Aurora Borealis in South Saint Paul
United States · 44.89°, -93.03° · geomagnetic 53.5° · needs Kp 7
Tonight in South Saint Paul
1%
Peak chance of a visible display tonight, from the same model the Revon app runs. South Saint Paul 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.
Updated 2026-08-02 20:20 UTC
The next 30 nights in South Saint Paul
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 South Saint Paul 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 South Saint Paul
Revon aurora model over the NOAA Kp forecast and 27-day outlook
How often the aurora borealis reaches South Saint Paul
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, South Saint Paul 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 | 7.0 | 4.9 | 3.4 | 4.1 | 6.2 | 8.2 | 9.9 | 11.1 | 11.7 |
Solar declination and hour angle at −18°
Getting clear of the light
South Saint Paul is small enough that its own lights are a minor problem — the centre reads Bortle 7. Walking to the edge of town is often escape enough.
- 44 km east-north-east — around Town of Warren → Bortle 5
- 76 km south-east — around Town of Stockholm → 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, May, September and August came out ahead in South Saint Paul. 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 South Saint Paul 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, 2,382 km north-north-west in Canada.
| South Saint Paul | Yellowknife | |
|---|---|---|
| Kp needed | 7 | 3 |
| Nights per year | 3.2 | 171.4 |
| Geomagnetic latitude | 53.5° | 68.6° |
Confirmed reports from this area
177 verified sightings were logged within 300 km of South Saint Paul 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 South Saint Paul
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 South Saint Paul.
- Pigs Eye Island Number One — island3.1 km north-north-west
- Thompson County Park — park3.1 km north-west
- Thompson Lake — lake3.4 km north-west
- Pleasantview Park — park3.4 km east-north-east
- Lilly Lake — lake3.7 km north-west
- Gulf of Minneapolis — bay3.8 km north-north-west
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 South Saint Paul you will find KDWB-AM (Saint Paul), KNOW-AM (Minneapolis) and KNOF-FM (Saint Paul), and for a day when the cloud sits low, Minnesota Museum of American Art, Science Museum of Minnesota and Minnesota Transportation Museum 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
Anywhere on the outskirts of South Saint Paul will do; what matters is being able to step outside and check the sky without a drive first.
- Red Roof Inn Woodbury - St Paul 6.1 km from the centre
- Hampton Inn Woodbury 6.4 km from the centre
- Hampton Inn Minneapolis St. Paul-Woodbury 6.4 km from the centre
- Holiday Inn St. Paul-I-94-East 3M Area 6.6 km from the centre
- Exel Inn Of St Paul 6.7 km from the centre
- La Quinta Inn & Suites St. Paul 6060 6.7 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 South Saint Paul 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 South Saint Paul forecast and pushes an alert when the odds for tonight clear your threshold — no checking, no guessing.
Common questions about the aurora borealis in South Saint Paul
Can you see the aurora borealis from South Saint Paul?
Yes. On the last 10.0 years of NOAA Kp records, South Saint Paul 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 South Saint Paul?
Kp 7. South Saint Paul 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 South Saint Paul?
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 South Saint Paul?
The centre of South Saint Paul reads Bortle 7. The nearest sky at Bortle 4 is about 76 km south-east around Town of Stockholm. On a marginal night that drive matters more than the forecast does.
Where is the nearest place to South Saint Paul with reliable aurora borealis?
Yellowknife, Canada — 2,382 km north-north-west. It needs only Kp 3 and averages 171.4 viable nights a year against 3.2 in South Saint Paul.
Nearby towns
Forecasts for places within reach of South Saint Paul.