Aurora Borealis in Mount Pearl
Canada · 47.52°, -52.78° · geomagnetic 56.2° · needs Kp 7
Tonight in Mount Pearl
11%
Peak chance of a visible display tonight, from the same model the Revon app runs. Mount Pearl 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 Mount Pearl
Every night to come, scored the same way as tonight. The best of the open week is Sunday 2 Aug at 11%. Not one of the seven reaches the Kp 7 that Mount Pearl 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.
Nights 8–30 unlock in the Revon app
See all 30 nights for Mount Pearl
Revon aurora model over the NOAA Kp forecast and 27-day outlook
How often the aurora borealis reaches Mount Pearl
3.2 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, Mount Pearl 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11.5 | 10.3 | 8.8 | 6.6 | 4.1 | 1.9 | 3.1 | 5.7 | 8.0 | 9.9 | 11.2 | 11.8 |
Solar declination and hour angle at −18°
Getting clear of the light
Mount Pearl 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.
- 21 km east → Bortle 3
- 21 km east → Bortle 3
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 Mount Pearl. 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 Mount Pearl 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 Nuuk, 1,854 km north in Greenland.
| Mount Pearl | Nuuk | |
|---|---|---|
| Kp needed | 7 | 3 |
| Nights per year | 3.2 | 171.4 |
| Geomagnetic latitude | 56.2° | 72.6° |
Where the horizon opens up near Mount Pearl
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 Mount Pearl.
- St. Andrews Hill — hill3.8 km east
- Hells Al — hill4.5 km north-west
- Neils Pond Ridge — ridge5.0 km west
- Lower High Point — headland5.3 km north-west
- The Lookout — mountain5.6 km north
- Purcells Ridge — ridge5.7 km north-north-east
Places from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where to stay
Anywhere on the outskirts of Mount Pearl will do; what matters is being able to step outside and check the sky without a drive first.
- Capital Hotel 4.1 km from the centre
- Fairfield Inn & Suites St John's Newfoundland 4.2 km from the centre
- Fairfield Inn and Suites St John S Standard Bb 4.2 km from the centre
- Ramada St John's 4.4 km from the centre
- Courtyard by Marriott St. John's 5.5 km from the centre
- Angel House Heritage Inn 6.2 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 Mount Pearl 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 Mount Pearl forecast and pushes an alert when the odds for tonight clear your threshold — no checking, no guessing.
Common questions about the aurora borealis in Mount Pearl
Can you see the aurora borealis from Mount Pearl?
Yes. On the last 10.0 years of NOAA Kp records, Mount Pearl 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 Mount Pearl?
Kp 7. Mount Pearl 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 Mount Pearl?
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 Mount Pearl?
The centre of Mount Pearl reads Bortle 6. The nearest sky at Bortle 3 is about 21 km east. On a marginal night that drive matters more than the forecast does.
Where is the nearest place to Mount Pearl with reliable aurora borealis?
Nuuk, Greenland — 1,854 km north. It needs only Kp 3 and averages 171.4 viable nights a year against 3.2 in Mount Pearl.
Nearby towns
Forecasts for places within reach of Mount Pearl.
- 🇨🇦 Corner Brook - Canada415 km
- 🇨🇦 Glace Bay - Canada565 km
- 🇨🇦 Sydney - Canada583 km
- 🇨🇦 New Glasgow - Canada784 km
- 🇨🇦 Charlottetown - Canada798 km
- 🇨🇦 Cole Harbour - Canada882 km
- 🇨🇦 Dartmouth - Canada890 km
- 🇨🇦 Halifax - Canada891 km