Aurora · Canada
Northern lights forecast for Fort McMurray
From Fort McMurray the aurora needs Kp 1 or more, and a clear sky. It appears often overhead: the auroral oval passes close by on ordinary nights.
Right now
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Fort McMurray at a glance
- Kp needed (on the horizon)
- 1
- Geomagnetic latitude
- 63.3° N
- Dark enough
- Jul 17 to May 27
- Best hours
- around local midnight
How to read this
Kp measures how disturbed Earth's magnetic field is, from 0 to 9. The higher it goes, the further the auroral oval spreads toward the equator. Fort McMurray lies at 63.3° geomagnetic latitude, so an aurora shows on its horizon from about Kp 1 or more, and overhead a couple of Kp steps higher. Between May 28 and Jul 16 the sun never goes more than 12° below the horizon here: the sky stays too bright to see an aurora whatever the Kp. Get away from city lights and look north.
Nearby places
Source
Kp observed and forecast: NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, read live by your browser. Kp threshold: centred-dipole geomagnetic latitude and NOAA's ~2° per Kp oval rule, an estimate that shifts with each storm; the aurora map shows the OVATION oval as it is now.