Missouri, United StatesMagnetic latitude 47.4°Population 20,019342 m above sea level
Can you see the northern lights in Rolla?
Only severe geomagnetic storms (Kp 7.3 or more) bring the aurora into view from Rolla — a few nights per solar cycle, low in the north. Since 1995 that level (Kp 7.3) was reached during darkness here on 54 nights.
Right now
Quiet right now (Kp 0.3).
Latest measured half-hour activity worldwide: Hp30 1.
Updates every minute while this page is open. Ground data: GFZ Potsdam Hp30 index (CC BY 4.0).
Tonight in one minute
Not tonight
- Solar activity Too weak: Kp 1.7 expected, 7.3 needed here.
- Sky Mostly clear (0% cloud).
- Darkness Dark from 19:23 to 06:21.
What to do: Not tonight — your next chance is shown just below.
Saturday 17 October — No · Kp 1.7 · 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 23:12 local time
Unlikely
Best around 23:00. Forecast max Kp 1.7 (this place needs 7.3), average cloud 0%.
- Dark enough
- 19:23 – 06:21
- Sunset
- 18:26 · sunrise 07:18
- Moon
- 45% · ↑ 14:35 · ↓ 23:19
- Kp neededKp index: a 0–9 measure of geomagnetic activity. The higher it is, the further from the poles the aurora reaches.
- Kp 7.3
- Kp for photos
- In photos: from Kp 5.7 (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 | Sat, 23 | Sun, 02 | Sun, 05 | Sun, 20 | Sun, 23 | Mon, 02 | Mon, 05 | Mon, 20 | Mon, 23 | Tue, 02 | Tue, 05 | Tue, 20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Mid cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 28% | 14% | 14% | 36% | 13% |
| High cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 6% | 34% | 51% | 54% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Temperature | 6 °C | 4 °C | 3 °C | 10 °C | 8 °C | 6 °C | 5 °C | 13 °C | 11 °C | 9 °C | 8 °C | 14 °C |
| Feels like | 4 °C | 2 °C | 0 °C | 10 °C | 6 °C | 4 °C | 3 °C | 13 °C | 11 °C | 8 °C | 7 °C | 14 °C |
| Wind | 2 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 1 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
Seeing it right now?
Tell others in Missouri. 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.
What you would see from Rolla
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 | -4° | -1° | 1,679 km |
| 3 | Below the horizon | -2° | 1° | 1,457 km |
| 4 | Below the horizon | -1° | 3° | 1,234 km |
| 5 | Below the horizon | 1° | 6° | 1,012 km |
| 6 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 4° | 10° | 790 km |
| 7 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 8° | 17° | 567 km |
| 8 | Visible to the north | 15° | 28° | 345 km |
| 9 | Visible to the north | 40° | 58° | 122 km |
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 next 24 h 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) Scotland, southern Scandinavia, the Baltic states, the northern US states and southern Canada.
- Kp 6 Moderate storm (G2) camera in Rolla Northern England, Denmark, northern Germany and Poland, the US Midwest — often clearer in photos than to the eye.
- Kp 7 Strong storm (G3) eye in Rolla 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
Bright suburban sky. Strong sky glow washes out faint aurora. Head out of town for anything but a bright display.
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 Rolla
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
Activity of Kp 7.3 or more is too rare here for monthly odds to be meaningful. The table still shows how often nights are clear and dark.
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 0.3% | 76% | 9.6 h | 15° / 29°C |
| October | 0.3% | 72% | 10.9 h | 8° / 21°C |
| November | 0.3% | 67% | 11.9 h | 2° / 14°C |
| December | 0% | 52% | 12.1 h | -3° / 8°C |
| January | 0.2% | 56% | 11.9 h | -5° / 5°C |
| February | 0% | 60% | 11.0 h | -4° / 7°C |
| March | 0.2% | 57% | 10.1 h | 2° / 14°C |
| April | 0.2% | 63% | 8.6 h | 7° / 19°C |
Aurora nights in Rolla since 1995
Nights when Kp reached 7.3 or more while it was dark here.
Most recent strong nights
- 20 January 2026 · Kp 7.3
- 19 January 2026 · Kp 7.7
- 12 November 2025 · Kp 7.3
- 11 November 2025 · Kp 8.7
- 31 May 2025 · Kp 7.7
- 10 October 2024 · Kp 8.3
- 16 September 2024 · Kp 7.3
- 10 May 2024 · Kp 8.3
Practical information
- Nearest airport
- Waynesville-St. Robert Regional Airport-Forney Field (TBN) · 40 km
- Typical low / high in May
- 13° / 24°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 Rolla?
Only severe geomagnetic storms (Kp 7.3 or more) bring the aurora into view from Rolla — a few nights per solar cycle, low in the north.
Which way should I look for the aurora in Rolla?
Face north (about 2° from true north). At Kp 7.3 the lower edge of the aurora sits roughly 15° above the horizon; stronger activity lifts it higher and further across the sky.
When is the aurora season in Rolla?
Rolla 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 Rolla?
Strong sky glow washes out faint aurora. Head out of town for anything but a bright display.
When was the aurora last possible in Rolla?
The most recent night in our data when activity reached the level Rolla needs, during darkness, was 20 January 2026 (Kp 7.3). It has happened on 54 nights since 1995.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Rolla share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- Northwye 3 km
- Township of Rolla 4 km
- Dillon 7 km
- Township of Dillon 7 km
- Phelps County 8 km
- Township of Miller 9 km
- Doolittle 10 km
- Vida 11 km
- Dean Ford 12 km
- Newburg 12 km
- Township of Cold Spring 13 km
- Davis Ford 14 km
- Saint James 15 km
- Township of Arlington 16 km
- Schundler 16 km
- Flag Spring 17 km
- Arlington 18 km
- Boys Town of Missouri 18 km
- Jerome 18 km
- Township of Johnson 18 km
- Safe 18 km
- Township of Spring Creek 18 km
- Sugartree 18 km
- Vichy 18 km
- Township of Meramec 19 km
- Stickney 19 km
- Yancy Mills 19 km
- Lake Spring 20 km
- Lecoma 20 km
- Township of Liberty 20 km
- Table Rock 20 km
- Township of Dry Creek 22 km
- Lois 22 km
- Powellville 22 km
- Seaton 22 km
- Clementine 23 km
- Franks 23 km
- Hayden 23 km
- Rosati 23 km
- Three Island Resort 23 km