Minnesota, United States
Northern lights in Moorhead
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
Moorhead sits at 46.87N 96.77W in Minnesota, United States. The IGRF-14 centered dipole puts Moorhead at 55.1 degrees geomagnetic latitude, 8.3 degrees closer to the magnetic pole than its map latitude suggests. Moorhead sits at 55.1 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 6, 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 (2 km), Grand Forks (119 km), Jamestown (147 km). Fargo sits 0.0 degrees higher 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 Moorhead has some civil darkness; the shortest month sample still has 6.7 hours. Every evening of the year at Moorhead clears Glow's dark-season bar of 4 hours of civil night between 18:00 and 06:00. Moorhead's longest night of the year, Dec 19, has 14 h 12 min of civil night.
Solar midnight at Moorhead, when the sun is lowest, falls at 00:22 on local clocks on December 15 and 01:27 on June 15. That is 22 min after midnight in December and 1 h 27 min after midnight in June, the gap set by daylight saving and the equation of time. So at Moorhead 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 | 13.8 h | 11.3 h | 62% | 5.2 hbest | |
| Feb | 12.5 h | 10.1 h | 60% | 5.0 h | |
| Mar | 11.0 h | 8.6 h | 66% | 3.7 h | |
| Apr | 9.2 h | 6.5 h | 61% | 3.6 h | |
| May | 7.6 h | 4.1 h | 61% | 3.0 h | |
| Jun | 6.7 h | 2.0 h | 57% | 2.9 h | |
| Jul | 7.1 h | 3.2 h | 48% | 3.7 h | |
| Aug | 8.6 h | 5.7 h | 49% | 4.4 h | |
| Sep | 10.3 h | 7.9 h | 50% | 5.2 h | |
| Oct | 12.0 h | 9.7 h | 60% | 4.8 h | |
| Nov | 13.4 h | 11.0 h | 64% | 4.9 h | |
| Dec | 14.2 h | 11.7 h | 68% | 4.5 h |
By the 15th-of-the-month sample, December is the darkest month at Moorhead with 14.2 hours of civil night and June the lightest at 6.7. Across the year Moorhead gets 3,844 hours of civil night. Astronomical night at Moorhead, 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 Moorhead at 59% across the year, from 48% in July to 68% in December. In the months with at least 4 hours of civil night Moorhead averages 59%, 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, 5.2 hours, ahead of September at 5.2. Moorhead's equinox months score 3.7 in March and 5.2 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 6 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge over Moorhead, on 3% of days. At Moorhead's level the share runs from 1% in December to 5% in October, 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 6. 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 Moorhead have at least 2 moon-free dark hours inside 10 PM to 2 AM, and Oct 5 has the most at 4 h. Tonight Moorhead has 11 h 15 min of civil night, 2 h 5 min of it with the moon down.
- 1
65% lit
2.1 h
- 2
54% lit
3.2 h
- 3
43% lit
4.5 h
- 4
32% lit
5.9 h
- 5
22% lit
7.2 h
- 6
13% lit
8.6 h
- 7
7% lit
9.9 h
- 8
2% lit
11.1 h
- 9
0% lit
11.7 h
- 10
0% lit
11.7 h
- 11
3% lit
11.8 h
- 12
7% lit
11.8 h
- 13
13% lit
11.5 h
- 14
20% lit
10.9 h
- 15
28% lit
10.2 h
- 16
36% lit
9.3 h
- 17
46% lit
8.2 h
- 18
55% lit
7.1 h
- 19
65% lit
6.0 h
- 20
74% lit
4.8 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
0.8 h
- 29
79% lit
1.8 h
- 30
68% lit
3.1 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 11 Glow towns in Minnesota, Moorhead ranks 3rd by dipole latitude against a regional median of 53.5 degrees; Hibbing sits highest at 56.0. Among the 137 Glow towns in United States, Moorhead ranks 12th by dipole latitude against a national median of 51.5 degrees; Fairbanks sits highest at 65.7. On December 15 Moorhead gets 14.2 hours of civil night, 15th longest of 137 in United States, where the median is 13.8.
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Moorhead?
- Moorhead sits at 55.1 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 6, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less. Clear, dark sky over Moorhead still decides it.
- When is it dark enough in Moorhead?
- Every night at Moorhead has civil darkness. Tonight has 11 h 15 min, and December 15 has 14.2 hours.
- What is the best month for aurora in Moorhead?
- January, by civil night at Moorhead times the clear share of the sky from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 average.
- How cloudy is Moorhead in the dark months?
- About 59% mean cloud amount over Moorhead 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 Moorhead?
- A 3-hour Kp of 6 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge overhead, occurred on 3% of days from 1996 to 2025 in the GFZ Potsdam record.
- Why does this page point to Fargo?
- Moorhead sits within 15 km of Fargo with the same rounded dipole latitude, Kp and dark season, so Glow treats Fargo as the main page for both.
Nearby and related
Nearest Glow towns
Moorhead by month
Region and comparisons