Illinois, United States
Northern lights in Rockford
Answer
Tonight
Waiting on darkness
It is not civil-dark yet. The next dusk is listed below.
Observed 11:55 UTC, forecast 13:26 UTC, 91 min lead
Clock times in America/Chicago
Valid 12:00 to 13:00 UTC
Storm level needed
Rockford sits at 42.27N 89.09W in Illinois, United States. The IGRF-14 centered dipole puts Rockford at 51.0 degrees geomagnetic latitude, 8.8 degrees closer to the magnetic pole than its map latitude suggests. Rockford sits at 51.0 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 Janesville (46 km), Elgin, Illinois (72 km), Aurora, Illinois (86 km). Janesville sits 0.4 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 Rockford has some civil darkness; the shortest month sample still has 7.5 hours. Every evening of the year at Rockford clears Glow's dark-season bar of 4 hours of civil night between 18:00 and 06:00. Rockford's longest night of the year, Dec 19, has 13 h 46 min of civil night.
Solar midnight at Rockford, when the sun is lowest, falls at 23:52 on local clocks on December 15 and 00:57 on June 15. That is 8 min before midnight in December and 57 min after midnight in June, the gap set by daylight saving and the equation of time. So at Rockford 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 | 13.4 h | 11.2 h | 67% | 4.4 h | |
| Feb | 12.3 h | 10.2 h | 64% | 4.4 h | |
| Mar | 11.0 h | 8.8 h | 63% | 4.1 h | |
| Apr | 9.5 h | 7.1 h | 62% | 3.6 h | |
| May | 8.2 h | 5.3 h | 63% | 3.0 h | |
| Jun | 7.5 h | 4.1 h | 56% | 3.3 h | |
| Jul | 7.8 h | 4.7 h | 48% | 4.1 h | |
| Aug | 9.0 h | 6.5 h | 49% | 4.6 h | |
| Sep | 10.5 h | 8.3 h | 47% | 5.6 hbest | |
| Oct | 11.9 h | 9.7 h | 59% | 4.9 h | |
| Nov | 13.1 h | 10.9 h | 64% | 4.7 h | |
| Dec | 13.8 h | 11.4 h | 70% | 4.1 h |
By the 15th-of-the-month sample, December is the darkest month at Rockford with 13.8 hours of civil night and June the lightest at 7.5. Across the year Rockford gets 3,896 hours of civil night. Astronomical night at Rockford, the sun 18 degrees or more below the horizon, lasts 11.4 hours on December 15.
NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology puts mean cloud amount for the 1 degree cell around Rockford at 59% across the year, from 47% in September to 70% in December. In the months with at least 4 hours of civil night Rockford averages 59%, 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, 5.6 hours, ahead of October at 4.9. Rockford's equinox months score 4.1 in March and 5.6 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 Rockford, on 0% of days. At Rockford'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 25, in America/Chicago dates. 15 of the 30 nights at Rockford have at least 2 moon-free dark hours inside 10 PM to 2 AM, and Oct 5 has the most at 4 h. Tonight Rockford has 11 h 16 min of civil night, 2 h 27 min of it with the moon down.
- 1
65% lit
2.5 h
- 2
54% lit
3.5 h
- 3
43% lit
4.8 h
- 4
32% lit
6.1 h
- 5
22% lit
7.4 h
- 6
13% lit
8.7 h
- 7
7% lit
9.9 h
- 8
2% 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
13% lit
11.2 h
- 14
20% lit
10.5 h
- 15
28% lit
9.7 h
- 16
36% lit
8.8 h
- 17
46% lit
7.8 h
- 18
55% lit
6.8 h
- 19
65% lit
5.7 h
- 20
74% 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
0.2 h
- 28
87% lit
1.0 h
- 29
79% lit
2.1 h
- 30
68% 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 11 Glow towns in Illinois, Rockford ranks 2nd by dipole latitude against a regional median of 50.7 degrees; Waukegan sits highest at 51.2. Among the 136 Glow towns in United States, Rockford ranks 89th by dipole latitude against a national median of 51.5 degrees; Fairbanks sits highest at 65.7. On December 15 Rockford 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 Rockford?
- Rockford sits at 51.0 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 Rockford still decides it.
- When is it dark enough in Rockford?
- Every night at Rockford has civil darkness. Tonight has 11 h 16 min, and December 15 has 13.8 hours.
- What is the best month for aurora in Rockford?
- September, by civil night at Rockford times the clear share of the sky from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 average.
- How cloudy is Rockford in the dark months?
- About 59% mean cloud amount over Rockford 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 Rockford?
- 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
Rockford by month
Region and comparisons