Aurora Borealis in Montana

United States · 46.66°, -111.96° · geomagnetic 53.5° · needs Kp 7

Tonight in Montana

1%

Peak chance of a visible display tonight, from the same model the Revon app runs. Montana needs Kp 7 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
1%
18
20
22
00
02
04
06
Tomorrow Mon 3 Aug
1%
Hour-by-hour for this night is in the app
Tuesday Tue 4 Aug
1%
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 Montana

Every night to come, scored the same way as tonight. The best of the open week is Sunday 2 Aug at 1%. Not one of the seven reaches the Kp 7 that Montana needs, which is normal rather than unlucky — it averages 3.2 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.

Quiet geomagnetic conditions ahead. No significant aurora activity expected this month.

Sun 2
1%
Kp 4.7
Mon 3
1%
Kp 3.3
Tue 4
1%
Kp 1.3
Wed 5
1%
Kp 3.0
Thu 6
1%
Kp 3.0
Fri 7
1%
Kp 2.0
Sat 8
1%
Kp 2.0

Nights 8–30 unlock in the Revon app

See all 30 nights for Montana

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

How often the aurora borealis reaches Montana

3.2 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

Wait for an alert; do not book a week

At Kp 7, Montana 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

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
11.410.38.86.74.42.53.45.98.19.911.211.7

Solar declination and hour angle at −18°

Getting clear of the light

With 379,514 people around you, the sky over central Montana is Bortle 2. 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, May, September and August came out ahead in Montana. 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 Montana 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, 1,763 km north in Canada.

MontanaYellowknife
Kp needed73
Nights per year3.2 171.4
Geomagnetic latitude53.5° 68.6°

See the Yellowknife forecast

Confirmed reports from this area

43 verified sightings were logged within 300 km of Montana 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 Montana

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 Montana.

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 Montana you will find KMTX-AM (Helena), KBLL-FM (Helena) and KMBB-FM (Helena), and for a day when the cloud sits low, Little Red School House Museum, Montana Historical Society Museum and Holter Museum of Art 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

Staying central in Montana is fine for everything except the aurora itself — you will still need to drive out. If seeing it matters more than convenience, base yourself on the edge of town facing your dark spot.

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 Montana and the sky was dark enough to show it.

DatePeak
2026-03-20Kp 7.0
2026-01-20Kp 7.67
2026-01-19Kp 8.67
2025-11-12Kp 7.33
2025-11-11Kp 8.67

NOAA planetary Kp

Aurora forecasts across Montana

All 5 places in Montana with a forecast page, and the Kp each one needs.

Know when it is worth going outside

Revon watches the Montana 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 Montana

Can you see the aurora borealis from Montana?

Yes. On the last 10.0 years of NOAA Kp records, Montana had about 3.2 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 Montana?

Kp 7. Montana sits at geomagnetic latitude 53.5°, 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 Montana?

May, September and August. Those months scored highest once both conditions are counted together: geomagnetic activity and enough hours of real darkness.

Where can you escape the light pollution near Montana?

The centre of Montana reads Bortle 2. The nearest sky at Bortle 2 is about 10 km north-north-west around Lewis and Clark County. On a marginal night that drive matters more than the forecast does.

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

Yellowknife, Canada — 1,763 km north. It needs only Kp 3 and averages 171.4 viable nights a year against 3.2 in Montana.

Nearby towns

Forecasts for places within reach of Montana.