Where can you see the northern lights in Latvia?
All 28 places on Yozora Atlas in Latvia see the northern lights on their northern horizon in a storm of Kp 7 or less. Slītere National Park, Kurzeme, needs only Kp 6, a moderate storm, which has happened on about 14 nights a year since 1932. At the southern edge, in Daugavpils, it takes a strong storm (Kp 7), about 5 nights a year. Those are nights with enough activity, not sightings: clouds and the moon hide many of them.
Which parts of Latvia see the northern lights most often?
Each region with the Kp range of its places, the nights a year its best place reaches that level, and the darkest place to watch from.
| State or region | Places | Kp needed | Nights a year | Darkest place to watch from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kurzeme | 10 | Kp 6 | 14 nights | Slītere National ParkBortle 3, Kp 6 |
| Riga Region | 2 | Kp 6 | 14 nights | none at Bortle 4 or darker |
| Vidzeme | 7 | Kp 6 | 14 nights | Gaiziņkalns Nature ParkBortle 3, Kp 6 |
| Zemgale | 5 | Kp 6 to 7 | 14 nights | Zvārde Woods Nature ParkBortle 4, Kp 6 |
| Latgale | 4 | Kp 7 | 5 nights | Rāzna National ParkBortle 3, Kp 7 |
The darkest places in Latvia to watch the northern lights
The towns in Latvia where the northern lights show most often
- Slītere National Park Kurzeme · Bortle 3 · Kp 614 nights
- Užava Nature Park Kurzeme · Bortle 3 · Kp 614 nights
- Gaiziņkalns Nature Park Vidzeme · Bortle 3 · Kp 614 nights
- Abava Valley Nature Park Kurzeme · Bortle 4 · Kp 614 nights
- Kuja Nature Park Vidzeme · Bortle 4 · Kp 614 nights
- Driksnis Heath Nature Park Vidzeme · Bortle 4 · Kp 614 nights
- Embūte Nature Park Kurzeme · Bortle 4 · Kp 614 nights
- Salaca River Valley Nature Park Vidzeme · Bortle 4 · Kp 614 nights
- Zvārde Woods Nature Park Zemgale · Bortle 4 · Kp 614 nights
- Lake Engure Nature Park Kurzeme · Bortle 4 · Kp 614 nights
- Jūrmala Riga Region · Kp 614 nights
- Ogre Vidzeme · Kp 614 nights
- Valmiera Vidzeme · Kp 614 nights
- Jelgava Zemgale · Kp 614 nights
- Ventspils Kurzeme · Kp 614 nights
- Liepāja Kurzeme · Kp 614 nights
- Riga Riga Region · Kp 614 nights
- Jēkabpils Zemgale · Kp 75 nights
- Rēzekne Latgale · Kp 75 nights
- Daugavpils Latgale · Kp 75 nights
Nights a year since 1932 with the Kp level the place needs, between 9 pm and 3 am. These are nights with enough activity, not sightings: clouds and the moon hide many of them, and away from the far north a display is often a faint glow low in the north that a phone camera shows better than the eye. From inside a town only bright displays show through the glow: each town page names the closest dark spot without the town in its northern sky.
When are the northern lights most likely in Latvia?
Averaged over the 28 places, the most nights with a strong enough storm during darkness come in March and September: geomagnetic storms are more frequent around the equinoxes, and the nights are long enough to see them. In June 28 of the 28 places have no night dark enough, the sun staying less than 12° below the horizon. Clouds are not counted here; each place page has its clear nights by month.
How the Kp levels and night counts for Latvia are worked out
The aurora forms in a ring around the magnetic north pole, and the stronger a geomagnetic storm, the further south it reaches. Storm strength is measured by the Kp index, from 0 (quiet) to 9 (extreme). For each place the Kp level comes from its magnetic latitude, using the rule NOAA uses: the edge of the aurora sits at 66.5° magnetic latitude at Kp 0 and about 2° further south per step. It can be off by one level, and a phone camera often shows a display the eye barely sees. How often that level was reached comes from the Kp record of GFZ Potsdam, 1932 to 2025. None of this is a forecast: for tonight, see NOAA’s 30-minute aurora forecast. How it works