Aurora Borealis in Saint John
Canada · 45.27°, -66.06° · geomagnetic 54.5° · needs Kp 7
Tonight in Saint John
1%
Peak chance of a visible display tonight, from the same model the Revon app runs. Saint John 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 Saint John
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 Saint John 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 Saint John
Revon aurora model over the NOAA Kp forecast and 27-day outlook
How often the aurora borealis reaches Saint John
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, Saint John 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11.4 | 10.3 | 8.9 | 6.9 | 4.8 | 3.2 | 4.0 | 6.1 | 8.2 | 9.9 | 11.1 | 11.7 |
Solar declination and hour angle at −18°
Getting clear of the light
The sky over Saint John reads Bortle 5. Getting clear of the built-up area makes a visible difference on a marginal night.
- 5 km east-south-east → Bortle 5
- 24 km east — around Village of Fundy-St. Martins → 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 Saint John. 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 Saint John 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, 2,283 km north-north-east in Greenland.
| Saint John | Nuuk | |
|---|---|---|
| Kp needed | 7 | 3 |
| Nights per year | 3.2 | 171.4 |
| Geomagnetic latitude | 54.5° | 72.6° |
Confirmed reports from this area
58 verified sightings were logged within 300 km of Saint John 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 Saint John
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 Saint John.
- Crystal Lake — lake3.3 km north-north-west
- Pleasant Point — headland3.3 km west
- Howe Lake — lake3.6 km north-north-west
- Blue Point — headland3.7 km west-north-west
- Swift Point Lighthouse — lighthouse5.3 km west-north-west
- Tucker Park Beach — beach5.5 km north-west
Places from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where to stay
Anywhere on the outskirts of Saint John will do; what matters is being able to step outside and check the sky without a drive first.
- Delta Brunswick 0.4 km from the centre
- Delta Brunswick Delta Room 0.4 km from the centre
- Hilton Hotel Saint John 0.6 km from the centre
- Best Western Saint John Hotel & Suites 0.6 km from the centre
- Hilton Saint John Club Bb 0.6 km from the centre
- Chateau Saint John Hotel & Suites 1.2 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 Saint John 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 Saint John forecast and pushes an alert when the odds for tonight clear your threshold — no checking, no guessing.
Common questions about the aurora borealis in Saint John
Can you see the aurora borealis from Saint John?
Yes. On the last 10.0 years of NOAA Kp records, Saint John 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 Saint John?
Kp 7. Saint John sits at geomagnetic latitude 54.5°, 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 Saint John?
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 Saint John?
The centre of Saint John reads Bortle 5. The nearest sky at Bortle 3 is about 24 km east around Village of Fundy-St. Martins. On a marginal night that drive matters more than the forecast does.
Where is the nearest place to Saint John with reliable aurora borealis?
Nuuk, Greenland — 2,283 km north-north-east. It needs only Kp 3 and averages 171.4 viable nights a year against 3.2 in Saint John.
Nearby towns
Forecasts for places within reach of Saint John.
- 🇨🇦 Fredericton - Canada89 km
- 🇨🇦 Riverview - Canada130 km
- 🇨🇦 Lutes Mountain - Canada131 km
- 🇨🇦 Moncton - Canada134 km
- 🇨🇦 Dieppe - Canada139 km
- 🇨🇦 Lower Sackville - Canada195 km
- 🇨🇦 Miramichi - Canada200 km
- 🇨🇦 Dartmouth - Canada206 km