Virginia, United StatesMagnetic latitude 46.5°Population 2,210232 m above sea level
Can you see the northern lights in Amherst, Virginia?
Only severe geomagnetic storms (Kp 8 or more) bring the aurora into view from Amherst — a few nights per solar cycle, low in the north. Since 1995 that level (Kp 8) was reached during darkness here on 24 nights.
Right now
It is still light here. Darkness starts at 19:27.
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
Not tonight
- Solar activity Too weak: Kp 3.7 expected, 8 needed here.
- Sky Mostly clear (0% cloud).
- Darkness Dark from 19:27 to 06:34. A bright moon (76%) washes out faint displays.
What to do: Not tonight — your next chance is shown just below.
Thursday 22 October — No · Kp 3.7 · Forecast cloud: 0%. · Reliability: medium
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 07:21 local time
Unlikely
Best around 19:00. Forecast max Kp 3.7 (this place needs 8), average cloud 0%.
- Dark enough
- 19:27 – 06:34
- Sunset
- 18:30 · sunrise 07:31
- Moon
- 76% · ↑ 16:08 · ↓ 02:33
- Kp neededKp index: a 0–9 measure of geomagnetic activity. The higher it is, the further from the poles the aurora reaches.
- Kp 8
- Kp for photos
- In photos: from Kp 6.3 (a red glow low in the north).
- Look towards
- north (352°)
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% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| High cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Temperature | 13 °C | 10 °C | 9 °C | 7 °C | 13 °C | 10 °C | 8 °C | 7 °C | 12 °C | 9 °C | 7 °C | 5 °C |
| Feels like | 13 °C | 10 °C | 9 °C | 6 °C | 13 °C | 9 °C | 8 °C | 6 °C | 12 °C | 8 °C | 6 °C | 4 °C |
| Wind | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 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 Amherst
The aurora only shows through clear skies, so the weather matters as much as the Kp index. Here is the general forecast for Amherst: temperature, wind and the chance of rain for the coming days.
Seeing it right now?
Tell others in Virginia. Reports from real visitors move a place up the live ranking.
Reports are anonymous: we do not store your IP address or location. One report per place every few hours.
What you would see from Amherst
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 | Below the horizon | -5° | -2° | 1,779 km |
| 3 | Below the horizon | -3° | 0° | 1,557 km |
| 4 | Below the horizon | -2° | 2° | 1,334 km |
| 5 | Below the horizon | 0° | 5° | 1,112 km |
| 6 | Below the horizon | 3° | 8° | 890 km |
| 7 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 6° | 13° | 667 km |
| 8 | Visible to the north | 11° | 22° | 445 km |
| 9 | Visible to the north | 24° | 41° | 222 km |
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 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 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) camera in Amherst 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) eye in Amherst 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
Suburban sky. Noticeable sky glow. Bright displays are visible, but driving out of town makes a clear difference.
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 Amherst
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
Activity of Kp 8 or more is too rare here for monthly odds to be meaningful. The table still shows how often nights are clear and dark.
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 0.2% | 69% | 9.6 h | 15° / 27°C |
| October | 0.2% | 69% | 10.9 h | 8° / 21°C |
| November | 0.2% | 68% | 11.8 h | 2° / 14°C |
| December | 0.2% | 55% | 12.1 h | -2° / 8°C |
| January | 0% | 59% | 11.9 h | -4° / 6°C |
| February | 0% | 59% | 11.0 h | -3° / 8°C |
| March | 0% | 59% | 10.1 h | 1° / 13°C |
| April | 0.2% | 59% | 8.6 h | 6° / 19°C |
Aurora nights in Amherst since 1995
Nights when Kp reached 8 or more while it was dark here.
Most recent strong nights
- 11 November 2025 · Kp 8.7
- 10 October 2024 · Kp 8.3
- 10 May 2024 · Kp 9.0
- 23 April 2023 · Kp 8.0
- 23 March 2023 · Kp 8.0
- 7 September 2017 · Kp 8.0
- 8 March 2012 · Kp 8.0
- 14 December 2006 · Kp 8.3
Practical information
- Nearest airport
- Lynchburg Regional Airport - Preston Glenn Field (LYH) · 32 km
- Typical low / high in April
- 6° / 19°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 Amherst?
Only severe geomagnetic storms (Kp 8 or more) bring the aurora into view from Amherst — a few nights per solar cycle, low in the north.
Which way should I look for the aurora in Amherst?
Face north (about 352° from true north). At Kp 8 the lower edge of the aurora sits roughly 11° above the horizon; stronger activity lifts it higher and further across the sky.
When is the aurora season in Amherst?
Amherst 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 Amherst?
Noticeable sky glow. Bright displays are visible, but driving out of town makes a clear difference.
When was the aurora last possible in Amherst?
The most recent night in our data when activity reached the level Amherst needs, during darkness, was 11 November 2025 (Kp 8.7). It has happened on 24 nights since 1995.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Amherst share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- Buffalo Hill 4 km
- Sweet Briar 4 km
- Union Hill 4 km
- Angelo 5 km
- Monitor 5 km
- Clifford 7 km
- Coolwell 7 km
- Faulconerville 7 km
- Sardis 7 km
- New Glasgow 8 km
- Amherst County 9 km
- Fancy Hill 11 km
- Browntown 12 km
- Piedmont 12 km
- Sandidges 12 km
- Tye River 12 km
- Gidsville 13 km
- Piney River 14 km
- Roses Mill 14 km
- Kingswood 15 km
- Lowesville 15 km
- Riverville 15 km
- Shady Lane 15 km
- Allens Creek 17 km
- Arrington 17 km
- Buffalo Springs 17 km
- Colleen 17 km
- Five Forks 17 km
- Four Forks 18 km
- Gladstone 18 km
- Hendersons Store 18 km
- Greenway 19 km
- Roseland 19 km
- Woodson 19 km
- Lanes Ford 20 km
- Eldridge Corner 21 km
- Freshwater 21 km
- Oak Ridge 21 km
- Poplar Flats 21 km
- Norwood 22 km