Cleveland, OH · magnetic latitude 50.6°
Northern lights in Cleveland: tonight’s chance
Cleveland is one of the few big Midwest cities whose lakefront faces due north, the direction a strong storm rises from.
Tonight at Cleveland, OH
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Reading the SWPC Kp forecast and the cloud forecast…
| Kp forecast during the dark hours | not yet forecast |
|---|---|
| Kp needed here | 6.9 (G3 strong) |
| Cloud cover in the dark hours | loading |
| Dark sky (Sun 18° down) | 8:20 PM to 6:05 AM EDT |
| Moon | 13% lit |
| Right now, OVATION (30 to 90 min) | loading or unavailable |
| Magnetic latitude (AACGM) | 50.6° |
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
6 AM
Kp –
– ☁
No
Rules checked · Built by Radif Partners · How the answer works
- Kp to see it from Cleveland
- 6.9
- Storm level needed
- G3 (Strong)
- Kp for aurora overhead
- 7.7
- Most clear dark hours
- September
From Cleveland the northern lights need a planetary Kp of about 6.9, which the NOAA scale counts as a G3 (Strong) storm. The city lies at 50.6 degrees magnetic latitude in the AACGM model, a little south of Toledo's 50.9, and the oval would only pass overhead around Kp 7.7. The lake to the north gives the city an open horizon that most inland towns lack. Akron, to the south, needs about Kp 7.0. Clouds are the bigger obstacle here: NASA POWER averages for Cleveland reach 84% in December, its greyest month, and fall to 58% in September. Full darkness on the 15th lasts 11.5 hours in December and 4.5 in June. Weighing dark hours against cloud, September, October and November come out best. The tool below compares tonight's Kp forecast with National Weather Service sky cover for Cleveland, hour by hour.
The north coast, literally
Cleveland calls itself the North Coast, and for aurora purposes the name is accurate. Lake Erie spreads out directly north of downtown, so the lakefront parks, breakwalls and shoreline bluffs face the same direction an aurora rises from. Inland Midwest cities have to find a hill or a cleared field to see the bottom of the northern sky; here the lake gives that view for free. A storm at Kp 6.9 puts the glow just above the water, a low arc or a faint wash of green and red that can easily hide behind a row of houses but shows plainly over open lake.
The trade off is light. The lakefront next to downtown is bright, and the glow of the city spreads out over the water as well as inland. The most useful spots are the shoreline parks well east or west of the center, where the lake still lies to the north but the lights fall away behind you.
Thresholds south of the lake
Leaving the shore for darker country means accepting the city glow on your northern horizon. Cuyahoga Valley National Park, which the National Park Service describes as lying a short distance from Cleveland and Akron, is much darker than the city, but downtown sits to its north. Akron's threshold, Kp 7.0, is barely different from Cleveland's, so the move south buys darkness, not a lower bar.
How dark, how clear: one town, one month
Hours of full darkness on the 15th
10.2 h
| Dark sky | 7:33 PM to 5:47 AM |
| Including nautical twilight | 11.3 h |
| Mean cloud amount (NASA POWER) | 81% |
| Clear dark hours on an average night | 2.0 h |
Computed for 2027; the hours move by a few minutes from one year to the next.
The Ohio page covers Geauga County's dark sky park to the east, and the Columbus page shows how the numbers shift in the center of the state.
Picking a night through the lake cloud
In Cleveland the calendar matters as much as the forecast. From late autumn into winter, Arctic air crossing the warmer lake builds bands of cloud and snow over the south shore, especially on the east side of the city and into the hills beyond it. NASA POWER's averages for Cleveland reach 84% in December, and the long winter nights rarely line up with a clear sky. September is the opposite case, with a cloud amount near 58% and dark hours lengthening fast, from 9:10 PM to 5:33 AM on the 15th. When a strong storm is forecast in the snow season, check the hourly sky cover in the tool: lake-effect bands can leave the west side or areas south of Akron clear while the east side is buried. The aurora forecast page explains how far ahead such a storm can be seen coming.
Kp needed around Cleveland
| Town | Magnetic latitude | Kp to see it | Kp overhead | Storm level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toledo | 50.9° | 6.8 | 7.5 | G3 (Strong) |
| Cleveland | 50.6° | 6.9 | 7.7 | G3 (Strong) |
| Akron | 50.2° | 7.0 | 7.9 | G3 (Strong) |
| Columbus | 49.3° | 7.1 | 8.3 | G3 (Strong) |
| Dayton | 49.2° | 7.2 | 8.4 | G3 (Strong) |
| Cincinnati | 48.6° | 7.3 | 8.7 | G3 (Strong) |
Darkness and clouds by month in Cleveland
| Month | Dark hours | Dark sky, 15th | Mean cloud | Clear dark hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 11.2 h | 6:59 PM to 6:12 AM | 84% | 1.8 h |
| February | 10.2 h | 7:33 PM to 5:47 AM | 81% | 2.0 h |
| March | 9.0 h | 9:05 PM to 6:04 AM | 77% | 2.0 h |
| April | 7.3 h | 9:46 PM to 5:05 AM | 74% | 1.9 h |
| May | 5.6 h | 10:34 PM to 4:11 AM | 74% | 1.5 h |
| June | 4.5 h | 11:11 PM to 3:42 AM | 67% | 1.5 h |
| July | 5.1 h | 11:01 PM to 4:04 AM | 61% | 1.9 h |
| August | 6.7 h | 10:11 PM to 4:51 AM | 60% | 2.7 h |
| September | 8.4 h | 9:10 PM to 5:33 AM | 58% | 3.5 h |
| October | 9.8 h | 8:17 PM to 6:07 AM | 68% | 3.2 h |
| November | 11.0 h | 6:42 PM to 5:40 AM | 73% | 2.9 h |
| December | 11.5 h | 6:37 PM to 6:06 AM | 84% | 1.8 h |