North Dakota, United States
Northern lights in Williston
Answer
Tonight
Darkness window open
Civil darkness has begun.
Observed 11:55 UTC, forecast 13:26 UTC, 91 min lead
Clock times in America/Chicago
Valid 11:00 to 13:00 UTC
Storm level needed
Williston sits at 48.15N 103.62W in North Dakota, United States. The IGRF-14 centered dipole puts Williston at 55.8 degrees geomagnetic latitude, 7.6 degrees closer to the magnetic pole than its map latitude suggests. Williston sits at 55.8 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 Minot (172 km), Bismarck (260 km), Regina (266 km). Minot sits 0.3 degrees higher on the dipole, Kp 5 against 6 here.
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 Williston has some civil darkness; the shortest month sample still has 6.4 hours. Every evening of the year at Williston clears Glow's dark-season bar of 4 hours of civil night between 18:00 and 06:00. Williston's longest night of the year, Dec 19, has 14 h 20 min of civil night.
Solar midnight at Williston, when the sun is lowest, falls at 00:50 on local clocks on December 15 and 01:55 on June 15. That is 50 min after midnight in December and 1 h 55 min after midnight in June, the gap set by daylight saving and the equation of time. So at Williston the darkest hour sits late in SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window.
Month by month
| Month | Night | Civil | Cloud | Clear dark | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 13.9 h | 11.4 h | 63% | 5.1 hbest | |
| Feb | 12.5 h | 10.1 h | 63% | 4.6 h | |
| Mar | 10.9 h | 8.5 h | 67% | 3.6 h | |
| Apr | 9.1 h | 6.3 h | 62% | 3.5 h | |
| May | 7.4 h | 3.6 h | 60% | 3.0 h | |
| Jun | 6.4 h | 0.2 h | 57% | 2.8 h | |
| Jul | 6.9 h | 2.5 h | 44% | 3.9 h | |
| Aug | 8.5 h | 5.4 h | 46% | 4.6 h | |
| Sep | 10.3 h | 7.8 h | 51% | 5.0 h | |
| Oct | 12.0 h | 9.6 h | 62% | 4.6 h | |
| Nov | 13.6 h | 11.1 h | 66% | 4.6 h | |
| Dec | 14.3 h | 11.7 h | 69% | 4.4 h |
By the 15th-of-the-month sample, December is the darkest month at Williston with 14.3 hours of civil night and June the lightest at 6.4. Across the year Williston gets 3,826 hours of civil night. Astronomical night at Williston, 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 Williston at 59% across the year, from 44% in July to 69% in December. In the months with at least 4 hours of civil night Williston 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, 5.1 hours, ahead of September at 5.0. Williston's equinox months score 3.6 in March and 5.0 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 Williston, on 3% of days. At Williston'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 Williston have at least 2 moon-free dark hours inside 10 PM to 2 AM, and Oct 5 has the most at 4 h. Tonight Williston has 11 h 14 min of civil night, 1 h 58 min of it with the moon down.
- 1
65% lit
2.0 h
- 2
54% lit
3.1 h
- 3
43% lit
4.4 h
- 4
32% lit
5.8 h
- 5
22% lit
7.2 h
- 6
13% lit
8.6 h
- 7
7% lit
9.9 h
- 8
2% lit
11.2 h
- 9
0% lit
11.7 h
- 10
0% lit
11.8 h
- 11
3% lit
11.8 h
- 12
7% lit
11.9 h
- 13
13% lit
11.6 h
- 14
20% lit
11.0 h
- 15
28% lit
10.3 h
- 16
36% lit
9.4 h
- 17
46% lit
8.3 h
- 18
55% lit
7.2 h
- 19
65% lit
6.1 h
- 20
74% lit
4.9 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
0.7 h
- 29
79% lit
1.8 h
- 30
68% lit
3.0 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 6 Glow towns in North Dakota, Williston ranks 3rd by dipole latitude against a regional median of 55.5 degrees; Grand Forks sits highest at 56.1. Among the 136 Glow towns in United States, Williston ranks 8th by dipole latitude against a national median of 51.5 degrees; Fairbanks sits highest at 65.7. On December 15 Williston gets 14.3 hours of civil night, 6th longest of 136 in United States, where the median is 13.8.
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Williston?
- Williston sits at 55.8 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 Williston still decides it.
- When is it dark enough in Williston?
- Every night at Williston has civil darkness. Tonight has 11 h 14 min, and December 15 has 14.3 hours.
- What is the best month for aurora in Williston?
- January, by civil night at Williston times the clear share of the sky from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 average.
- How cloudy is Williston in the dark months?
- About 59% mean cloud amount over Williston 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 Williston?
- 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.
Nearby and related
Nearest Glow towns
Williston by month
Region and comparisons