Will I see the northern lights in Minneapolis tonight?
Probably not
Clouds and quiet aurora activity (Kp 1.3 forecast, 6.5 needed here) both work against you tonight.
Hour by hour tonight
Loading tonight's hours…
Times are local (America/Chicago). Only hours with the sun below −6° are shown. Kp forecast: NOAA SWPC. Clouds: MET Norway.
Planning a trip to Minneapolis?
Auroras in Minneapolis need a geomagnetic storm (about Kp 6.5). In 2015–2025 that lined up with a clear, dark sky on about 2 nights a year, so treat a sighting here as a bonus, not a plan.
Every night you could have seen them, 2015–2025
22 nights in 11 years were clear and dark in Minneapolis while auroras reached far enough, by our estimate from NASA cloud data and the Kp record. The strongest: 10 May 2024 (Kp 9). Most came near the solar maximum of 2024–2025.
- 22 Jun Kp 7.7
- 10 Sep Kp 7
- 19 Sep Kp 7
- 7 Sep Kp 8
- 27 Sep Kp 6.7
- 25 Aug Kp 6.7
- 3 Nov Kp 7.7
- 9 Apr Kp 6.7
- 23 Mar Kp 8
- 23 Apr Kp 7
- 10 May Kp 9
- 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 7
- 29 Sep Kp 7
- 5 Nov Kp 6.7
- 11 Nov Kp 8.7
- 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 6.5 that Minneapolis 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 Minneapolis with more good nights a year.
Minneapolis northern lights: questions
Rarely. Minneapolis sits at 53.9° magnetic latitude, so auroras need about Kp 6.5, which means a geomagnetic storm. Our record (2015–2025) shows about 2 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 6.5. We worked that out from Minneapolis's magnetic latitude (53.9°) 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 Minneapolis, add the sun and moon, and score each hour of tonight. The verdict is the best hour. How it works explains the calibration.