Aurora Borealis in Prince Albert
Canada · 53.20°, -105.77° · geomagnetic 60.6° · needs Kp 5
Tonight in Prince Albert
31%
Peak chance of a visible display tonight, from the same model the Revon app runs. Prince Albert 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 Prince Albert
Every night to come, scored the same way as tonight. The best of the open week is Sunday 2 Aug at 31%. Not one of the seven reaches the Kp 5 that Prince Albert needs, which is normal rather than unlucky — it averages 24.5 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 Prince Albert
Revon aurora model over the NOAA Kp forecast and 27-day outlook
How often the aurora borealis reaches Prince Albert
24.5 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 Prince Albert 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11.7 | 10.3 | 8.4 | 5.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.2 | 7.4 | 9.7 | 11.4 | 12.1 |
Solar declination and hour angle at −18°
Nothing to see from May to July
Through those months the sun never falls more than 18° below the Prince Albert horizon, so the sky never darkens fully. Plan around the darker half of the year.
Getting clear of the light
The sky over Prince Albert reads Bortle 5. Getting clear of the built-up area makes a visible difference on a marginal night.
- 6 km north-north-east — around Buckland No. 491 → Bortle 5
- 19 km east-north-east — around Garden River No. 490 → 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 Prince Albert. 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 Prince Albert 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 Yellowknife, 1,146 km north-north-west in Canada.
| Prince Albert | Yellowknife | |
|---|---|---|
| Kp needed | 5 | 3 |
| Nights per year | 24.5 | 171.4 |
| Geomagnetic latitude | 60.6° | 68.6° |
Confirmed reports from this area
61 verified sightings were logged within 300 km of Prince Albert 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 Prince Albert
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 Prince Albert.
- Bateman Island — island4.8 km east-north-east
- Coubeaux Lake — lake5.0 km north-east
- Peter Pond Point — headland6.7 km west
- Rabbit Island — island9.1 km east-north-east
- Freemont Lake — lake18.4 km north-north-west
- Red Deer Hill — hill17.3 km south-south-west
Places from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where to stay
Anywhere on the outskirts of Prince Albert will do; what matters is being able to step outside and check the sky without a drive first.
- Quality Hotel & Suites 1.0 km from the centre
- Malboro Inn 1.1 km from the centre
- Best Western Marquis Inn Stes 1.2 km from the centre
- South Hill Inn 1.8 km from the centre
- Ramada Prince Albert 1.9 km from the centre
- Prince Alber Inn 2.0 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 Prince Albert 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 Prince Albert forecast and pushes an alert when the odds for tonight clear your threshold — no checking, no guessing.
Common questions about the aurora borealis in Prince Albert
Can you see the aurora borealis from Prince Albert?
Yes. On the last 10.0 years of NOAA Kp records, Prince Albert had about 24.5 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 Prince Albert?
Kp 5. Prince Albert sits at geomagnetic latitude 60.6°, 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 Prince Albert?
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 July the sky over Prince Albert never gets fully dark, so nothing is visible however strong the storm.
Where can you escape the light pollution near Prince Albert?
The centre of Prince Albert reads Bortle 5. The nearest sky at Bortle 4 is about 19 km east-north-east around Garden River No. 490. On a marginal night that drive matters more than the forecast does.
Where is the nearest place to Prince Albert with reliable aurora borealis?
Yellowknife, Canada — 1,146 km north-north-west. It needs only Kp 3 and averages 171.4 viable nights a year against 24.5 in Prince Albert.
Nearby towns
Forecasts for places within reach of Prince Albert.
- 🇨🇦 Saskatoon - Canada133 km
- 🇨🇦 North Battleford - Canada176 km
- 🇨🇦 Lloydminster - Canada283 km
- 🇨🇦 Moose Jaw - Canada312 km
- 🇨🇦 Yorkton - Canada315 km
- 🇨🇦 Regina - Canada316 km
- 🇨🇦 Swift Current - Canada353 km
- 🇨🇦 Camrose - Canada472 km