Aurora Borealis in Alberta

Canada · 52.54°, -113.46° · geomagnetic 59.1° · needs Kp 3

Tonight in Alberta

26%

Peak chance of a visible display tonight, from the same model the Revon app runs. Alberta needs Kp 3 before anything clears the northern horizon, and tonight the forecast peaks at Kp 4.7 — comfortably over the line.

Tonight Sun 02 Aug
26%
18
20
22
00
02
04
06
Tomorrow Mon 3 Aug
7%
Hour-by-hour for this night is in the app
Tuesday Tue 4 Aug
2%
Hour-by-hour for this night is in the app

Unlock every hour in the app

Updated 2026-08-02 20:20 UTC

The next 30 nights in Alberta

Every night to come, scored the same way as tonight. The best of the open week is Sunday 2 Aug at 26%. 4 of the seven reach the Kp 3 that Alberta needs, topping out at Kp 4.7. The 23 nights past the seven-day window move with the 27-day solar rotation and are updated daily in the app.

Low activity for the next few days. Moderate aurora expected on August 19th.

Sun 2
26%
Kp 4.7
Mon 3
7%
Kp 3.3
Tue 4
2%
Kp 1.3
Wed 5
8%
Kp 3.0
Thu 6
8%
Kp 3.0
Fri 7
3%
Kp 2.0
Sat 8
3%
Kp 2.0

Nights 8–30 unlock in the Revon app

See all 30 nights for Alberta

Revon aurora model over the NOAA Kp forecast and 27-day outlook

How often the aurora borealis reaches Alberta

145.7 nights a year, averaged across 10.0 years of records

Storm levelNights / year
Kp 483.4
Kp 528.7
Kp 69.3
Kp 73.2
Kp 81.2

NOAA planetary Kp, 2016-04-02 to 2026-03-30

You are inside the auroral oval

Alberta sits far enough northern that quiet conditions are enough. What limits you here is cloud and moonlight, not geomagnetic activity.

Hours of true darkness, month by month

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
11.710.38.45.71.40.00.04.47.59.711.412.1

Solar declination and hour angle at −18°

Nothing to see from June to July

Through those months the sun never falls more than 18° below the Alberta horizon, so the sky never darkens fully. Plan around the darker half of the year.

Getting clear of the light

With 3,017,750 people around you, the sky over central Alberta is Bortle 5. The glow hides anything but the brightest display, so the drive out matters more here than the forecast does.

Falchi 2016 World Atlas (DOI: 10.5880/GFZ.1.4.2016.001)

The months that actually deliver

Counting only nights that were both stormy enough and dark enough, March, September and October came out ahead in Alberta. That is storm season and darkness overlapping — the equinoxes tend to be geomagnetically active, and the nights are already long by then.

Darkest nights of the coming year

A bright moon washes out a weak display as effectively as street lighting. These new moons fall inside the Alberta viewing season.

Where it is close to a certainty

If you would rather plan a trip than wait for a storm, the nearest place with genuinely frequent aurora is Yellowknife, 1,104 km north in Canada.

AlbertaYellowknife
Kp needed33
Nights per year145.7 171.4
Geomagnetic latitude59.1° 68.6°

See the Yellowknife forecast

Confirmed reports from this area

233 verified sightings were logged within 300 km of Alberta between 2015-01-01 and 2016-12-31. Rare is not the same as impossible.

Aurorasaurus verified positive reports

Where the horizon opens up near Alberta

The display sits low on the northern horizon, so what beats a better forecast is open ground facing that way. Height gets you above the town glow; water gives you an unbroken skyline. These are within a short drive of Alberta.

Places from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)

The last nights it was visible here

Nights in the last decade when the storm was strong enough for Alberta and the sky was dark enough to show it.

DatePeak
2026-03-30Kp 3.0
2026-03-29Kp 3.33
2026-03-28Kp 3.67
2026-03-27Kp 3.33
2026-03-26Kp 3.0

NOAA planetary Kp

Aurora forecasts across Alberta

All 17 places in Alberta with a forecast page, and the Kp each one needs.

Know when it is worth going outside

Revon watches the Alberta forecast and pushes an alert when the odds for tonight clear your threshold — no checking, no guessing.

Get aurora alerts on iPhone

Common questions about the aurora borealis in Alberta

Can you see the aurora borealis from Alberta?

Yes. On the last 10.0 years of NOAA Kp records, Alberta had about 145.7 nights a year when the storm was strong enough and the sky dark enough at the same time.

What Kp index do you need to see the aurora borealis in Alberta?

Kp 3. Alberta sits at geomagnetic latitude 59.1°, and the auroral oval only reaches that far from the pole once activity hits Kp 3.

When is the best time of year to see the aurora borealis in Alberta?

March, September and October. Those months scored highest once both conditions are counted together: geomagnetic activity and enough hours of real darkness. From June to July the sky over Alberta never gets fully dark, so nothing is visible however strong the storm.

Where can you escape the light pollution near Alberta?

The centre of Alberta reads Bortle 5. The nearest sky at Bortle 4 is about 15 km east-south-east around Lacombe County. On a marginal night that drive matters more than the forecast does.

Where is the nearest place to Alberta with reliable aurora borealis?

Yellowknife, Canada — 1,104 km north. It needs only Kp 3 and averages 171.4 viable nights a year against 145.7 in Alberta.

Nearby towns

Forecasts for places within reach of Alberta.