North Dakota, United StatesMagnetic latitude 57.4°Population 2,343499 m above sea level
Northern lights in Bottineau
From Bottineau the aurora is visible on most active nights — first low to the north, from about Kp 2.3.
Right now
It is still light here. Darkness starts at 19:49.
Updates every minute while this page is open.
Tonight in one minute
Yes — good chance tonight
- Solar activity Strong enough: Kp 4 expected, 2.3 needed here.
- Sky Mostly clear (22% cloud).
- Darkness Dark from 19:49 to 07:04. A bright moon (80%) washes out faint displays.
What to do: Go somewhere dark around 22:00, give your eyes 15 minutes to adjust and look north, low over the horizon.
Wednesday 21 October — Good chance · Kp 4 · best around 20:30 · Forecast cloud: 22%. · 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 17:24 local time
Excellent chance
Best around 22:00. Forecast max Kp 4.0 (this place needs 2.3), average cloud 22%.
- Dark enough
- 19:49 – 07:04
- Sunset
- 18:40 · sunrise 08:13
- Moon
- 80% · ↑ 16:49 · ↓ 03:55
- Kp neededKp index: a 0–9 measure of geomagnetic activity. The higher it is, the further from the poles the aurora reaches.
- Kp 2.3
- Kp for photos
- In photos: from Kp 0.7 (a red glow low in the north).
- Look towards
- north (8°)
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% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 23% |
| Mid cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 12% | 21% | 8% | 5% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| High cloud | 29% | 16% | 0% | 5% | 0% | 42% | 80% | 64% | 42% | 20% | 0% | 0% |
| Temperature | 10 °C | 9 °C | 8 °C | 7 °C | 17 °C | 15 °C | 13 °C | 12 °C | 18 °C | 18 °C | 16 °C | 12 °C |
| Feels like | 10 °C | 7 °C | 5 °C | 4 °C | 17 °C | 15 °C | 13 °C | 12 °C | 18 °C | 18 °C | 16 °C | 12 °C |
| Wind | 3 m/s | 4 m/s | 4 m/s | 4 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 5 m/s | 5 m/s | 5 m/s | 6 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 Bottineau
The aurora only shows through clear skies, so the weather matters as much as the Kp index. Here is the general forecast for Bottineau: temperature, wind and the chance of rain for the coming days.
Planning further ahead? See the hour-by-hour weather forecast for Bottineau on Atlas of Seasons.
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What you would see from Bottineau
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 | 8° | 17° | 567 km |
| 3 | Visible to the north | 15° | 28° | 345 km |
| 4 | Visible to the north | 40° | 58° | 122 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 eye in Bottineau camera in Bottineau 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) 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
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 north. 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 1.2°), 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 Bottineau
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
February has been the best month (32% of nights), followed by September (28%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 28% | 69% | 9.0 h | 8° / 21°C |
| October | 27% | 57% | 10.8 h | 0° / 11°C |
| November | 20% | 44% | 12.4 h | -7° / 1°C |
| December | 20% | 54% | 13.1 h | -16° / -8°C |
| January | 23% | 61% | 12.8 h | -19° / -9°C |
| February | 32% | 67% | 11.4 h | -18° / -8°C |
| March | 22% | 53% | 9.6 h | -9° / 2°C |
| April | 20% | 57% | 7.8 h | -2° / 11°C |
Aurora nights in Bottineau 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
- Minot International Airport (MOT) · 88 km
- Typical low / high in February
- -18° / -8°C
- What to wear
- Arctic cold: wool base layers, insulated jacket and trousers, warm boots, hat and mittens. 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 Bottineau?
From Bottineau the aurora is visible on most active nights — first low to the north, from about Kp 2.3.
Which way should I look for the aurora in Bottineau?
Face north (about 8° from true north). At Kp 2.3 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 Bottineau?
Over 2005–2025, February gave the best odds in Bottineau (32% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by September (28%).
When is the aurora season in Bottineau?
Bottineau 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 Bottineau?
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 north.
When was the aurora last possible in Bottineau?
Activity last reached storm level (Kp 5 or more) during darkness in Bottineau on 4 October 2026 (Kp 5.0) — 920 such nights since 1995. Here the aurora also appears on many quieter nights.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Bottineau share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- City of Bottineau 0 km
- Township of Whitteron 5 km
- Township of Pickering 6 km
- Township of Amity 9 km
- Township of Oak Valley 9 km
- Carbury 10 km
- Township of Dalen 14 km
- Township of Roland 14 km
- Township of Cordelia 15 km
- Gardena 15 km
- City of Gardena 15 km
- Omemee 15 km
- Township of Peabody 15 km
- Township of Lordsburg 16 km
- Township of Whitby 16 km
- Township of Oak Creek 17 km
- Township of Willow Vale 19 km
- Belmar 20 km
- Township of Elysian 20 km
- Township of Haram 20 km
- Township of Homen 20 km
- Souris 20 km
- City of Souris 20 km
- White 20 km
- Tasco 21 km
- Township of Cecil 24 km
- Kramer 24 km
- City of Kramer 24 km
- Township of Starbuck 26 km
- Township of Stone Creek 26 km
- Township of Eidsvold 27 km
- Township of Scandia 27 km
- City of Willow City 27 km
- Willow City 27 km
- Township of Willow Creek 27 km
- Township of Ostby 28 km
- Roth 28 km
- Bottineau County 29 km
- Township of Mouse River 29 km
- Cole Ford 33 km