Wisconsin, United States
Northern lights in Superior
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 14:00 UTC
Storm level needed
Superior sits at 46.72N 92.10W in Wisconsin, United States. The IGRF-14 centered dipole puts Superior at 55.3 degrees geomagnetic latitude, 8.6 degrees closer to the magnetic pole than its map latitude suggests. Superior sits at 55.3 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 Duluth (7 km), Hibbing (101 km), West Coon Rapids (199 km). Duluth sits 0.1 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 Superior has some civil darkness; the shortest month sample still has 6.7 hours. Every evening of the year at Superior clears Glow's dark-season bar of 4 hours of civil night between 18:00 and 06:00. Superior's longest night of the year, Dec 18, has 14 h 11 min of civil night.
Solar midnight at Superior, when the sun is lowest, falls at 00:04 on local clocks on December 15 and 01:09 on June 15. That is 4 min after midnight in December and 1 h 9 min after midnight in June, the gap set by daylight saving and the equation of time. So at Superior 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 | 63% | 5.1 h | |
| Feb | 12.5 h | 10.1 h | 59% | 5.1 hbest | |
| Mar | 11.0 h | 8.6 h | 62% | 4.2 h | |
| Apr | 9.2 h | 6.5 h | 64% | 3.3 h | |
| May | 7.6 h | 4.1 h | 65% | 2.7 h | |
| Jun | 6.7 h | 2.1 h | 61% | 2.6 h | |
| Jul | 7.2 h | 3.2 h | 51% | 3.5 h | |
| Aug | 8.6 h | 5.7 h | 52% | 4.1 h | |
| Sep | 10.3 h | 7.9 h | 56% | 4.6 h | |
| Oct | 12.0 h | 9.7 h | 64% | 4.3 h | |
| Nov | 13.4 h | 11.0 h | 69% | 4.2 h | |
| Dec | 14.2 h | 11.7 h | 71% | 4.1 h |
By the 15th-of-the-month sample, December is the darkest month at Superior with 14.2 hours of civil night and June the lightest at 6.7. Across the year Superior gets 3,846 hours of civil night. Astronomical night at Superior, 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 Superior at 61% across the year, from 51% in July to 71% in December. In the months with at least 4 hours of civil night Superior averages 61%, against a median of 61% for Glow towns in United States.
Multiplying civil night by the clear share of the sky gives February the best score, 5.1 hours, ahead of January at 5.1. Superior's equinox months score 4.2 in March and 4.6 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 6 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge over Superior, on 3% of days. At Superior'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 Superior have at least 2 moon-free dark hours inside 10 PM to 2 AM, and Oct 5 has the most at 4 h. Tonight Superior 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
5.8 h
- 5
22% lit
7.2 h
- 6
13% lit
8.6 h
- 7
7% lit
9.8 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 12 Glow towns in Wisconsin, Superior ranks 1st by dipole latitude against a regional median of 52.2 degrees, the highest of them. Among the 137 Glow towns in United States, Superior ranks 11th by dipole latitude against a national median of 51.5 degrees; Fairbanks sits highest at 65.7. On December 15 Superior 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 Superior?
- Superior sits at 55.3 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 Superior still decides it.
- When is it dark enough in Superior?
- Every night at Superior has civil darkness. Tonight has 11 h 15 min, and December 15 has 14.2 hours.
- What is the best month for aurora in Superior?
- February, by civil night at Superior times the clear share of the sky from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 average.
- How cloudy is Superior in the dark months?
- About 61% mean cloud amount over Superior 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 Superior?
- 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 Duluth?
- Superior sits within 15 km of Duluth with the same rounded dipole latitude, Kp and dark season, so Glow treats Duluth as the main page for both.
Nearby and related
Nearest Glow towns
Superior by month
Region and comparisons