Where can you see the northern lights in Lithuania?
35 of the 38 places on Yozora Atlas in Lithuania see the northern lights on their northern horizon in a storm of Kp 7 or less. Žemaitija National Park, Telšiai County, needs only Kp 6, a moderate storm, which has happened on about 14 nights a year since 1932. At the southern edge, in Vilnius, 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 Lithuania see the northern lights most often?
Each county 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Telšiai County | 4 | Kp 6 to 7 | 14 nights | Žemaitija National ParkBortle 4, Kp 6 |
| Alytus County | 2 | Kp 7 | 5 nights | Meteliai Regional ParkBortle 4, Kp 7 |
| Kaunas County | 4 | Kp 7 | 5 nights | Nemunas Loops Regional ParkBortle 4, Kp 7 |
| Klaipėda County | 4 | Kp 7 | 5 nights | Nemunas Delta Regional ParkBortle 4, Kp 7 |
| Marijampolė County | 3 | Kp 7 | 5 nights | Vištytis Regional ParkBortle 4, Kp 7 |
| Panevėžys County | 3 | Kp 7 | 5 nights | Krekenava Regional ParkBortle 4, Kp 7 |
| Šiauliai County | 2 | Kp 7 | 5 nights | Tytuvėnai Regional ParkBortle 4, Kp 7 |
| Tauragė County | 3 | Kp 7 | 5 nights | Pagramantis Regional ParkBortle 4, Kp 7 |
| Utena County | 5 | Kp 7 | 5 nights | Aukštaitija National ParkBortle 3, Kp 7 |
| Vilnius County | 5 | Kp 7 | 5 nights | Asveja Regional ParkBortle 4, Kp 7 |
The darkest places in Lithuania to watch the northern lights
The towns in Lithuania where the northern lights show most often
- Žemaitija National Park Telšiai County · Bortle 4 · Kp 614 nights
- Aukštaitija National Park Utena County · Bortle 3 · Kp 75 nights
- Gražutė Regional Park Utena County · Bortle 3 · Kp 75 nights
- Varniai Regional Park Telšiai County · Bortle 4 · Kp 75 nights
- Labanoras Regional Park Utena County · Bortle 4 · Kp 75 nights
- Tytuvėnai Regional Park Šiauliai County · Bortle 4 · Kp 75 nights
- Vištytis Regional Park Marijampolė County · Bortle 4 · Kp 75 nights
- Pagramantis Regional Park Tauragė County · Bortle 4 · Kp 75 nights
- Panemunė Regional Park Marijampolė County · Bortle 4 · Kp 75 nights
- Krekenava Regional Park Panevėžys County · Bortle 4 · Kp 75 nights
- Mazeikiai Telšiai County · Kp 614 nights
- Telsiai Telšiai County · Kp 75 nights
- Utena Utena County · Kp 75 nights
- Kėdainiai Kaunas County · Kp 75 nights
- Ukmerge Vilnius County · Kp 75 nights
- Taurage Tauragė County · Kp 75 nights
- Alytus Alytus County · Kp 75 nights
- Jonava Kaunas County · Kp 75 nights
- Marijampolė Marijampolė County · Kp 75 nights
- Panevėžys Panevėžys County · 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 Lithuania?
Averaged over the 35 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 5 of the 35 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 Lithuania 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