Montana, United StatesMagnetic latitude 54.0°Population 1,051755 m above sea level
Northern lights in Plains
Plains needs an active night: from about Kp 4.3 the aurora appears low over the north-north-east horizon, and it rises higher as activity grows. Since 1995 storms of Kp 4.7 or more reached this place during darkness on 914 nights.
Right now
It is still light here. Darkness starts at 19:47.
Updates every minute while this page is open.
Tonight in one minute
Maybe — worth a look
- Solar activity Strong enough: Kp 4.7 expected, 4.3 needed here.
- Sky Partly cloudy (42% cloud) — look for gaps.
- Darkness Dark from 19:47 to 07:01. A bright moon (81%) washes out faint displays.
What to do: Go somewhere dark around 00:00, give your eyes 15 minutes to adjust and look north-north-east, low over the horizon.
Thursday 22 October — Good chance · Kp 4.7 · best around 01:30 · Forecast cloud: 42%. · 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 19:22 local time
Good chance
Best around 00:00. Forecast max Kp 4.7 (this place needs 4.3), average cloud 42%.
- Dark enough
- 19:47 – 07:01
- Sunset
- 18:40 · sunrise 08:08
- Moon
- 81% · ↑ 16:45 · ↓ 03:57
- Kp neededKp index: a 0–9 measure of geomagnetic activity. The higher it is, the further from the poles the aurora reaches.
- Kp 4.3
- Kp for photos
- In photos: from Kp 2.7 (a red glow low in the north-north-east).
- Look towards
- north-north-east (14°)
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% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 3% | 19% | 7% | 19% | 26% | 25% |
| Mid cloud | 23% | 6% | 3% | 24% | 29% | 54% | 70% | 69% | 100% | 100% | 88% | 29% |
| High cloud | 56% | 31% | 12% | 8% | 12% | 46% | 71% | 83% | 88% | 29% | 0% | 1% |
| Temperature | 18 °C | 14 °C | 11 °C | 9 °C | 17 °C | 14 °C | 12 °C | 12 °C | 10 °C | 8 °C | 6 °C | 4 °C |
| Feels like | 18 °C | 14 °C | 11 °C | 9 °C | 17 °C | 14 °C | 12 °C | 12 °C | 10 °C | 8 °C | 6 °C | 4 °C |
| Wind | 1 m/s | 0 m/s | 1 m/s | 0 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 1 m/s | 0 m/s | 1 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
Weather in Plains
The aurora only shows through clear skies, so the weather matters as much as the Kp index. Here is the general forecast for Plains: temperature, wind and the chance of rain for the coming days.
Planning further ahead? See the hour-by-hour weather forecast for Plains on Atlas of Seasons.
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What you would see from Plains
Facing north-north-east. 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° | 7° | 945 km |
| 3 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 5° | 12° | 723 km |
| 4 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 10° | 19° | 500 km |
| 5 | Visible to the north-north-east | 19° | 34° | 278 km |
| 6 | Visible to the north-north-east | 62° | 74° | 56 km |
| 7 | Overhead and all around | – | – | – |
| 8 | Overhead, and also to the south-south-west | – | – | – |
| 9 | Overhead, and also to the south-south-west | – | – | – |
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 Only under the auroral oval: northern Norway, Swedish and Finnish Lapland, Iceland, Alaska, northern Canada.
- Kp 3 Unsettled camera in Plains Bright in the Arctic; low on the horizon in central Scandinavia and southern Iceland.
- Kp 4 Active eye in Plains 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
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 Plains
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
September has been the best month (6% of nights), followed by August (4%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 6% | 69% | 9.1 h | 6° / 20°C |
| October | 3% | 48% | 10.9 h | 0° / 11°C |
| November | 1% | 28% | 12.1 h | -6° / 2°C |
| December | 1% | 23% | 12.9 h | -10° / -3°C |
| January | 0.9% | 30% | 12.5 h | -11° / -3°C |
| February | 2% | 29% | 11.4 h | -11° / -2°C |
| March | 2% | 37% | 9.9 h | -7° / 2°C |
| April | 3% | 45% | 7.8 h | -3° / 7°C |
Aurora nights in Plains 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 6.3
- 18 April 2026 · Kp 5.3
- 17 April 2026 · Kp 5.3
- 2 April 2026 · Kp 5.3
- 1 April 2026 · Kp 5.0
Practical information
- Nearest airport
- Missoula Montana Airport (MSO) · 85 km
- Typical low / high in September
- 6° / 20°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 Plains?
Plains needs an active night: from about Kp 4.3 the aurora appears low over the north-north-east horizon, and it rises higher as activity grows.
Which way should I look for the aurora in Plains?
Face north-north-east (about 14° from true north). At Kp 4.3 the lower edge of the aurora sits roughly 19° above the horizon; stronger activity lifts it higher and further across the sky.
What is the best month to see the aurora in Plains?
Over 2005–2025, September gave the best odds in Plains (6% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by August (4%).
When is the aurora season in Plains?
Plains 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 Plains?
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 Plains?
Activity last reached storm level (Kp 5 or more) during darkness in Plains on 4 October 2026 (Kp 5.0) — 914 such nights since 1995. Here the aurora also appears on many quieter nights.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Plains share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- Paradise 10 km
- Blanchards Corner 11 km
- Weeksville 11 km
- Donlan 15 km
- Quinns 16 km
- Knowles 18 km
- Toole 18 km
- Camas Prairie 21 km
- Hopkins 21 km
- Keystone 22 km
- Central Avenue Trailer Court 23 km
- Hot Springs 23 km
- Camas 24 km
- Saint Regis 24 km
- Perma 25 km
- Spring Gulch 27 km
- Old Town 29 km
- Riverview Trailer Park 29 km
- Foraker 30 km
- Superior 30 km
- Oliverville 31 km
- Lonepine 33 km
- Riverbend 34 km
- McDonald 35 km
- Mineral County 36 km
- Westfall 38 km
- Lozeau 39 km