North Dakota, United StatesMagnetic latitude 55.2°Population 23,765735 m above sea level
Northern lights in Dickinson
Dickinson 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 923 nights.
Right now
Activity is high enough for a camera right now: point your phone north, low over the horizon.
Updates every minute while this page is open.
Tonight in one minute
Yes — good chance tonight
- Solar activity Strong enough: Kp 4.7 expected, 3.7 needed here.
- Sky Mostly clear (5% cloud).
- Darkness Dark from 18:59 to 06:12. A bright moon (82%) washes out faint displays.
What to do: Go somewhere dark around 00:00, give your eyes 15 minutes to adjust and look north, low over the horizon.
Thursday 22 October — Good chance · Kp 4.7 · best around 01:30 · Forecast cloud: 5%. · 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 23:57 local time
Excellent chance
Best around 00:00. Forecast max Kp 4.7 (this place needs 3.7), average cloud 5%.
- Dark enough
- 18:59 – 06:12
- Sunset
- 17:51 · sunrise 07:20
- Moon
- 82% · ↑ 16:13 · ↓ 03:07
- 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 (10°)
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, 23 | Thu, 02 | Thu, 05 | Thu, 20 | Thu, 23 | Fri, 02 | Fri, 05 | Fri, 20 | Fri, 23 | Sat, 02 | Sat, 05 | Sat, 20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Mid cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 22% | 3% | 2% | 13% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| High cloud | 0% | 6% | 17% | 93% | 61% | 68% | 96% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Temperature | 12 °C | 10 °C | 10 °C | 18 °C | 16 °C | 14 °C | 13 °C | 18 °C | 10 °C | 6 °C | 4 °C | 5 °C |
| Feels like | 12 °C | 10 °C | 8 °C | 18 °C | 16 °C | 14 °C | 13 °C | 18 °C | 10 °C | 0 °C | -2 °C | 2 °C |
| Wind | 5 m/s | 4 m/s | 4 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 5 m/s | 10 m/s | 11 m/s | 10 m/s | 3 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 Dickinson
The aurora only shows through clear skies, so the weather matters as much as the Kp index. Here is the general forecast for Dickinson: temperature, wind and the chance of rain for the coming days.
Planning further ahead? See the hour-by-hour weather forecast for Dickinson on Atlas of Seasons.
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What you would see from Dickinson
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° | 812 km |
| 3 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 7° | 16° | 589 km |
| 4 | Visible to the north | 14° | 27° | 367 km |
| 5 | Visible to the north | 35° | 53° | 145 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 Dickinson 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 Dickinson 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
Bright suburban sky. Strong sky glow washes out faint aurora. Head out of town for anything but a bright display.
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 horizon towards the north is open (terrain below 1.3°), 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 Dickinson
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 October (13%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 16% | 74% | 9.1 h | 10° / 24°C |
| October | 13% | 61% | 10.9 h | 2° / 14°C |
| November | 10% | 50% | 12.0 h | -4° / 5°C |
| December | 6% | 44% | 12.9 h | -10° / -2°C |
| January | 8% | 54% | 12.4 h | -12° / -2°C |
| February | 11% | 54% | 11.4 h | -11° / -1°C |
| March | 9% | 48% | 9.9 h | -5° / 7°C |
| April | 11% | 56% | 7.8 h | -1° / 13°C |
Aurora nights in Dickinson 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
- Dickinson Theodore Roosevelt Regional Airport (DIK) · 9 km
- Typical low / high in September
- 10° / 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 Dickinson?
Dickinson 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 Dickinson?
Face north (about 10° from true north). At Kp 3.7 the lower edge of the aurora sits roughly 14° above the horizon; stronger activity lifts it higher and further across the sky.
What is the best month to see the aurora in Dickinson?
Over 2005–2025, September gave the best odds in Dickinson (16% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by October (13%).
When is the aurora season in Dickinson?
Dickinson 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 Dickinson?
Strong sky glow washes out faint aurora. Head out of town for anything but a bright display. A noticeably darker area starts about 5 km to the south-south-east.
When was the aurora last possible in Dickinson?
Activity last reached storm level (Kp 5 or more) during darkness in Dickinson on 4 October 2026 (Kp 5.0) — 923 such nights since 1995. Here the aurora also appears on many quieter nights.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Dickinson share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- City of Dickinson 1 km
- Unorganized Territory of Dickinson North 4 km
- Eland 7 km
- Lehigh 7 km
- Stark County 13 km
- New Hradec 15 km
- South Heart 15 km
- City of South Heart 15 km
- Gladstone 17 km
- City of Gladstone 17 km
- Unorganized Territory of Dickinson South 18 km
- Schefield 23 km
- Daglum 26 km
- Hirschville 27 km
- Lefor 28 km
- Unorganized Territory of South Dunn 28 km
- Taylor 28 km
- City of Taylor 28 km
- Township of Clark 33 km
- Township of Kunze 33 km
- Township of Rifle 35 km
- Unorganized Territory of East Stark 36 km
- Emerson 36 km
- Richardton 36 km
- City of Richardton 36 km
- Unorganized Territory of Northeast Slope 38 km
- New England 38 km
- City of New England 38 km
- Township of Madison 40 km