Aurora Australis in New Zealand

New Zealand · -46.14°, 169.43° · geomagnetic -49.8° · needs Kp 9

Tonight in New Zealand

1%

Peak chance of a visible display tonight, from the same model the Revon app runs. New Zealand needs Kp 9 to see anything at all, and tonight the forecast peaks at Kp 4.0. Short of the threshold, which is what most nights look like here.

Tonight Mon 03 Aug
1%
18
20
22
00
02
04
06
Tomorrow Tue 4 Aug
1%
Hour-by-hour for this night is in the app
Wednesday Wed 5 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 New Zealand

Every night to come, scored the same way as tonight. The best of the open week is Monday 3 Aug at 1%. Not one of the seven reaches the Kp 9 that New Zealand needs, which is normal rather than unlucky — it averages 0.1 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.

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

Mon 3
1%
Kp 4.0
Tue 4
1%
Kp 3.0
Wed 5
1%
Kp 0.0
Thu 6
1%
Kp 3.0
Fri 7
1%
Kp 2.0
Sat 8
1%
Kp 2.0
Sun 9
1%
Kp 2.0

Nights 8–30 unlock in the Revon app

See all 30 nights for New Zealand

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

How often the aurora australis reaches New Zealand

0.1 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

Wait for an alert; do not book a week

At Kp 9, New Zealand needs a severe geomagnetic storm before anything shows above the southern 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
3.86.18.19.911.111.711.510.48.86.84.52.8

Solar declination and hour angle at −18°

Getting clear of the light

New Zealand is small enough that its own lights are a minor problem — the centre reads Bortle 2. 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, May came out ahead in New Zealand. 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 New Zealand viewing season.

Where it is close to a certainty

Invercargill is close enough to reach and return in a night — 88 km west-south-west — and needs only Kp 9.

New ZealandInvercargill
Kp needed99
Nights per year0.1 0.1
Geomagnetic latitude-49.8° -50.2°

See the Invercargill forecast

Confirmed reports from this area

10 verified sightings were logged within 300 km of New Zealand 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 New Zealand

The display sits low on the southern 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 New Zealand.

Places from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)

Places to watch from

Named viewpoints and reserves near New Zealand that sit outside the worst of the light. Each puts the southern horizon over open ground instead of over rooftops.

Places from OpenStreetMap contributors

The last nights it was visible here

Nights in the last decade when the storm was strong enough for New Zealand and the sky was dark enough to show it.

DatePeak
2024-05-10Kp 9.0

NOAA planetary Kp

Aurora forecasts across New Zealand

All 2 regions in New Zealand with a forecast page, and the Kp each one needs.

Know when it is worth going outside

Revon watches the New Zealand 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 australis in New Zealand

Can you see the aurora australis from New Zealand?

Rarely. Across 10.0 years of NOAA Kp records, New Zealand averaged under one night a year where the storm was strong enough and the sky was dark enough at the same time.

What Kp index do you need to see the aurora australis in New Zealand?

Kp 9. New Zealand sits at geomagnetic latitude -49.8°, and the auroral oval only reaches that far from the pole once activity hits Kp 9. Storms that size occur about 0.1 nights a year.

When is the best time of year to see the aurora australis in New Zealand?

May. 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 New Zealand?

The centre of New Zealand reads Bortle 2. The nearest sky at Bortle 2 is about 14 km south-south-east around Clutha District. On a marginal night that drive matters more than the forecast does.

Where is the nearest place to New Zealand with reliable aurora australis?

Invercargill, New Zealand — 88 km west-south-west. It needs only Kp 9 and averages 0.1 viable nights a year against 0.1 in New Zealand.

Nearby towns

Forecasts for places within reach of New Zealand.