Aurora Borealis in Wisconsin

United States · 43.65°, -88.84° · geomagnetic 52.6° · needs Kp 7

Tonight in Wisconsin

1%

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

Tonight Sun 02 Aug
1%
18
20
22
00
02
04
06
Tomorrow Mon 3 Aug
1%
Hour-by-hour for this night is in the app
Tuesday Tue 4 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 Wisconsin

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 Wisconsin 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.

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

Sun 2
1%
Kp 4.7
Mon 3
1%
Kp 3.3
Tue 4
1%
Kp 1.3
Wed 5
1%
Kp 3.0
Thu 6
1%
Kp 3.0
Fri 7
1%
Kp 2.0
Sat 8
1%
Kp 2.0

Nights 8–30 unlock in the Revon app

See all 30 nights for Wisconsin

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

How often the aurora borealis reaches Wisconsin

3.2 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 7, Wisconsin 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

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
11.310.39.07.15.23.84.56.48.39.911.111.6

Solar declination and hour angle at −18°

Getting clear of the light

With 2,743,148 people around you, the sky over central Wisconsin is Bortle 6. The glow hides anything but the brightest display, so the drive out matters more here than the forecast does.

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 Wisconsin. 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 Wisconsin 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 Yellowknife, 2,663 km north-north-west in Canada.

WisconsinYellowknife
Kp needed73
Nights per year3.2 171.4
Geomagnetic latitude52.6° 68.6°

See the Yellowknife forecast

Confirmed reports from this area

136 verified sightings were logged within 300 km of Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin

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 Wisconsin.

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 Wisconsin you will find WPKR-FM (Waupun), WCWC-AM (Ripon) and WMRH-AM (Waupun), and for a day when the cloud sits low, Waupun Heritage Museum and Fox Lake Depot 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)

The last nights it was visible here

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

DatePeak
2026-03-20Kp 7.0
2026-01-20Kp 7.67
2026-01-19Kp 8.67
2025-11-12Kp 7.33
2025-11-11Kp 8.67

NOAA planetary Kp

Aurora forecasts across Wisconsin

All 19 places in Wisconsin with a forecast page, and the Kp each one needs.

Know when it is worth going outside

Revon watches the Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin

Can you see the aurora borealis from Wisconsin?

Yes. On the last 10.0 years of NOAA Kp records, Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin?

Kp 7. Wisconsin sits at geomagnetic latitude 52.6°, 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 Wisconsin?

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 Wisconsin?

The centre of Wisconsin reads Bortle 6. The nearest sky at Bortle 4 is about 54 km west-north-west around Town of Oxford. On a marginal night that drive matters more than the forecast does.

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

Yellowknife, Canada — 2,663 km north-north-west. It needs only Kp 3 and averages 171.4 viable nights a year against 3.2 in Wisconsin.

Nearby towns

Forecasts for places within reach of Wisconsin.