Aurora Borealis in Eagle River

United States · 61.32°, -149.57° · geomagnetic 62.0° · needs Kp 5

Tonight in Eagle River

23%

Peak chance of a visible display tonight, from the same model the Revon app runs. Eagle River needs Kp 5 to see anything at all, and tonight the forecast peaks at Kp 4.7. Short of the threshold, which is what most nights look like here.

Tonight Sun 02 Aug
23%
18
20
22
00
02
04
06
Tomorrow Mon 3 Aug
10%
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 Eagle River

Every night to come, scored the same way as tonight. The best of the open week is Sunday 2 Aug at 23%. Not one of the seven reaches the Kp 5 that Eagle River needs, which is normal rather than unlucky — it averages 20.1 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.

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

Sun 2
23%
Kp 4.7
Mon 3
10%
Kp 3.3
Tue 4
2%
Kp 0.0
Wed 5
22%
Kp 3.0
Thu 6
22%
Kp 3.0
Fri 7
6%
Kp 2.0
Sat 8
6%
Kp 2.0

Nights 8–30 unlock in the Revon app

See all 30 nights for Eagle River

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

How often the aurora borealis reaches Eagle River

20.1 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

Worth watching through the dark half of the year

Kp 5 is a moderate storm — not an everyday event, but common enough that a patient observer in Eagle River sees the aurora borealis most winters.

Hours of true darkness, month by month

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
12.110.27.42.10.00.00.00.06.09.411.712.7

Solar declination and hour angle at −18°

Nothing to see from May to August

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

Getting clear of the light

Eagle River 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.

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, March and October came out ahead in Eagle River. 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 Eagle River 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 Fairbanks, 402 km north-north-east in United States.

Eagle RiverFairbanks
Kp needed53
Nights per year20.1 171.4
Geomagnetic latitude62.0° 65.6°

See the Fairbanks forecast

Confirmed reports from this area

156 verified sightings were logged within 300 km of Eagle River 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 Eagle River

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 Eagle River.

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. Close to Eagle River you will find KYES-TV (Anchorage), KASH-FM (Anchorage) and KGOT-FM (Anchorage).

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 Eagle River will do; what matters is being able to step outside and check the sky without a drive first.

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 Eagle River and the sky was dark enough to show it.

DatePeak
2026-03-24Kp 5.0
2026-03-23Kp 5.0
2026-03-22Kp 6.67
2026-03-21Kp 6.0
2026-03-20Kp 7.0

NOAA planetary Kp

Know when it is worth going outside

Revon watches the Eagle River 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 Eagle River

Can you see the aurora borealis from Eagle River?

Yes. On the last 10.0 years of NOAA Kp records, Eagle River had about 20.1 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 Eagle River?

Kp 5. Eagle River sits at geomagnetic latitude 62.0°, and the auroral oval only reaches that far from the pole once activity hits Kp 5. Storms that size occur about 28.7 nights a year.

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

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

Where can you escape the light pollution near Eagle River?

The centre of Eagle River reads Bortle 6. The nearest sky at Bortle 4 is about 19 km east-south-east around Anchorage. On a marginal night that drive matters more than the forecast does.

Where is the nearest place to Eagle River with reliable aurora borealis?

Fairbanks, United States — 402 km north-north-east. It needs only Kp 3 and averages 171.4 viable nights a year against 20.1 in Eagle River.

Nearby towns

Forecasts for places within reach of Eagle River.