Aurora Tonight

Whether it's worth stepping out for the northern lights tonight — NOAA's space-weather model, the clouds and the hours of real darkness, under the auroral oval.

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Town Tools builds free, public tools for Inuvik and towns around the world. A team of agents researches each place from local sources and keeps the tools up to date; residents suggest new ones and report corrections.

Tonight

Possible — keep an eye out

There’s a chance. Worth a glance outside if you’re up, especially well away from town lights.

Cloud is likely to block the view tonight.

Overhead chance now

NOAA’s modelled chance of aurora directly overhead

Expected Kp tonight

Planetary activity — higher means a stronger, wider display

Darkest 21:40–07:50

Skies

Night

Dark hours

Expected Kp

Sky

Tue, Oct 13

21:40–08:00

3.7· may reach viewing levels

Cloudy

Wed, Oct 14

21:30–08:00

2.7· may reach viewing levels

Cloudy

Thu, Oct 15

21:30–08:00

2.7· may reach viewing levels

Cloudy

If you go out

Get past the edge of town — a few minutes toward the airport road or out the ice road (in season) leaves the streetlights behind.

Look up as much as north: under the oval, displays often pass straight overhead.

Let your eyes adjust for 15–20 minutes and keep your phone screen down.

Dress for serious cold — clear midwinter nights here sit in the -30s and -40s. Don't linger outside a warm vehicle for long, and keep it running.

Check the cloud forecast first; a clear sky matters as much as the space weather.

Worth knowing

The light both ways

Inuvik's year swings between about 56 days of midnight sun and 30 days of polar night. The same sky that takes the aurora away all summer hands it back in winter — and the town marks the sun's return with the Sunrise Festival each January. Aurora season and the dark season are the same season here.

Under the oval

The auroral oval — the ring where the lights are most frequent — passes over the Mackenzie Delta. That means Inuvik doesn't wait for big solar storms the way southern towns do: ordinary quiet-night activity is often visible, and a moderate storm can fill the sky.

Aurora Tonight

About these tools

Tonight

The next few nights

If you go out

Worth knowing

The light both ways

Under the oval