North Dakota, United StatesMagnetic latitude 55.2°Population 7,899294 m above sea level
Northern lights in Wahpeton
Wahpeton 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 926 nights.
Right now
It is still light here. Darkness starts at 19:34.
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 (26% cloud).
- Darkness Dark from 19:34 to 06:47. A bright moon (80%) washes out faint displays.
What to do: Go somewhere dark around 02:00, give your eyes 15 minutes to adjust and look north, low over the horizon.
Thursday 22 October — Good chance · Kp 4.7 · best around 02:30 · Forecast cloud: 26%. · 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 18:46 local time
Excellent chance
Best around 02:00. Forecast max Kp 4.7 (this place needs 3.7), average cloud 26%.
- Dark enough
- 19:34 – 06:47
- Sunset
- 18:29 · sunrise 07:53
- Moon
- 80% · ↑ 16:30 · ↓ 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 3.7
- Kp for photos
- In photos: from Kp 2 (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% | 23% | 11% | 0% | 11% | 46% | 42% | 37% | 32% |
| High cloud | 27% | 15% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 8% | 18% | 28% | 49% | 46% | 37% | 16% |
| Temperature | 15 °C | 13 °C | 11 °C | 9 °C | 19 °C | 18 °C | 17 °C | 16 °C | 23 °C | 23 °C | 22 °C | 20 °C |
| Feels like | 15 °C | 13 °C | 11 °C | 8 °C | 19 °C | 18 °C | 17 °C | 16 °C | 23 °C | 23 °C | 22 °C | 20 °C |
| Wind | 4 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 5 m/s | 4 m/s | 5 m/s | 5 m/s | 10 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 Wahpeton
The aurora only shows through clear skies, so the weather matters as much as the Kp index. Here is the general forecast for Wahpeton: temperature, wind and the chance of rain for the coming days.
Planning further ahead? See the hour-by-hour weather forecast for Wahpeton on Atlas of Seasons.
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What you would see from Wahpeton
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 Wahpeton 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 Wahpeton 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 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 Wahpeton
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
September has been the best month (18% of nights), followed by October (14%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 18% | 77% | 9.1 h | 11° / 24°C |
| October | 14% | 62% | 10.9 h | 3° / 15°C |
| November | 9% | 51% | 12.0 h | -4° / 5°C |
| December | 7% | 45% | 12.9 h | -12° / -4°C |
| January | 9% | 59% | 12.4 h | -16° / -6°C |
| February | 14% | 61% | 11.4 h | -14° / -4°C |
| March | 13% | 52% | 9.9 h | -6° / 6°C |
| April | 9% | 56% | 7.9 h | 0° / 13°C |
Aurora nights in Wahpeton 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
- Hector International Airport (FAR) · 75 km
- Typical low / high in September
- 11° / 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 Wahpeton?
Wahpeton 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 Wahpeton?
Face north (about 6° 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 Wahpeton?
Over 2005–2025, September gave the best odds in Wahpeton (18% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by October (14%).
When is the aurora season in Wahpeton?
Wahpeton 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 Wahpeton?
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 Wahpeton?
Activity last reached storm level (Kp 5 or more) during darkness in Wahpeton on 4 October 2026 (Kp 5.0) — 926 such nights since 1995. Here the aurora also appears on many quieter nights.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Wahpeton share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- City of Wahpeton 1 km
- Township of Center 7 km
- Township of Dwight 10 km
- Dwight 11 km
- City of Dwight 11 km
- Farmington 11 km
- Brushvale 12 km
- Township of Summit 14 km
- Township of Nordick 16 km
- Fairview Junction 17 km
- Township of Mooreton 17 km
- Township of McCauleyville 19 km
- City of Great Bend 19 km
- Township of Ibsen 19 km
- Kent 20 km
- City of Kent 20 km
- Great Bend 20 km
- McCauleyville 21 km
- Township of Brandenburg 21 km
- Galchutt 21 km
- Mooreton 21 km
- City of Mooreton 21 km
- Abercrombie 22 km
- City of Abercrombie 22 km
- Township of Abercrombie 22 km
- Township of Devillo 23 km
- Sonora 24 km
- Oswald 25 km
- Township of Barney 26 km
- Pitcairn 26 km
- Richland County 26 km
- Bayne 27 km
- Township of Waldo 28 km
- Township of Antelope 29 km
- Township of Belford 29 km
- Barney 30 km
- City of Barney 30 km
- Hankinson 31 km
- City of Hankinson 31 km
- Mantador 31 km