Will I see the northern lights in Marquette tonight?
Probably not
Clouds and quiet aurora activity (Kp 2.0 forecast, 5.9 needed here) both work against you tonight.
Hour by hour tonight
Loading tonight's hours…
Times are local (America/Detroit). Only hours with the sun below −6° are shown. Kp forecast: NOAA SWPC. Clouds: MET Norway.
Planning a trip to Marquette?
Auroras in Marquette need a geomagnetic storm (about Kp 5.9). In 2015–2025 that lined up with a clear, dark sky on about 3 nights a year, so treat a sighting here as a bonus, not a plan.
Every night you could have seen them, 2015–2025
36 nights in 11 years were clear and dark in Marquette while auroras reached far enough, by our estimate from NASA cloud data and the Kp record. The strongest: 10 Oct 2024 (Kp 8.3).
- 17 Mar Kp 6
- 21 Mar Kp 6.3
- 7 Jun Kp 6
- 26 Aug Kp 6.3
- 8 Sep Kp 6
- 19 Sep Kp 7
- 6 Oct Kp 6
- 6 Nov Kp 6
- 1 Sep Kp 6
- 7 Sep Kp 8
- 7 Nov Kp 6.3
- 19 Apr Kp 6
- 25 Aug Kp 7.3
- 10 Sep Kp 6
- 13 May Kp 6.3
- 9 Apr Kp 6.7
- 3 Sep Kp 6.3
- 26 Feb Kp 6.7
- 23 Mar Kp 8
- 23 Apr Kp 8
- 15 Jun Kp 6
- 18 Sep Kp 6.3
- 30 Nov Kp 6.7
- 11 May Kp 7
- 12 May Kp 6
- 15 May Kp 6
- 11 Aug Kp 7
- 11 Sep Kp 6.7
- 16 Sep Kp 7.3
- 7 Oct Kp 7
- 10 Oct Kp 8.3
- 31 May Kp 7.7
- 1 Jun Kp 6
- 14 Sep Kp 6.7
- 29 Sep Kp 7
- 12 Nov Kp 7.3
A "night you could have seen them" = at least one hour that was dark, mostly clear and with Kp at or above the Kp 5.9 that Marquette needs. Look north, low on the horizon, away from town lights: the northern lights here are usually a glow that a phone camera picks up better than your eyes.
Better odds nearby
Places within 700 km of Marquette with more good nights a year.
Marquette northern lights: questions
Rarely. Marquette sits at 55.5° magnetic latitude, so auroras need about Kp 5.9, which means a geomagnetic storm. In 2015–2025 it averaged 3 nights a year with a clear, dark sky and auroras strong enough to see.
There is no reliable season: auroras this far south come with strong geomagnetic storms, which can happen in any dark month. Watch the live forecast and the Kp index instead of planning a trip around them.
About Kp 5.9. We worked that out from Marquette's magnetic latitude (55.5°) with a rule calibrated against the Finnish Meteorological Institute's sighting statistics. Look north, low on the horizon, away from town lights.
Every 10 minutes we take NOAA's Kp forecast and MET Norway's hourly cloud forecast for Marquette, add the sun and moon, and score each hour of tonight. The verdict is the best hour. How it works explains the calibration.