Will I See / United States / New York City

Will I see the northern lights in New York City tonight?

Tonight in New York City

Probably not

Skies look partly clear, but auroras are forecast to be quiet: Kp 3.7, and New York City needs about Kp 8.8.

Updated 3 min agoUpdates every 10 min
0%chance at the best hour tonight
48.6°magnetic latitude
Kp 8.8needed here
11 hdark hours tonight
16% litmoon

Hour by hour tonight

chance %cloud %Kp forecast● moon up
HourChanceCloudKpMoon

Loading tonight's hours…

Times are local (America/New_York). Only hours with the sun below −6° are shown. Kp forecast: NOAA SWPC. Clouds: MET Norway.

Get an email when tonight looks good in New York City

The northern lights reach New York City only in big storms. We'll tell you when one lines up with a clear, dark night. At most one email a night, one click to stop.

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Planning a trip to New York City?

Auroras in New York City need a geomagnetic storm (about Kp 8.8). In 2015–2025 that lined up with a clear, dark sky not once in 11 years, by our estimate, so treat a sighting here as a bonus, not a plan.

Trip odds here round to zero in almost every week, so we don't chart them. Your best bet is to watch the Kp index: when a storm reaches about Kp 8.8 and the sky above is clear, this page's live forecast will say so.
In 2015–2025 we found no night in New York City that was clear and dark while auroras reached this far. It takes an exceptional storm.

Better odds nearby

Places within 700 km of New York City with more good nights a year.

Toronto

1/yr
good nights a year (New York City: under 1)550 km away · Kp 7.3 needed

Montreal

1/yr
good nights a year (New York City: under 1)530 km away · Kp 6.8 needed

New York City northern lights: questions

Rarely. New York City sits at 48.6° magnetic latitude, so auroras need about Kp 8.8, which means a geomagnetic storm. Our record (2015–2025) shows no night in 11 years 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 8.8. We worked that out from New York City's magnetic latitude (48.6°) 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 New York City, add the sun and moon, and score each hour of tonight. The verdict is the best hour. How it works explains the calibration.