YozoraAtlas

Where can you see the northern lights in the United States?

226 of the 1504 places on Yozora Atlas in the United States see the northern lights on their northern horizon in a storm of Kp 7 or less. 11 lie under the aurora’s usual ring, Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve among them, where it shows on almost any clear, dark night. At the southern edge, in Seattle, it takes a strong storm (Kp 7), about 4 nights a year. Those are nights with enough activity, not sightings: clouds and the moon hide many of them.

Kp 0 to 2Kp 3Kp 4Kp 5Kp 6Kp 7Kp level that brings the aurora to the northern horizon; faint dots need more than Kp 7
Night-lights map of the United States with every place colored by the storm strength it needs to see the northern lights
Night lights over Alaska
Alaska
Night lights over Hawaii
Hawaii
  • Kp 0 to 2under the ring11 placesalmost every night
  • Kp 3an unsettled night5 places~155 nights a year
  • Kp 4an active night6 places~79 nights a year
  • Kp 5a minor storm13 places~37 nights a year
  • Kp 6a moderate storm61 places~13 nights a year
  • Kp 7a strong storm130 places~5 nights a year

Which parts of the United States see the northern lights most often?

Each state 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 regionPlacesKp neededNights a yearDarkest place to watch from
Alaska25Kp 0 to 7365 nightsGates of the Arctic National Park and PreserveBortle 2, Kp 0
Michigan20Kp 5 to 737 nightsIsle Royale National ParkBortle 3, Kp 5
Minnesota52Kp 5 to 737 nightsJudge C. R. Magney State ParkBortle 3, Kp 5
Maine9Kp 6 to 713 nightsBaxter State ParkBortle 3, Kp 6
Montana23Kp 6 to 713 nightsUpper Missouri River Breaks National MonumentBortle 2, Kp 6
North Dakota5Kp 613 nightsTheodore Roosevelt National ParkBortle 4, Kp 6
Wisconsin18Kp 6 to 713 nightsApostle Islands National LakeshoreBortle 3, Kp 6
Idaho4Kp 6 to 711 nightsKaniksu National ForestBortle 3, Kp 6
Washington50Kp 6 to 711 nightsChelan National ForestBortle 3, Kp 6
New Hampshire5Kp 75 nightsMount Washington State ParkBortle 4, Kp 7

The darkest places in the United States to watch the northern lights

The towns in the United States where the northern lights show most often

  1. Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve Alaska · Bortle 2 · Kp 0365 nights
  2. Noatak National Preserve Alaska · Bortle 2 · Kp 0365 nights
  3. Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve Alaska · Bortle 2 · Kp 0365 nights
  4. Kobuk Valley National Park Alaska · Bortle 2 · Kp 1344 nights
  5. Cape Krusenstern National Monument Alaska · Bortle 2 · Kp 1344 nights
  6. White Mountains National Recreation Area Alaska · Bortle 3 · Kp 1342 nights
  7. Bering Land Bridge National Preserve Alaska · Bortle 2 · Kp 2254 nights
  8. Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve Alaska · Bortle 2 · Kp 2252 nights
  9. Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve Alaska · Bortle 2 · Kp 2252 nights
  10. Denali National Park and Preserve Alaska · Bortle 2 · Kp 2252 nights
  1. Anchorage Alaska · Kp 3155 nights
  2. Duluth Minnesota · Kp 613 nights
  3. Great Falls Montana · Kp 613 nights
  4. Grand Forks North Dakota · Kp 613 nights
  5. Bismarck North Dakota · Kp 613 nights
  6. Fargo North Dakota · Kp 613 nights
  7. Clay New York · Kp 75 nights
  8. Eau Claire Wisconsin · Kp 75 nights
  9. Utica New York · Kp 75 nights
  10. La Crosse Wisconsin · 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 the United States?

Averaged over the 226 places, the most nights with a strong enough storm during darkness come in September and March: geomagnetic storms are more frequent around the equinoxes, and the nights are long enough to see them. In June 23 of the 226 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.

2.0Jan2.3Feb2.8Mar2.3Apr1.0May0.5Jun0.6Jul1.8Aug2.9Sep2.7Oct2.2Nov1.9Dec

How the Kp levels and night counts for the United States 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