Boston, MA · magnetic latitude 49.9°
Northern lights in Boston: tonight’s chance
Boston needs a strong storm and a dark northern horizon, which in practice means leaving the city.
Tonight at Boston, MA
…
Reading the SWPC Kp forecast and the cloud forecast…
| Kp forecast during the dark hours | not yet forecast |
|---|---|
| Kp needed here | 7.0 (G3 strong) |
| Cloud cover in the dark hours | loading |
| Dark sky (Sun 18° down) | 7:38 PM to 5:22 AM EDT |
| Moon | 12% lit |
| Right now, OVATION (30 to 90 min) | loading or unavailable |
| Magnetic latitude (AACGM) | 49.9° |
Hour by hour, EDT
7 PM
Kp –
– ☁
No
8 PM
Kp –
– ☁
No
9 PM
Kp –
– ☁
No
10 PM
Kp –
– ☁
No
11 PM
Kp –
– ☁
No
12 AM
Kp –
– ☁
No
1 AM
Kp –
– ☁
No
2 AM
Kp –
– ☁
No
3 AM
Kp –
– ☁
No
4 AM
Kp –
– ☁
No
5 AM
Kp –
– ☁
No
Rules checked · Built by Radif Partners · How the answer works
- Kp to see it from Boston
- 7.0
- Storm level needed
- G3 (Strong)
- Kp for aurora overhead
- 8.0
- Most clear dark hours
- November
From Boston the northern lights need a planetary Kp of about 7.0, a G3 (Strong) storm on the NOAA scale. The city lies at 49.9 degrees magnetic latitude in the AACGM model, and the aurora would reach overhead only around Kp 8.0, in the rarest storms. A Boston sighting is therefore a glow low in the north, often pink or red, during the few strong storms of each solar cycle. The metro area's light is the main local obstacle; two or three hours north, Berlin in New Hampshire needs about Kp 6.6 under a much darker sky. Boston's NASA POWER cloud amount ranges from 51% in September to 64% in May, and the months with the most clear dark hours are November, January and December. The tool checks tonight's SWPC Kp against that threshold, hour by hour.
Strong storms, strong lights
Boston combines two handicaps: a magnetic latitude that requires a G3 storm, and one of the larger light domes of the East Coast. Its threshold of Kp 7.0 puts it close to Philadelphia and New York City among the cities on this site. In practice, the aurora has been seen from the Boston area only on the big nights of a solar cycle, and the best views came from the dark country north and west of the city.
How dark, how clear: one town, one month
Hours of full darkness on the 15th
11.0 h
| Dark sky | 5:59 PM to 4:58 AM |
| Including nautical twilight | 12.1 h |
| Mean cloud amount (NASA POWER) | 60% |
| Clear dark hours on an average night | 4.4 h |
Computed for 2027; the hours move by a few minutes from one year to the next.
Getting out of the dome
The glow of greater Boston extends far beyond Route 128 and Interstate 495. The first truly dark horizons appear in the hills of north-central Massachusetts, around the Quabbin Reservoir and the towns along the New Hampshire line, about an hour or so west. For a weaker storm, the drive north into New Hampshire gains both darkness and a lower threshold: every hour of driving lowers the Kp needed a little, up to about 6.6 in the North Country.
The coast is not the answer
Boston's dark horizons are mostly over the ocean, to the east and south, which is the wrong side for the aurora. Beaches north of the city look east as well. That is why the inland hills to the north and west, not the shore, are the places to head for. Even a modest hilltop in the Merrimack valley, with Lowell and Lawrence behind you to the south, gives a darker northern sky than any coastal park inside Route 128.
How to read a storm night
A G3 or G4 watch from SWPC is the starting point; on the night, the Kp estimate and the OVATION line of the tool show whether the storm has arrived and how far south the oval sits. Boston is five hours behind Universal Time in winter, so the SWPC block from 00 to 03 UT is 7 to 10 pm and the block from 03 to 06 UT is 10 pm to 1 am. The aurora at this distance usually looks pale to the eye, a pink or grey glow with occasional rays; a phone camera shows the colors, as the phone guide explains. For the rest of the state, see the Massachusetts page.
Kp needed around Boston
| Town | Magnetic latitude | Kp to see it | Kp overhead | Storm level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsfield | 50.5° | 6.9 | 7.8 | G3 (Strong) |
| Worcester | 50.0° | 7.0 | 8.0 | G3 (Strong) |
| Springfield | 50.0° | 7.0 | 8.0 | G3 (Strong) |
| Boston | 49.9° | 7.0 | 8.0 | G3 (Strong) |
| Barnstable | 49.1° | 7.2 | 8.4 | G3 (Strong) |
Darkness and clouds by month in Boston
| Month | Dark hours | Dark sky, 15th | Mean cloud | Clear dark hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 11.3 h | 6:15 PM to 5:30 AM | 62% | 4.3 h |
| February | 10.2 h | 6:50 PM to 5:05 AM | 61% | 4.0 h |
| March | 8.9 h | 8:24 PM to 5:20 AM | 61% | 3.5 h |
| April | 7.2 h | 9:07 PM to 4:20 AM | 61% | 2.8 h |
| May | 5.4 h | 9:56 PM to 3:23 AM | 64% | 1.9 h |
| June | 4.3 h | 10:36 PM to 2:52 AM | 62% | 1.6 h |
| July | 4.8 h | 10:25 PM to 3:15 AM | 55% | 2.2 h |
| August | 6.5 h | 9:32 PM to 4:05 AM | 53% | 3.1 h |
| September | 8.3 h | 8:29 PM to 4:49 AM | 51% | 4.1 h |
| October | 9.8 h | 7:35 PM to 5:24 AM | 59% | 4.0 h |
| November | 11.0 h | 5:59 PM to 4:58 AM | 60% | 4.4 h |
| December | 11.5 h | 5:53 PM to 5:25 AM | 63% | 4.2 h |