp 4.7 · best around 02:30 · 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 00:55 local time
Excellent chance
Best around 03:00. Forecast max Kp 4.7 (this place needs 3), average cloud 0%.
- Dark enough
- 19:12 – 06:26
- Sunset
- 18:04 · sunrise 07:35
- Moon
- 82% · ↑ 16:26 · ↓ 03:18
- 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 | Thu, 00 | Thu, 03 | Thu, 06 | Thu, 21 | Fri, 00 | Fri, 03 | Fri, 06 | Fri, 21 | Sat, 00 | Sat, 03 | Sat, 06 | Sat, 21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low cloud | 10% | 20% | 30% | 20% | 37% | 52% | 61% | 4% | 1% | 0% | 0% | 16% |
| Mid cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 99% | 77% | 73% | 76% | 89% |
| High cloud | 0% | 33% | 94% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 55% | 74% | 68% | 45% | 15% |
| Temperature | 8 °C | 7 °C | 7 °C | 8 °C | 7 °C | 7 °C | 7 °C | 11 °C | 12 °C | 12 °C | 12 °C | 14 °C |
| Feels like | 7 °C | 6 °C | 5 °C | 6 °C | 6 °C | 6 °C | 6 °C | 11 °C | 12 °C | 12 °C | 12 °C | 14 °C |
| Wind | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 2 m/s | 4 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 Silver Bay
The aurora only shows through clear skies, so the weather matters as much as the Kp index. Here is the general forecast for Silver Bay: temperature, wind and the chance of rain for the coming days.
Planning further ahead? See the hour-by-hour weather forecast for Silver Bay on Atlas of Seasons.
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Live webcams near Silver Bay
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
- Isle Royale National Park webcams ↗ 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 Silver Bay? Give them a free aurora forecast page and a QR poster for your property. Create a guest page →
What you would see from Silver Bay
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 Silver Bay Only under the auroral oval: northern Norway, Swedish and Finnish Lapland, Iceland, Alaska, northern Canada.
- Kp 3 Unsettled eye in Silver Bay 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
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 south-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 terrain rises to about 6° above the horizon towards the north. That hides low aurora: here you need about Kp 3 instead of Kp 3. A hilltop, shore or open field with a clear view to the north helps.
From elevation data (AWS Terrain Tiles) along seven lines of sight up to 30 km.
Best months to see the aurora in Silver Bay
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
March has been the best month (23% of nights), followed by September (21%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 21% | 55% | 9.1 h | 13° / 18°C |
| October | 17% | 45% | 10.9 h | 7° / 11°C |
| November | 11% | 31% | 12.1 h | 1° / 5°C |
| December | 8% | 33% | 12.9 h | -5° / -1°C |
| January | 16% | 48% | 12.5 h | -9° / -5°C |
| February | 20% | 57% | 11.4 h | -10° / -5°C |
| March | 23% | 55% | 9.9 h | -4° / 1°C |
| April | 10% | 40% | 7.8 h | 1° / 6°C |
Aurora nights in Silver Bay 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) · 87 km
- Typical low / high in March
- -4° / 1°C
- What to wear
- Below freezing at night: thermal layers, a warm jacket, hat, gloves and winter boots. 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 Silver Bay?
From Silver Bay 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 Silver Bay?
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 Silver Bay?
Over 2005–2025, March gave the best odds in Silver Bay (23% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by September (21%).
When is the aurora season in Silver Bay?
Silver Bay 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 Silver Bay?
Little artificial light. Faint displays are visible once your eyes have adapted. A noticeably darker area starts about 5 km to the south-south-east.
When was the aurora last possible in Silver Bay?
Activity last reached storm level (Kp 5 or more) during darkness in Silver Bay on 4 October 2026 (Kp 5.0) — 931 such nights since 1995. Here the aurora also appears on many quieter nights.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Silver Bay share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- City of Silver Bay 2 km
- East Beaver Bay 4 km
- Beaver Bay 5 km
- City of Beaver Bay 5 km
- Lax Lake 7 km
- Illgen City 8 km
- Township of Beaver Bay 10 km
- Kennedy Landing 12 km
- Finland 13 km
- Bell Harbor 14 km
- Little Marais Postoffice 15 km
- Little Marais 17 km
- Maple 20 km
- Beaver Crossing 21 km
- Township of Silver Creek 22 km
- Murphy City 24 km
- Baptism Crossing 27 km
- Lake County 28 km
- Cramer 29 km
- Darby Junction 29 km
- Greenwood Junction 29 km
- Norshor Junction 29 km
- Scott Junction 29 km
- Whyte 29 km
- Jordan 30 km
- Manitou Junction 30 km
- McNair 31 km
- Winter 31 km
- Jay See Landing 33 km
- Isabella 37 km
- Township of Crystal Bay 38 km