Live · NOAA SWPC · Updated every 30 min
Where to see the northern lights tonight
A live world map of aurora visibility paired with a cloud cover overlay so you can see where the sky is actually clear enough to look up. Green and brighter cells are where the aurora is most likely; the soft white haze is where clouds will block your view.
Your sky tonight
Can you see it from where you are?
Combines tonight's aurora activity, your latitude, and your local cloud cover into one answer.
Global activity
The planet's geomagnetic pulse right now
Kp index measures how active the planet's magnetic field is — higher numbers push the aurora oval further south.
The map
Hover anywhere — see if the aurora is happening
Reading the map
How to use this map
The map shows real-time predictions from NOAA's Ovation aurora model — the same data used by space-weather forecasters. Each colored dot represents a 1° × 1° area of the planet.
To see the aurora in person:you need three things — high aurora probability (green or brighter on this map), clear skies, and dark conditions away from city lights. Even with a Kp 7+ storm, cloud cover will block your view. The soft white haze on the map shows current cloud cover from Open-Meteo's live forecast — pair it with the colored aurora dots to find places where the aurora is happening AND the sky is clear.
The Kp index shown above is the planetary geomagnetic activity scale (0–9). Higher Kp = aurora pushes further south. At Kp 5+ it becomes visible from Scotland and the northern US states. At Kp 7+ it can reach mid-latitudes.
Best places to see the northern lights tonight
For the consistently best aurora viewing this winter, head to:
- Iceland — almost any night between September and April
- Tromsø, Norway — inside the auroral zone, easy infrastructure
- Rovaniemi, Finland — Lapland clear skies, low light pollution
- Yellowknife, Canada — one of the highest aurora-frequency locations on Earth
- Fairbanks, Alaska — direct under the auroral oval
FAQ
Will I see the aurora tonight?
If you're inside the green or brighter zone on the map above, and you have clear skies after sunset, your odds are good. The aurora is most active between 10pm and 2am local time.
How accurate is this forecast?
NOAA's 30-minute Ovation forecast is the gold standard — it's the same data professional aurora hunters use. Accuracy is high for the next 30 minutes; longer-range forecasts (3-day) are more uncertain.
Why is the Kp index important?
Kp measures geomagnetic activity globally. The higher it is, the further south the aurora oval expands. Kp 3 keeps aurora to the Arctic; Kp 7 brings it to the central US and UK; Kp 9 (rare) can be seen from Mexico.
Sources
Every claim on this page is backed by an authoritative source. Atlas Ranger synthesizes data from multiple references so you can see exactly where each fact came from.
- NOAA Space Weather Prediction CenterUsed for: Live Kp index, 3-day geomagnetic forecast, aurora visibility predictions · Same data professional aurora forecasters use; refreshed every 30 minutes
- NOAA Ovation Aurora ModelUsed for: Cell-level aurora probability map (every 1° × 1° of the planet) · Statistical model based on decades of satellite observations
- OpenStreetMapUsed for: Basemap data — country borders, place names, geographic context
- CARTO BasemapsUsed for: Map tile rendering (dark theme for night-sky context)
- Open-Meteo Forecast APIUsed for: Real-time cloud cover overlay (paired with aurora forecast to show whether the sky is actually clear enough to see the aurora) · Free, no API key required; cached for 30 minutes to match the aurora data refresh cadence