North Dakota, United StatesMagnetic latitude 56.8°Population 57,011253 m above sea level
Northern lights in Grand Forks
From Grand Forks the aurora is visible on most active nights — first low to the north, from about Kp 2.7.
Right now
It is still light here. Darkness starts at 19:35.
Updates every minute while this page is open.
Tonight in one minute
Yes — good chance tonight
- Solar activity Strong enough: Kp 4 expected, 2.7 needed here.
- Sky Mostly clear (29% cloud).
- Darkness Dark from 19:35 to 06:50. A bright moon (79%) washes out faint displays.
What to do: Go somewhere dark around 20:00, 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: 29%. · 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 13:52 local time
Excellent chance
Best around 20:00. Forecast max Kp 4.0 (this place needs 2.7), average cloud 29%.
- Dark enough
- 19:35 – 06:50
- Sunset
- 18:28 · sunrise 07:57
- Moon
- 79% · ↑ 16:34 · ↓ 03:41
- Kp neededKp index: a 0–9 measure of geomagnetic activity. The higher it is, the further from the poles the aurora reaches.
- Kp 2.7
- Kp for photos
- In photos: from Kp 1 (a red glow low in the north).
- Look towards
- north (6°)
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% | 0% |
| Mid cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 12% | 25% | 32% | 100% | 75% | 45% | 47% |
| High cloud | 11% | 6% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 50% | 92% | 65% | 49% | 50% | 45% | 22% |
| Temperature | 11 °C | 9 °C | 8 °C | 6 °C | 17 °C | 16 °C | 15 °C | 14 °C | 21 °C | 22 °C | 21 °C | 20 °C |
| Feels like | 11 °C | 9 °C | 6 °C | 4 °C | 17 °C | 16 °C | 15 °C | 14 °C | 21 °C | 22 °C | 21 °C | 20 °C |
| Wind | 2 m/s | 1 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 4 m/s | 4 m/s | 4 m/s | 4 m/s | 9 m/s | 10 m/s | 10 m/s | 8 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 Grand Forks
The aurora only shows through clear skies, so the weather matters as much as the Kp index. Here is the general forecast for Grand Forks: temperature, wind and the chance of rain for the coming days.
Planning further ahead? See the hour-by-hour weather forecast for Grand Forks on Atlas of Seasons.
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What you would see from Grand Forks
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 | 6° | 14° | 634 km |
| 3 | Visible to the north | 12° | 24° | 411 km |
| 4 | Visible to the north | 28° | 45° | 189 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 camera in Grand Forks Only under the auroral oval: northern Norway, Swedish and Finnish Lapland, Iceland, Alaska, northern Canada.
- Kp 3 Unsettled eye in Grand Forks Bright in the Arctic; low on the horizon in central Scandinavia and southern Iceland.
- Kp 4 Active next 24 h 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
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 north-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 0.0°), 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 Grand Forks
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
February has been the best month (33% of nights), followed by September (31%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 31% | 72% | 9.1 h | 10° / 23°C |
| October | 28% | 56% | 10.9 h | 2° / 13°C |
| November | 19% | 44% | 12.1 h | -6° / 3°C |
| December | 18% | 48% | 13.0 h | -15° / -6°C |
| January | 24% | 61% | 12.5 h | -19° / -9°C |
| February | 33% | 68% | 11.4 h | -18° / -7°C |
| March | 25% | 55% | 9.9 h | -8° / 4°C |
| April | 18% | 54% | 7.8 h | -1° / 12°C |
Aurora nights in Grand Forks 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
- Grand Forks International Airport (GFK) · 11 km
- Typical low / high in February
- -18° / -7°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 Grand Forks?
From Grand Forks the aurora is visible on most active nights — first low to the north, from about Kp 2.7.
Which way should I look for the aurora in Grand Forks?
Face north (about 6° from true north). At Kp 2.7 the lower edge of the aurora sits roughly 12° above the horizon; stronger activity lifts it higher and further across the sky.
What is the best month to see the aurora in Grand Forks?
Over 2005–2025, February gave the best odds in Grand Forks (33% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by September (31%).
When is the aurora season in Grand Forks?
Grand Forks 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 Grand Forks?
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 north-east.
When was the aurora last possible in Grand Forks?
Activity last reached storm level (Kp 5 or more) during darkness in Grand Forks 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 Grand Forks share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- North Star Mobile Home Park 2 km
- City of Grand Forks 3 km
- Calspur 4 km
- Township of Rhinehart 5 km
- Township of Grand Forks 7 km
- Township of Falconer 7 km
- North Grand Forks 7 km
- Township of Grand Forks 8 km
- Township of Huntsville 9 km
- Township of Sullivan 9 km
- Mallory 11 km
- Township of Brenna 11 km
- Merrifield 11 km
- Powell 11 km
- Township of Rye 12 km
- Bygland 15 km
- Township of Bygland 15 km
- Davidson 15 km
- Township of Esther 16 km
- Township of Nesbit 17 km
- Township of Northland 17 km
- Kelly 17 km
- Township of Keystone 18 km
- Township of Ferry 18 km
- Key West 19 km
- Manvel 20 km
- City of Manvel 20 km
- Sherack 21 km
- Tabor 21 km
- Fisher 22 km
- City of Fisher 22 km
- Township of Tabor 22 km
- Township of Higdem 24 km
- Township of Tynsid 25 km
- Township of Euclid 27 km
- Township of Turtle River 28 km
- Euclid 30 km
- Oslo 31 km
- City of Oslo 31 km
- Township of Levant 33 km