North Dakota, United StatesMagnetic latitude 56.1°Population 1,538588 m above sea level
Northern lights in Garrison
From Garrison the aurora is visible on most active nights — first low to the north, from about Kp 3.
Right now
The solar wind is picking up — activity may jump within the hour. Keep this page open.
Latest measured half-hour activity worldwide: Hp30 1.3.
Updates every minute while this page is open. Ground data: GFZ Potsdam Hp30 index (CC BY 4.0).
Tonight in one minute
Yes — good chance tonight
- Solar activity Strong enough: Kp 3 expected, 3 needed here.
- Sky Mostly clear (0% cloud).
- Darkness Dark from 19:53 to 07:07. A bright moon (75%) washes out faint displays.
What to do: Go somewhere dark around 04:00, give your eyes 15 minutes to adjust and look north, low over the horizon.
Wednesday 21 October — Good chance · Kp 3 · best around 05:30 · 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 04:37 local time
Excellent chance
Best around 04:00. Forecast max Kp 3.0 (this place needs 3), average cloud 0%.
- Dark enough
- 19:53 – 07:07
- Sunset
- 18:46 · sunrise 08:15
- Moon
- 75% · ↑ 16:51 · ↓ 02:48
- 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 (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, 04 | Wed, 20 | Wed, 23 | Thu, 02 | Thu, 05 | Thu, 21 | Fri, 00 | Fri, 03 | Fri, 06 | Fri, 21 | Sat, 00 | Sat, 03 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 33% |
| Mid cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 11% | 1% | 1% | 7% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| High cloud | 8% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 39% | 38% | 40% | 42% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Temperature | 6 °C | 12 °C | 11 °C | 9 °C | 8 °C | 17 °C | 16 °C | 14 °C | 13 °C | 19 °C | 16 °C | 12 °C |
| Feels like | 4 °C | 12 °C | 11 °C | 7 °C | 6 °C | 17 °C | 16 °C | 14 °C | 13 °C | 19 °C | 16 °C | 12 °C |
| Wind | 4 m/s | 4 m/s | 4 m/s | 5 m/s | 5 m/s | 3 m/s | 4 m/s | 4 m/s | 4 m/s | 3 m/s | 7 m/s | 10 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 Garrison
The aurora only shows through clear skies, so the weather matters as much as the Kp index. Here is the general forecast for Garrison: temperature, wind and the chance of rain for the coming days.
Planning further ahead? See the hour-by-hour weather forecast for Garrison on Atlas of Seasons.
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What you would see from Garrison
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 | 5° | 12° | 712 km |
| 3 | Visible to the north | 10° | 20° | 489 km |
| 4 | Visible to the north | 20° | 35° | 267 km |
| 5 | Visible to the north | 67° | 77° | 44 km |
| 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 Garrison Only under the auroral oval: northern Norway, Swedish and Finnish Lapland, Iceland, Alaska, northern Canada.
- Kp 3 Unsettled next 24 h eye in Garrison 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) 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
Rural to suburban. Some sky glow from nearby lights. Moderate displays are fine; faint ones are easier a few kilometres out.
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 0.8°), 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 Garrison
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
February has been the best month (24% of nights), followed by September (23%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 23% | 71% | 9.1 h | 9° / 22°C |
| October | 22% | 59% | 10.9 h | 2° / 13°C |
| November | 16% | 46% | 12.1 h | -5° / 3°C |
| December | 13% | 48% | 12.9 h | -13° / -5°C |
| January | 17% | 55% | 12.5 h | -15° / -6°C |
| February | 24% | 61% | 11.4 h | -15° / -4°C |
| March | 15% | 46% | 9.9 h | -7° / 5°C |
| April | 14% | 54% | 7.8 h | -1° / 12°C |
Aurora nights in Garrison 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) · 68 km
- Typical low / high in February
- -15° / -4°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 Garrison?
From Garrison 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 Garrison?
Face north (about 8° from true north). At Kp 3 the lower edge of the aurora sits roughly 10° above the horizon; stronger activity lifts it higher and further across the sky.
What is the best month to see the aurora in Garrison?
Over 2005–2025, February gave the best odds in Garrison (24% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by September (23%).
When is the aurora season in Garrison?
Garrison 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 Garrison?
Some sky glow from nearby lights. Moderate displays are fine; faint ones are easier a few kilometres out. A noticeably darker area starts about 5 km to the north.
When was the aurora last possible in Garrison?
Activity last reached storm level (Kp 5 or more) during darkness in Garrison 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 Garrison share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- City of Garrison 0 km
- Township of McGinnis 7 km
- Township of Saint Mary 7 km
- McLean County 9 km
- Unorganized Territory of North Central McLean 13 km
- Township of Snow 13 km
- Pick City 16 km
- City of Pick City 16 km
- Unorganized Territory of West McLean 16 km
- Township of Rosemont 17 km
- Township of Victoria 17 km
- Emmet 18 km
- Riverdale 18 km
- City of Riverdale 18 km
- Coleharbor 19 km
- City of Coleharbor 19 km
- Township of Douglas 20 km
- City of Max 21 km
- Max 21 km
- Township of Malcolm 22 km
- Douglas 24 km
- City of Douglas 24 km
- Township of Longfellow 25 km
- Riverdale Junction 25 km
- Township of Blackwater 26 km
- Township of Blue Hill 26 km
- Township of Greatstone 29 km
- Township of Roseglen 30 km
- White Shield 32 km
- Unorganized Territory of East McLean 37 km