North Dakota, United States
Northern lights in Grand Forks
Answer
Tonight
Waiting on darkness
It is not civil-dark yet. The next dusk is listed below.
Observed 11:49 UTC, forecast 13:20 UTC, 91 min lead
Clock times in America/Chicago
Valid 12:00 to 13:00 UTC
Storm level needed
Grand Forks sits at 47.93N 97.03W in North Dakota, United States. The IGRF-14 centered dipole puts Grand Forks at 56.1 degrees geomagnetic latitude, 8.2 degrees closer to the magnetic pole than its map latitude suggests. Grand Forks sits at 56.1 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 5, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less.
"aurora is commonly visible at high latitudes (northern Michigan and Maine)"
The nearest other Glow towns are Fargo (118 km), Jamestown (169 km), Steinbach (180 km). Fargo sits 1.0 degrees lower on the dipole, Kp 6 against 5 here.
Approximate: SWPC calls its Kp to latitude rule an average, and a centered dipole can differ by a degree from fuller field models. How the storm level is matched
The year in darkness
Every night of 2026 at Grand Forks has some civil darkness; the shortest month sample still has 6.5 hours. Every evening of the year at Grand Forks clears Glow's dark-season bar of 4 hours of civil night between 18:00 and 06:00. Grand Forks's longest night of the year, Dec 17, has 14 h 18 min of civil night.
Solar midnight at Grand Forks, when the sun is lowest, falls at 00:23 on local clocks on December 15 and 01:28 on June 15. That is 23 min after midnight in December and 1 h 28 min after midnight in June, the gap set by daylight saving and the equation of time. So at Grand Forks the darkest hour sits near the middle of SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window in winter.
Month by month
| Month | Night | Civil | Cloud | Clear dark | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 13.9 h | 11.4 h | 61% | 5.4 hbest | |
| Feb | 12.5 h | 10.1 h | 58% | 5.3 h | |
| Mar | 11.0 h | 8.5 h | 65% | 3.8 h | |
| Apr | 9.1 h | 6.3 h | 63% | 3.4 h | |
| May | 7.4 h | 3.7 h | 61% | 2.9 h | |
| Jun | 6.5 h | 0.9 h | 59% | 2.7 h | |
| Jul | 7.0 h | 2.6 h | 50% | 3.5 h | |
| Aug | 8.5 h | 5.4 h | 50% | 4.3 h | |
| Sep | 10.3 h | 7.8 h | 52% | 4.9 h | |
| Oct | 12.0 h | 9.6 h | 62% | 4.6 h | |
| Nov | 13.5 h | 11.1 h | 66% | 4.6 h | |
| Dec | 14.3 h | 11.7 h | 68% | 4.6 h |
By the 15th-of-the-month sample, December is the darkest month at Grand Forks with 14.3 hours of civil night and June the lightest at 6.5. Across the year Grand Forks gets 3,830 hours of civil night. Astronomical night at Grand Forks, the sun 18 degrees or more below the horizon, lasts 11.7 hours on December 15.
NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology puts mean cloud amount for the 1 degree cell around Grand Forks at 59% across the year, from 50% in July to 68% in December. In the months with at least 4 hours of civil night Grand Forks averages 60%, against a median of 61% for Glow towns in United States.
Multiplying civil night by the clear share of the sky gives January the best score, 5.4 hours, ahead of February at 5.3. Grand Forks's equinox months score 3.8 in March and 4.9 in September, the weeks SWPC links with larger storms.
Kp history
From 1996 to 2025, the GFZ Potsdam record shows a 3-hour Kp of 5 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge over Grand Forks, on 10% of days. At Grand Forks's level the share runs from 5% in December to 14% in September, while storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 10%.
Share of UTC days in each calendar month whose highest 3-hour Kp reached Kp 5. Kp history by year
Moon, next 30 nights
Over the 30 nights from Oct 1, the new moon falls on Oct 10 and the full moon on Oct 25, in America/Chicago dates. 15 of the 30 nights at Grand Forks have at least 2 moon-free dark hours inside 10 PM to 2 AM, and Oct 5 has the most at 4 h. Tonight Grand Forks has 11 h 14 min of civil night, 1 h 59 min of it with the moon down.
- 1
65% lit
2.0 h
- 2
54% lit
3.1 h
- 3
43% lit
4.4 h
- 4
32% lit
5.8 h
- 5
22% lit
7.2 h
- 6
13% lit
8.6 h
- 7
7% lit
9.9 h
- 8
2% lit
11.2 h
- 9
0% lit
11.7 h
- 10
0% lit
11.8 h
- 11
3% lit
11.8 h
- 12
7% lit
11.8 h
- 13
13% lit
11.6 h
- 14
20% lit
11.0 h
- 15
28% lit
10.3 h
- 16
36% lit
9.4 h
- 17
46% lit
8.3 h
- 18
55% lit
7.2 h
- 19
65% lit
6.1 h
- 20
74% lit
4.9 h
- 21
82% lit
3.7 h
- 22
89% lit
2.5 h
- 23
95% lit
1.3 h
- 24
99% lit
0.0 h
- 25
100% lit
0.0 h
- 26
98% lit
0.0 h
- 27
94% lit
0.0 h
- 28
87% lit
0.7 h
- 29
79% lit
1.8 h
- 30
68% lit
3.0 h
Each cell is the night that starts on that date. Hours are civil-dark time with the moon below the horizon; the green rule scales with them. Green outline: new moon. Bone outline: full moon.
Within United States
Among the 6 Glow towns in North Dakota, Grand Forks ranks 1st by dipole latitude against a regional median of 55.5 degrees, the highest of them. Among the 136 Glow towns in United States, Grand Forks ranks 5th by dipole latitude against a national median of 51.5 degrees; Fairbanks sits highest at 65.7. On December 15 Grand Forks gets 14.3 hours of civil night, 6th longest of 136 in United States, where the median is 13.8.
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Grand Forks?
- Grand Forks sits at 56.1 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 5, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less. Clear, dark sky over Grand Forks still decides it.
- When is it dark enough in Grand Forks?
- Every night at Grand Forks has civil darkness. Tonight has 11 h 14 min, and December 15 has 14.3 hours.
- What is the best month for aurora in Grand Forks?
- January, by civil night at Grand Forks times the clear share of the sky from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 average.
- How cloudy is Grand Forks in the dark months?
- About 60% mean cloud amount over Grand Forks in the months with at least 4 hours of civil night, from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology.
- How often is activity high enough for Grand Forks?
- A 3-hour Kp of 5 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge overhead, occurred on 10% of days from 1996 to 2025 in the GFZ Potsdam record.
Nearby and related
Nearest Glow towns
Grand Forks by month
Region and comparisons