North Dakota, United StatesMagnetic latitude 56.4°Population 1,390467 m above sea level
Northern lights in New Rockford
From New Rockford the aurora is visible on most active nights — first low to the north, from about Kp 3.
Right now
It is still light here. Darkness starts at 19:42.
Latest measured half-hour activity worldwide: Hp30 3.
Updates every minute while this page is open. Ground data: GFZ Potsdam Hp30 index (CC BY 4.0).
Tonight in one minute
Only in photos, if at all
- Solar activity Enough for a camera: Kp 2.7 expected, 1.3 needed for photos, 3 for the eye.
- Sky Partly cloudy (40% cloud) — look for gaps.
- Darkness Dark from 19:42 to 06:59. A bright moon (85%) washes out faint displays.
What to do: Point a phone in night mode north (3–10 s exposure). A red or green glow often shows on the screen before you can see it.
Sunday 25 October — Possible · Kp 3 · best around 00:30 · Forecast cloud: 0%. · Reliability: low (rough trend)
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 09:09 local time
Possible
Best around 22:00. Forecast max Kp 2.7 (this place needs 3), average cloud 40%.
- Dark enough
- 19:42 – 06:59
- Sunset
- 18:35 · sunrise 08:07
- Moon
- 85% · ↑ 16:58 · ↓ 03:51
- 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 | Thu, 19 | Thu, 22 | Fri, 01 | Fri, 04 | Fri, 19 | Fri, 22 | Sat, 01 | Sat, 04 | Sat, 19 | Sat, 22 | Sun, 01 | Sun, 04 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Mid cloud | 43% | 44% | 37% | 20% | 71% | 34% | 0% | 18% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| High cloud | 0% | 30% | 58% | 55% | 53% | 27% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Temperature | 18 °C | 17 °C | 16 °C | 14 °C | 21 °C | 22 °C | 21 °C | 15 °C | 7 °C | 5 °C | 3 °C | 1 °C |
| Feels like | 18 °C | 17 °C | 16 °C | 14 °C | 21 °C | 22 °C | 21 °C | 15 °C | 4 °C | 2 °C | 0 °C | -2 °C |
| Wind | 4 m/s | 4 m/s | 4 m/s | 4 m/s | 7 m/s | 7 m/s | 7 m/s | 7 m/s | 4 m/s | 4 m/s | 4 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 New Rockford
The aurora only shows through clear skies, so the weather matters as much as the Kp index. Here is the general forecast for New Rockford: temperature, wind and the chance of rain for the coming days.
Planning further ahead? See the hour-by-hour weather forecast for New Rockford on Atlas of Seasons.
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What you would see from New Rockford
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° | 13° | 678 km |
| 3 | Visible to the north | 11° | 21° | 456 km |
| 4 | Visible to the north | 23° | 39° | 234 km |
| 5 | Visible to the north | 84° | 87° | 11 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 New Rockford Only under the auroral oval: northern Norway, Swedish and Finnish Lapland, Iceland, Alaska, northern Canada.
- Kp 3 Unsettled eye in New Rockford 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
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 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
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 New Rockford
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
February has been the best month (26% of nights), followed by September (24%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 24% | 72% | 9.1 h | 9° / 22°C |
| October | 22% | 57% | 10.9 h | 2° / 12°C |
| November | 16% | 45% | 12.1 h | -6° / 3°C |
| December | 13% | 51% | 12.9 h | -14° / -6°C |
| January | 19% | 59% | 12.5 h | -18° / -8°C |
| February | 26% | 65% | 11.4 h | -17° / -6°C |
| March | 19% | 52% | 9.9 h | -7° / 4°C |
| April | 14% | 54% | 7.8 h | -1° / 12°C |
Aurora nights in New Rockford 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
- Devils Lake Regional Airport (DVL) · 51 km
- Typical low / high in February
- -17° / -6°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 New Rockford?
From New Rockford 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 New Rockford?
Face north (about 8° from true north). At Kp 3 the lower edge of the aurora sits roughly 11° above the horizon; stronger activity lifts it higher and further across the sky.
What is the best month to see the aurora in New Rockford?
Over 2005–2025, February gave the best odds in New Rockford (26% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by September (24%).
When is the aurora season in New Rockford?
New Rockford 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 New Rockford?
Little artificial light. Faint displays are visible once your eyes have adapted. A noticeably darker area starts about 5 km to the north.
When was the aurora last possible in New Rockford?
Activity last reached storm level (Kp 5 or more) during darkness in New Rockford on 4 October 2026 (Kp 5.0) — 921 such nights since 1995. Here the aurora also appears on many quieter nights.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around New Rockford share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- City of New Rockford 0 km
- Township of New Rockford 5 km
- Township of Rosefield 7 km
- Township of Superior 7 km
- Township of Munster 8 km
- Dundas 9 km
- Divide 10 km
- Munster 11 km
- Barlow 12 km
- Township of Sheldon 13 km
- Township of Gates 14 km
- Township of Fairville 15 km
- Township of Grandfield 15 km
- Township of Pleasant Prairie 15 km
- City of Sheyenne 16 km
- Township of Bremen 17 km
- Sheyenne 17 km
- Township of Bush 18 km
- Eddy County 18 km
- Brantford 19 km
- Bremen 20 km
- Township of Tiffany 22 km
- Township of Valhalla 22 km
- Township of Columbia 24 km
- Township of Germantown 25 km
- Township of Hamburg 27 km
- Township of West Antelope 29 km
- Emrick 30 km
- Hamberg 30 km
- City of Hamberg 30 km
- Township of Norway Lake 30 km
- Township of Lake Washington 32 km
- Township of Cherry Lake 34 km
- Township of South Viking 35 km