Aurora Borealis in Terrace

Canada · 54.52°, -128.60° · geomagnetic 58.9° · needs Kp 5

Tonight in Terrace

21%

Peak chance of a visible display tonight, from the same model the Revon app runs. Terrace 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.

Tonight Sun 02 Aug
21%
18
20
22
00
02
04
06
Tomorrow Mon 3 Aug
4%
Hour-by-hour for this night is in the app
Tuesday Tue 4 Aug
2%
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 Terrace

Every night to come, scored the same way as tonight. The best of the open week is Sunday 2 Aug at 21%. Not one of the seven reaches the Kp 5 that Terrace needs, which is normal rather than unlucky — it averages 23.8 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.

Low activity for the next few days. Moderate aurora expected on August 19th.

Sun 2
21%
Kp 4.7
Mon 3
4%
Kp 3.3
Tue 4
2%
Kp 0.0
Wed 5
6%
Kp 3.0
Thu 6
6%
Kp 3.0
Fri 7
2%
Kp 2.0
Sat 8
2%
Kp 2.0

Nights 8–30 unlock in the Revon app

See all 30 nights for Terrace

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

How often the aurora borealis reaches Terrace

23.8 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

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 Terrace sees the aurora borealis most winters.

Hours of true darkness, month by month

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
11.810.38.35.20.00.00.03.67.29.711.412.2

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 Terrace horizon, so the sky never darkens fully. Plan around the darker half of the year.

Getting clear of the light

Terrace 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, September, March and October came out ahead in Terrace. 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 Terrace viewing season.

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 Juneau, 552 km north-west in United States.

TerraceJuneau
Kp needed55
Nights per year23.8 28.7
Geomagnetic latitude58.9° 61.6°

See the Juneau forecast

Where the horizon opens up near Terrace

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 Terrace.

Places from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)

Where to stay

Anywhere on the outskirts of Terrace will do; what matters is being able to step outside and check the sky without a drive first.

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 Terrace and the sky was dark enough to show it.

DatePeak
2026-03-24Kp 5.0
2026-03-23Kp 5.0
2026-03-22Kp 6.67
2026-03-21Kp 6.0
2026-03-20Kp 7.0

NOAA planetary Kp

Know when it is worth going outside

Revon watches the Terrace 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 borealis in Terrace

Can you see the aurora borealis from Terrace?

Yes. On the last 10.0 years of NOAA Kp records, Terrace had about 23.8 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 Terrace?

Kp 5. Terrace sits at geomagnetic latitude 58.9°, 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 Terrace?

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 Terrace never gets fully dark, so nothing is visible however strong the storm.

Where can you escape the light pollution near Terrace?

The centre of Terrace reads Bortle 2. The nearest sky at Bortle 2 is about 7 km east-south-east around Area E (Thornhill). On a marginal night that drive matters more than the forecast does.

Where is the nearest place to Terrace with reliable aurora borealis?

Juneau, United States — 552 km north-west. It needs only Kp 5 and averages 28.7 viable nights a year against 23.8 in Terrace.

Nearby towns

Forecasts for places within reach of Terrace.