Aurora Borealis in Juneau
United States · 58.30°, -134.42° · geomagnetic 61.6° · needs Kp 5
Tonight in Juneau
26%
Peak chance of a visible display tonight, from the same model the Revon app runs. Juneau 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.
Updated 2026-08-02 20:20 UTC
The next 30 nights in Juneau
Every night to come, scored the same way as tonight. The best of the open week is Sunday 2 Aug at 26%. Not one of the seven reaches the Kp 5 that Juneau needs, which is normal rather than unlucky — it averages 21.7 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
Revon aurora model over the NOAA Kp forecast and 27-day outlook
How often the aurora borealis reaches Juneau
21.7 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
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 Juneau sees the aurora borealis most winters.
Hours of true darkness, month by month
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12.0 | 10.3 | 7.9 | 3.9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 6.6 | 9.5 | 11.6 | 12.4 |
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 Juneau horizon, so the sky never darkens fully. Plan around the darker half of the year.
Getting clear of the light
The sky over Juneau reads Bortle 4. Getting clear of the built-up area makes a visible difference on a marginal night.
- 7 km south-west → Bortle 4
- 7 km south-west → 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, March and October came out ahead in Juneau. 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 Juneau viewing season.
- 11 Sep 2026
- 11 Oct 2026
- 09 Nov 2026
- 09 Dec 2026
- 07 Jan 2027
- 06 Feb 2027
- 08 Mar 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 Whitehorse, 271 km north in Canada.
| Juneau | Whitehorse | |
|---|---|---|
| Kp needed | 5 | 3 |
| Nights per year | 21.7 | 171.4 |
| Geomagnetic latitude | 61.6° | 63.8° |
Confirmed reports from this area
10 verified sightings were logged within 300 km of Juneau 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 Juneau
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 Juneau.
- Salmon Creek Divide — ridge4.7 km north-east
- Juneau Ridge — ridge6.1 km north-east
- Mount Anderson — mountain6.2 km west
- Cairn Peak — mountain6.9 km north-north-east
- Sunny Point — cape8.7 km north-west
- Mendenhall Wetlands State Game Refuge — park10.1 km west-north-west
Places from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Places to watch from
Named viewpoints and reserves near Juneau that sit outside the worst of the light. Each puts the northern horizon over open ground instead of over rooftops.
- Pavilion 14.8 km
- (overgrown viewpoint) 15.3 km
Places from OpenStreetMap contributors
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 Juneau you will find KJNO-AM (Juneau), KTKU-FM (Juneau) and KDEV-FM (Juneau), and for a day when the cloud sits low, Sealaska Heritage Institute and Wickersham State Historical Site 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 Juneau will do; what matters is being able to step outside and check the sky without a drive first.
- Silverbow Inn 0.7 km from the centre
- Juneau International Hostel 0.8 km from the centre
Places from OpenStreetMap contributors — confirm before booking
The last nights it was visible here
Nights in the last decade when the storm was strong enough for Juneau and the sky was dark enough to show it.
| Date | Peak |
|---|---|
| 2026-03-24 | Kp 5.0 |
| 2026-03-23 | Kp 5.0 |
| 2026-03-22 | Kp 6.67 |
| 2026-03-21 | Kp 6.0 |
| 2026-03-20 | Kp 7.0 |
NOAA planetary Kp
Know when it is worth going outside
Revon watches the Juneau forecast and pushes an alert when the odds for tonight clear your threshold — no checking, no guessing.
Common questions about the aurora borealis in Juneau
Can you see the aurora borealis from Juneau?
Yes. On the last 10.0 years of NOAA Kp records, Juneau had about 21.7 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 Juneau?
Kp 5. Juneau sits at geomagnetic latitude 61.6°, 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 Juneau?
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 Juneau never gets fully dark, so nothing is visible however strong the storm.
Where can you escape the light pollution near Juneau?
The centre of Juneau reads Bortle 4. The nearest sky at Bortle 4 is about 7 km south-west. On a marginal night that drive matters more than the forecast does.
Where is the nearest place to Juneau with reliable aurora borealis?
Whitehorse, Canada — 271 km north. It needs only Kp 3 and averages 171.4 viable nights a year against 21.7 in Juneau.
Nearby towns
Forecasts for places within reach of Juneau.