Northern lights tonight?

Three things have to line up: darkness, a clear sky, and the sun in a bad mood (a Kp of 3 or more). The app checks the Kp index (from NOAA) and the cloud cover (from Open-Meteo) for the Reykjavík area. This is tonight's read.

Live, updated 09:23 UTC.

Clouded out. Probably not tonight.

Darkness 19:30 to 07:00, about 11.6 hours of it.

Kp now: 0.0
Kp forecast max: 1.7
Low cloud: 91%
High cloud: 61%
Score: 6/100

How to read it

Kp is the global geomagnetic index, 0 to 9. In Iceland, Kp 2 with a clear sky already shows a faint arc; Kp 4 and up is the wallpaper stuff. Cloud is the usual killer: low cloud hides everything, high cloud dims it.

Where to go

Out of the city light: Grótta lighthouse, Öskjuhlíð, or anywhere ten minutes past the last streetlamp. Face north, give your eyes ten minutes, keep the phone in your pocket.

When

Late August to mid-April. Peak hours are usually 22:00 to 02:00, but a strong show can start at dinner. The app watches the numbers so you don't have to.

Tonight's weather

8°C, wind 7 m/s, sunset 18:00. Kp 0.0 — Low activity expected after dark (18:00). Don't get your hopes up.

All of this, live, in your pocket.

Most of this lives in the app too, on a map that knows where you're standing. It counts down to the next happy hour, knows which cheap-eats deal is on right now, checks tonight's aurora and the weather, and shows opening hours before you've walked there. A local friend in your pocket, from arrival to adventure. Free, no account, no nagging.

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