Washington, United States
Northern lights in Tacoma
Answer
Tonight
Darkness window open
Civil darkness has begun.
Observed 11:49 UTC, forecast 13:20 UTC, 91 min lead
Clock times in America/Los_Angeles
Valid 12:00 to 14:00 UTC
Storm level needed
Tacoma sits at 47.25N 122.44W in Washington, United States. The IGRF-14 centered dipole puts Tacoma at 52.7 degrees geomagnetic latitude, 5.4 degrees closer to the magnetic pole than its map latitude suggests. Tacoma sits at 52.7 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 7.
"aurora has been seen as low as Illinois and Oregon (typically 50° geomagnetic lat.)"
The nearest other Glow towns are South Hill (18 km), Kent (21 km), Seattle (40 km). South Hill sits 0.1 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 Tacoma has some civil darkness; the shortest month sample still has 6.6 hours. Every evening of the year at Tacoma clears Glow's dark-season bar of 4 hours of civil night between 18:00 and 06:00. Tacoma's longest night of the year, Dec 17, has 14 h 14 min of civil night.
Solar midnight at Tacoma, when the sun is lowest, falls at 00:05 on local clocks on December 15 and 01:10 on June 15. That is 5 min after midnight in December and 1 h 10 min after midnight in June, the gap set by daylight saving and the equation of time. So at Tacoma 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 | 80% | 2.8 h | |
| Feb | 12.5 h | 10.1 h | 74% | 3.3 h | |
| Mar | 11.0 h | 8.6 h | 79% | 2.3 h | |
| Apr | 9.2 h | 6.4 h | 75% | 2.3 h | |
| May | 7.5 h | 4.0 h | 70% | 2.3 h | |
| Jun | 6.6 h | 1.7 h | 68% | 2.1 h | |
| Jul | 7.1 h | 3.0 h | 47% | 3.8 h | |
| Aug | 8.6 h | 5.6 h | 48% | 4.5 h | |
| Sep | 10.3 h | 7.8 h | 53% | 4.8 hbest | |
| Oct | 12.0 h | 9.7 h | 68% | 3.8 h | |
| Nov | 13.5 h | 11.0 h | 77% | 3.1 h | |
| Dec | 14.2 h | 11.7 h | 79% | 3.0 h |
By the 15th-of-the-month sample, December is the darkest month at Tacoma with 14.2 hours of civil night and June the lightest at 6.6. Across the year Tacoma gets 3,839 hours of civil night. Astronomical night at Tacoma, 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 Tacoma at 68% across the year, from 47% in July to 80% in January. In the months with at least 4 hours of civil night Tacoma averages 68%, 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, 4.8 hours, ahead of August at 4.5. Tacoma's equinox months score 2.3 in March and 4.8 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 7 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge over Tacoma, on 1% of days. At Tacoma's level the share runs from 0% in February to 2% 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 7. 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/Los_Angeles dates. 15 of the 30 nights at Tacoma have at least 2 moon-free dark hours inside 10 PM to 2 AM, and Oct 5 has the most at 4 h. Tonight Tacoma has 11 h 15 min of civil night, 2 h 7 min of it with the moon down.
- 1
64% lit
2.1 h
- 2
53% lit
3.3 h
- 3
42% lit
4.5 h
- 4
31% lit
5.9 h
- 5
21% lit
7.3 h
- 6
13% lit
8.7 h
- 7
6% lit
10.0 h
- 8
2% lit
11.2 h
- 9
0% lit
11.7 h
- 10
1% lit
11.8 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
37% lit
9.2 h
- 17
46% lit
8.2 h
- 18
56% lit
7.1 h
- 19
65% lit
5.9 h
- 20
74% lit
4.8 h
- 21
83% lit
3.6 h
- 22
90% lit
2.4 h
- 23
95% lit
1.2 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
78% lit
1.9 h
- 30
68% lit
3.2 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 13 Glow towns in Washington, Tacoma ranks 9th by dipole latitude against a regional median of 53.0 degrees; Bellingham sits highest at 54.1. Among the 136 Glow towns in United States, Tacoma ranks 37th by dipole latitude against a national median of 51.5 degrees; Fairbanks sits highest at 65.7. On December 15 Tacoma gets 14.2 hours of civil night, 15th longest of 136 in United States, where the median is 13.8.
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Tacoma?
- Tacoma sits at 52.7 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 7. Clear, dark sky over Tacoma still decides it.
- When is it dark enough in Tacoma?
- Every night at Tacoma has civil darkness. Tonight has 11 h 15 min, and December 15 has 14.2 hours.
- What is the best month for aurora in Tacoma?
- September, by civil night at Tacoma times the clear share of the sky from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 average.
- How cloudy is Tacoma in the dark months?
- About 68% mean cloud amount over Tacoma 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 Tacoma?
- A 3-hour Kp of 7 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge overhead, occurred on 1% of days from 1996 to 2025 in the GFZ Potsdam record.
Nearby and related
Nearest Glow towns
Tacoma by month
Region and comparisons