Aurora Borealis in Blanchardstown
Ireland · 53.39°, -6.38° · geomagnetic 56.2° · needs Kp 7
Tonight in Blanchardstown
20%
Peak chance of a visible display tonight, from the same model the Revon app runs. Blanchardstown needs Kp 7 to see anything at all, and tonight the forecast peaks at Kp 5.7. Short of the threshold, which is what most nights look like here.
Updated 2026-08-02 20:20 UTC
The next 30 nights in Blanchardstown
Every night to come, scored the same way as tonight. The best of the open week is Sunday 2 Aug at 20%. Not one of the seven reaches the Kp 7 that Blanchardstown needs, which is normal rather than unlucky — it averages 2.7 viable nights a year. The 23 nights past the seven-day window move with the 27-day solar rotation and are updated daily in the app.
Nights 8–30 unlock in the Revon app
See all 30 nights for Blanchardstown
Revon aurora model over the NOAA Kp forecast and 27-day outlook
How often the aurora borealis reaches Blanchardstown
2.7 nights a year, averaged across 10.0 years of records
| Storm level | Nights / year |
|---|---|
| Kp 4 | 83.4 |
| Kp 5 | 28.7 |
| Kp 6 | 9.3 |
| Kp 7 | 3.2 |
| Kp 8 | 1.2 |
NOAA planetary Kp, 2016-04-02 to 2026-03-30
Wait for an alert; do not book a week
At Kp 7, Blanchardstown needs a severe geomagnetic storm before anything shows above the northern horizon. Storms that size arrive a handful of times per solar cycle and announce themselves a day or two ahead. Watching for one beats picking dates and hoping.
Hours of true darkness, month by month
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11.7 | 10.3 | 8.4 | 5.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.1 | 7.4 | 9.7 | 11.4 | 12.1 |
Solar declination and hour angle at −18°
Nothing to see from May to July
Through those months the sun never falls more than 18° below the Blanchardstown horizon, so the sky never darkens fully. Plan around the darker half of the year.
Getting clear of the light
Blanchardstown is small enough that its own lights are a minor problem — the centre reads Bortle 6. Walking to the edge of town is often escape enough.
- 28 km east-north-east → Bortle 4
- 28 km east-north-east → Bortle 4
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, September, August and November came out ahead in Blanchardstown. 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 Blanchardstown viewing season.
- 13 Aug 2026
- 11 Sep 2026
- 11 Oct 2026
- 09 Nov 2026
- 09 Dec 2026
- 07 Jan 2027
- 06 Feb 2027
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 Inverness, 475 km north-north-east in United Kingdom.
| Blanchardstown | Inverness | |
|---|---|---|
| Kp needed | 7 | 5 |
| Nights per year | 2.7 | 28.7 |
| Geomagnetic latitude | 56.2° | 59.8° |
Confirmed reports from this area
125 verified sightings were logged within 300 km of Blanchardstown 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 Blanchardstown
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 Blanchardstown.
- Poppintree Park — park6.3 km east
- Ward River Valley Park — park11.9 km north-east
- Feltrim Hill — hill13.0 km east-north-east
- Prospect Point — headland14.9 km north-east
- Malahide Bay — bay15.7 km east-north-east
- Sutton Strand — beach17.0 km east
Places from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
What to do with the daylight
Aurora watching is a night job, and in winter that leaves a short, bright day to fill. Blanchardstown keeps its fortified past above ground, at Dunsoghly Castle, Glasmoe Abbey and Swords Round Tower, and for a day when the cloud sits low, Kilmainham Gaol, Collins Barracks and National Wax Museum are indoors and near by.
Keep the daylight loose: the sky decides the evening, and the forecast can turn within a few hours.
Places from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where to stay
Anywhere on the outskirts of Blanchardstown will do; what matters is being able to step outside and check the sky without a drive first.
- Crowne Plaza Blanchardstown 1.3 km from the centre
- Crowne Plaza Dublin Blanchardstown 1.3 km from the centre
- Carlton Hotel Blanchardstown 3.5 km from the centre
- Park Plaza Tyrrelstown Dublin 4.4 km from the centre
- Travelodge Dublin Airport South 5.0 km from the centre
- Travelodge Dublin Airport Ballymun 7.5 km from the centre
Places from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0) — confirm before booking
The last nights it was visible here
Nights in the last decade when the storm was strong enough for Blanchardstown and the sky was dark enough to show it.
| Date | Peak |
|---|---|
| 2026-03-20 | Kp 7.0 |
| 2026-01-20 | Kp 7.67 |
| 2026-01-19 | Kp 8.67 |
| 2025-11-12 | Kp 7.33 |
| 2025-11-11 | Kp 8.67 |
NOAA planetary Kp
Know when it is worth going outside
Revon watches the Blanchardstown forecast and pushes an alert when the odds for tonight clear your threshold — no checking, no guessing.
Common questions about the aurora borealis in Blanchardstown
Can you see the aurora borealis from Blanchardstown?
Yes. On the last 10.0 years of NOAA Kp records, Blanchardstown had about 2.7 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 Blanchardstown?
Kp 7. Blanchardstown sits at geomagnetic latitude 56.2°, and the auroral oval only reaches that far from the pole once activity hits Kp 7. Storms that size occur about 3.2 nights a year.
When is the best time of year to see the aurora borealis in Blanchardstown?
September, August and November. Those months scored highest once both conditions are counted together: geomagnetic activity and enough hours of real darkness. From May to July the sky over Blanchardstown never gets fully dark, so nothing is visible however strong the storm.
Where can you escape the light pollution near Blanchardstown?
The centre of Blanchardstown reads Bortle 6. The nearest sky at Bortle 4 is about 28 km east-north-east. On a marginal night that drive matters more than the forecast does.
Where is the nearest place to Blanchardstown with reliable aurora borealis?
Inverness, United Kingdom — 475 km north-north-east. It needs only Kp 5 and averages 28.7 viable nights a year against 2.7 in Blanchardstown.
Nearby towns
Forecasts for places within reach of Blanchardstown.