Best places to see the northern lights, month by month
The aurora usually shines in a ring around the geomagnetic north pole, so the best places to see the northern lights sit under that ring, with long dark nights and clear skies. Pick a month to rank 14 places on all three.
Where to see the northern lights in your month
Turn on JavaScript to rank the 14 places for your month.
What makes a good place to see the northern lights
NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center names four things: how active the aurora is, where you are, darkness and the time of night. Three of them depend on the place you choose.
- Under the auroral oval. The aurora usually shines in a ring about 5° wide centered on the geomagnetic north pole, which in 2025 sat at 80.85° N, 72.76° W, in the Arctic between Canada and Greenland. When activity is quiet (Kp 0), the ring’s southern edge lies near 66° magnetic latitude; each step up the Kp scale moves it about 2° farther south. NOAA notes that if you are right under the aurora, even low activity (Kp 3 or 4) can bring a fine display.
- Dark nights. The far north doesn’t get dark in summer, so the aurora season runs from about late August to April. The table counts the hours with the sun at least 12° below the horizon.
- Clear skies. Clouds hide the aurora. Inland places in Canada and Alaska are clearer on average than the coasts of Norway and Iceland.
Away from city lights and with a clear view north, you can see the aurora low in the sky even when it is overhead hundreds of miles farther north, NOAA adds.
The best places to see the northern lights, region by region
Canada and Alaska. Yellowknife (68.4° magnetic latitude) and Churchill (67.0°) are under the oval even when activity is quiet, and Fairbanks (65.5°) from Kp 1. They are also among the clearest places in the far north: Yellowknife averages 49% cloud cover in March and Fairbanks 51%. The University of Alaska puts Fairbanks’ viewing season at about August 21 to April 21. Whitehorse (63.7°) needs Kp 2 for the aurora overhead.
Iceland. Reykjavík (68.7°) and Akureyri (69.5°) lie under the oval, but average around 80% cloud cover through the winter, so allow several nights. Visit Iceland gives the season as September to April and points to the Icelandic Met Office for cloud forecasts.
Norway, Sweden and Finland. Tromsø (67.4°) and Abisko (66.2°) are under the oval when activity is quiet; Inari (65.2°) from Kp 1 and Rovaniemi (63.5°) from Kp 2. Coastal Tromsø is the cloudiest (82–85% from September to March); inland Abisko, Inari and Rovaniemi are a little clearer (69–83%).
Farther north. Svalbard and Kangerlussuaq in Greenland sit at about 75° magnetic latitude, north of the usual oval, so the aurora is often seen toward the south. Longyearbyen has the longest nights on the list: almost 22 hours of darkness in mid-December.
Closer to home, in a storm. Shetland, at 61.6°, needs Kp 3 for the aurora overhead. Marquette, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, needs Kp 6, a strong storm. NOAA says that at Kp 6 to 7 the aurora may be seen from the northern edge of the United States, and at Kp 8 to 9 overhead in the northern states.
When to go
Go between late August and April, on clear nights, and stay out between about 10 pm and 2 am, when NOAA says the aurora is usually best. Storms are more likely near the September and March equinoxes. For each place’s dark hours and cloud cover month by month, see the best time to see the northern lights, and check tonight’s Kp forecast in Sky & Light.
Questions
Where is the best place to see the northern lights?
Somewhere under the auroral oval, with long dark nights and clear skies. Of the 14 places we follow, Yellowknife, Churchill and Fairbanks combine the three best in late winter: magnetic latitudes of 65.5° to 68.4°, so the aurora can be overhead even at quiet or low activity, and average cloud cover around 50 to 60% in February and March, lower than coastal Norway or Iceland.
Is Norway or Iceland better for the northern lights?
Both are under the auroral oval (Tromsø at 67.4° magnetic latitude, Reykjavík at 68.7°) and have long winter nights, and both are cloudy on average, around 80% cloud cover all winter. So the weather on your nights decides it: stay several nights, and check a cloud forecast each evening, such as the Icelandic Met Office’s, which Visit Iceland recommends.
Can you see the northern lights in the United States?
Yes. Fairbanks, Alaska, sits under the auroral oval. In the lower 48 states it takes a geomagnetic storm: NOAA says that at Kp 6 to 7 the aurora may be visible from the northern edge of the country, and at Kp 8 to 9 overhead in the northern states.
Is farther north always better?
No. Places above about 71° magnetic latitude, such as Svalbard and Kangerlussuaq in Greenland, are usually north of the auroral oval, which NOAA describes as a band about 5° wide around the geomagnetic pole, so the aurora is often seen toward the south there.
What Kp do I need to see the northern lights?
It depends on where you are. By NOAA’s rule of thumb, the oval’s edge reaches 66° magnetic latitude at Kp 0 and moves about 2° closer to the equator with each Kp level. The table gives the Kp that brings the aurora overhead at each place; with a clear view north, you can see it lower in the sky before that.