Michigan, United States
Northern lights in Grand Rapids
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/Detroit
Valid 12:00 to 13:00 UTC
Storm level needed
Grand Rapids sits at 42.96N 85.67W in Michigan, United States. The IGRF-14 centered dipole puts Grand Rapids at 51.9 degrees geomagnetic latitude, 8.9 degrees closer to the magnetic pole than its map latitude suggests. Grand Rapids sits at 51.9 degrees geomagnetic. The lowest NOAA storm level whose typical viewing latitude reaches it is G3 (Kp = 7). By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead only at Kp 8.
"aurora has been seen as low as Illinois and Oregon (typically 50° geomagnetic lat.)"
The nearest other Glow towns are Kalamazoo (75 km), Battle Creek (82 km), Lansing (94 km). Kalamazoo sits 0.7 degrees lower on the dipole and needs the same Kp.
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 Rapids has some civil darkness; the shortest month sample still has 7.4 hours. Every evening of the year at Grand Rapids clears Glow's dark-season bar of 4 hours of civil night between 18:00 and 06:00. Grand Rapids's longest night of the year, Dec 16, has 13 h 49 min of civil night.
Solar midnight at Grand Rapids, when the sun is lowest, falls at 00:38 on local clocks on December 15 and 01:43 on June 15. That is 38 min after midnight in December and 1 h 43 min after midnight in June, the gap set by daylight saving and the equation of time. So at Grand Rapids 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 | 13.5 h | 11.2 h | 80% | 2.7 h | |
| Feb | 12.3 h | 10.2 h | 75% | 3.1 h | |
| Mar | 11.0 h | 8.8 h | 67% | 3.6 h | |
| Apr | 9.5 h | 7.0 h | 63% | 3.5 h | |
| May | 8.1 h | 5.2 h | 64% | 2.9 h | |
| Jun | 7.4 h | 3.9 h | 56% | 3.3 h | |
| Jul | 7.7 h | 4.5 h | 49% | 3.9 h | |
| Aug | 9.0 h | 6.3 h | 49% | 4.6 h | |
| Sep | 10.5 h | 8.2 h | 49% | 5.4 hbest | |
| Oct | 11.9 h | 9.7 h | 64% | 4.3 h | |
| Nov | 13.2 h | 10.9 h | 71% | 3.8 h | |
| Dec | 13.8 h | 11.5 h | 82% | 2.5 h |
By the 15th-of-the-month sample, December is the darkest month at Grand Rapids with 13.8 hours of civil night and June the lightest at 7.4. Across the year Grand Rapids gets 3,889 hours of civil night. Astronomical night at Grand Rapids, the sun 18 degrees or more below the horizon, lasts 11.5 hours on December 15.
NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology puts mean cloud amount for the 1 degree cell around Grand Rapids at 64% across the year, from 49% in July to 82% in December. In the months with at least 4 hours of civil night Grand Rapids averages 64%, against a median of 61% for Glow towns in United States.
Multiplying civil night by the clear share of the sky gives September the best score, 5.4 hours, ahead of August at 4.6. Grand Rapids's equinox months score 3.6 in March and 5.4 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 8 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge over Grand Rapids, on 0% of days. At Grand Rapids's level the share runs from 0% in February to 1% in November, 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 8. 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 26, in America/Detroit dates. 15 of the 30 nights at Grand Rapids 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 Rapids has 11 h 16 min of civil night, 2 h 23 min of it with the moon down.
- 1
66% lit
2.4 h
- 2
55% lit
3.5 h
- 3
43% lit
4.7 h
- 4
32% lit
6.0 h
- 5
22% lit
7.3 h
- 6
14% lit
8.6 h
- 7
7% lit
9.8 h
- 8
3% lit
11.1 h
- 9
0% lit
11.6 h
- 10
0% lit
11.7 h
- 11
3% lit
11.7 h
- 12
7% lit
11.7 h
- 13
12% lit
11.2 h
- 14
19% lit
10.6 h
- 15
27% lit
9.8 h
- 16
36% lit
8.9 h
- 17
45% lit
7.9 h
- 18
55% lit
6.9 h
- 19
64% lit
5.8 h
- 20
73% lit
4.7 h
- 21
82% lit
3.6 h
- 22
89% lit
2.5 h
- 23
95% lit
1.3 h
- 24
99% lit
0.1 h
- 25
100% lit
0.0 h
- 26
98% lit
0.0 h
- 27
94% lit
0.1 h
- 28
88% lit
1.0 h
- 29
79% lit
2.0 h
- 30
69% lit
3.3 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 15 Glow towns in Michigan, Grand Rapids ranks 3rd by dipole latitude against a regional median of 51.5 degrees; Marquette sits highest at 55.4. Among the 136 Glow towns in United States, Grand Rapids ranks 54th by dipole latitude against a national median of 51.5 degrees; Fairbanks sits highest at 65.7. On December 15 Grand Rapids gets 13.8 hours of civil night, 52nd longest of 136 in United States, where the median is 13.8.
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Grand Rapids?
- Grand Rapids sits at 51.9 degrees geomagnetic. The lowest NOAA storm level whose typical viewing latitude reaches it is G3 (Kp = 7). By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead only at Kp 8. Clear, dark sky over Grand Rapids still decides it.
- When is it dark enough in Grand Rapids?
- Every night at Grand Rapids has civil darkness. Tonight has 11 h 16 min, and December 15 has 13.8 hours.
- What is the best month for aurora in Grand Rapids?
- September, by civil night at Grand Rapids times the clear share of the sky from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 average.
- How cloudy is Grand Rapids in the dark months?
- About 64% mean cloud amount over Grand Rapids 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 Rapids?
- A 3-hour Kp of 8 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge overhead, occurred on 0% of days from 1996 to 2025 in the GFZ Potsdam record.
Nearby and related
Nearest Glow towns
Grand Rapids by month
Region and comparisons