Northern Lights Tonight: Aurora Borealis Forecast, Peak Viewing Times & Best Places to Watch

A rare G3-level geomagnetic storm is forecast to sweep across the upper atmosphere late Monday into early Tuesday, potentially igniting vivid displays of the Northern Lights as far south as Colorado, Missouri and Virginia. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) upgraded its aurora outlook after a fast-moving coronal mass ejection (CME) left the sun on Saturday, packing enough magnetic punch to spike Earth’s Kp index to 6–7 during the overnight hours of 03:00–09:00 UTC (10 p.m.–4 a.m. EST)‹https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/communities/aurora-dashboard-experimental›. Key viewing windows • North America: 10 p.m. Monday–4 a.m. Tuesday local time. • Europe: Midnight–05 a.m. CET on Tuesday. • New Zealand and southern Australia may catch Southern Lights (Aurora Australis) around local midnight. Where skies stay clear, auroras could paint rippling curtains of green, pink and crimson overhead from the Dakotas to northern Pennsylvania, with low-horizon glows possible deeper into the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic. Alaska, Canada’s prairie provinces and Scandinavia stand to see overhead coronas for prolonged periods. Best practices for chasing the aurora 1. Get away from city light within an hour of local midnight. 2. Face north (or south in the Southern Hemisphere) and allow 20 minutes for night vision to adjust. 3. Use a tripod and a 10- to 20-second exposure at ISO 1600–3200 to capture color your eyes may miss. 4. Check real-time Kp alerts via SWPC or university dashboards before heading out. Why activity is surging Solar Cycle 25 is ramping toward its peak, and December’s CME originates from magnetically complex sunspot region AR3514. Scientists predict aurora opportunities will multiply through 2025 as the sun approaches solar maximum‹https://www.aurora-expeditions.com/blog/northern-lights-predictions›. Travel hot spots this week • Fairbanks, Alaska – forecasted Kp 7 yields a 90 % chance of overhead curtains. • Tromsø, Norway – polar nights ensure darkness all day. • Isle of Skye, Scotland – brief clear breaks could reveal low-latitude glow. • Upper Peninsula, Michigan – inland lakes provide mirrored reflections. Safety note Although geomagnetic storms of this strength can disrupt HF radio and cause minor voltage irregularities on power lines, experts do not expect widespread impacts to GPS or electrical grids. Airlines may reroute polar flights as a precaution‹https://www.space.com/stargazing/auroras/northern-lights-may-be-visible-in-15-states-dec-3-4-2025›. With moonlight at just 7 % illumination, conditions are nearly perfect. Bundle up, point your camera north and watch the sky erupt in solar-powered color tonight.