Aurora forecast tonight in Portland, Oregon
Live northern lights outlook for Portland, Oregon, United States — from NOAA's Ovation model and planetary Kp forecast, updated every 15 minutes.
Tonight's verdict
Quiet for now
0%
local probability now
2.0
max Kp next 24h
Kp 6+
what Portland, Oregon needs
Activity looks low right now, but substorms flare with little warning. Check back after dark or watch the Kp trend.
Make the quiet useful: get a storm alert first · Film the aurora on iPhone · Aurora tonight
Updated 2026-09-28 10:51 UTC · NOAA SWPC Ovation Prime · Kp now 1.0
Kp forecast — next 24 hours
1.7
09:00
1.7
12:00
0.7
15:00
0.7
18:00
1.7
21:00
1.7
00:00
2.0
03:00
1.7
06:00
Times UTC · bright green = at/above the Kp 6 Portland, Oregon needs
Be ready before the next storm hits.
When you're finally standing in the cold under the night you've waited years for, there are no retakes — the sky does its show once and moves on. So pack the jacket, pack the thermos, and pack the one thing that makes the night eternal: the only iOS astrophotography app built for auroras. Long after the trip, you'll still have the display itself, moving, in 4K.
- ✦ Set it down and it arms itself
- ✦ 4K timelapse + a still from the session
- ✦ Aurora intelligence tunes every capture
- ✦ Tracks the aurora live — no extra app
- ✦ Apple Watch companion
- ✦ Pay once, own it forever
What it takes to see the aurora from Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon sits at 45.5°N geographic, but what decides an aurora is geomagnetic latitude — 51.0°N here. That means the northern lights need a real geomagnetic storm here, roughly Kp 6 or higher. By NOAA's published storm frequencies, Kp 6 is reached on roughly 32.7 nights a year averaged across the 11-year solar cycle — and the years just after solar maximum, where we are now, have historically delivered the cycle's strongest storms.
Kp 4 a camera catches itKp 6 visible to the eyeKp 8 overhead
Watching from Portland, Oregon: get clear of streetlights with an open northern horizon, give your eyes fifteen minutes to adapt, and concentrate on the hours around local midnight, when activity statistically peaks. The season runs from late August to mid-April, and activity climbs measurably around the equinoxes.
For comparison, Portland, Oregon needs about Kp 6; Seattle, 236 km away, needs about Kp 5. On a marginal night that difference decides who sees anything.
One rule every chaser learns the hard way: the camera sees it first. An arc that reads as grey haze to your eyes is already green in a one-second exposure, so point a camera at the northern sky before deciding there is nothing there — one tap in Aurora Lens runs that check and films whatever answers.
Read next: Aurora with any phone · Film the aurora on iPhone · Aurora tonight
Tonight's sky over Portland, Oregon
Astronomical darkness
8.8 hours
20:38 – 05:26 local time GMT-7
Local clock times for Portland, Oregon, between sunset-dark and first light: the sun more than 18° below the horizon, when faint aurora shows best.
Clouds tonight
Partly cloudy57%
Mean cloud cover across tonight's dark hours. Clouds beat cameras — a clear gap is worth chasing.
Moon
96% lit
A bright moon washes out faint aurora. Strong displays cut through it without trouble.
Watching for the aurora from Portland
Portlanders find out about aurora nights from KOIN and KATU weather alerts, then argue about where to go. The honest answer: the city's glow plus the haze off the Columbia wash out anything faint, so a storm that lights up Winnipeg barely registers here. When NOAA calls a real one — G3 or better — get out of town before 10 p.m., look north until about 2 a.m., and let your phone camera confirm what your eyes can't. The classic visitor mistake is standing on a downtown bridge expecting the pictures they saw online; even in May 2024 the naked-eye show from close in was mostly a pale shimmer. Two or three nights a year reward the drive. That's the deal.
Best spots to see the northern lights in Portland, Oregon
Places locals and guides actually name, with what each one gives you.
Council Crest Park
3 km south-west · car
The highest point in the city proper, and where KOIN's own cameras went during the May 2024 storm. You are shooting over the downtown glow, so expect the color to show up on your phone screen before your eyes catch it — and the park closes at midnight, right when the show tends to peak. Drive up SW Council Crest Dr, or hike in on the Marquam Trail if the lot is full.
Portland Women's Forum State Scenic Viewpoint
33 km east · car
The old Chanticleer Point on the Historic Columbia River Highway above Corbett, with the same wide north-facing view down the gorge as Vista House but without the parking chaos. Take I-84 to exit 22 and climb the hill; bring a real coat, because the gorge's east wind does not quit at night. On a forecast storm half of Portland has the same idea, so get there before dark.
L.L. Stub Stewart State Park (Hilltop day-use area)
47 km north-west · car
About 45 minutes west on US 26 toward Vernonia, then up OR 47 past Buxton — the hilltop day-use area lets you park next to your view, flush toilets and all. This is where OMSI and the Rose City Astronomers hold their star parties, dark enough for the Milky Way with open sky to the north. Kill your headlights the moment you park; everyone up there is dark-adapted.
🔔 Get free aurora alerts
Sign up and we'll send you one alert when a storm is coming and auroras are likely. Nothing else, ever.
Tuned for Portland, Oregon
We store only what's needed to send the alert. One-tap unsubscribe in every message.
Aurora in Portland, Oregon: common questions
- What Kp does Portland, Oregon need to see the northern lights?
- Three different numbers, depending what you mean. Portland, Oregon sits at 51.0 geomagnetic latitude, so a long exposure picks the aurora up low on the northern horizon from about Kp 4, you can see it yourself from around Kp 6, and it stands overhead near Kp 8. Aurora glows 100–400 km up, which is why it clears the horizon from hundreds of kilometres away.
- Is it dark enough in Portland, Oregon tonight?
- Portland, Oregon gets about 8.8 hours of full astronomical darkness tonight, and the moon is 96% lit. Both matter: a bright moon or a sky that never fully darkens will hide a faint display.
- When is the best time of year for aurora in Portland, Oregon?
- The season runs from late August to mid-April. Activity peaks statistically around the equinoxes, in late September and again in March, and the hours around local midnight are the most productive on any given night.
- Can an iPhone photograph the aurora in Portland, Oregon?
- Yes, and it will usually show more than your eyes do. A long exposure gathers colour that human night vision cannot. Filming it moving needs an app built for the job; Aurora Lens does that and saves a 4K timelapse plus a still frame.
Aurora forecasts near Portland, Oregon
Seattle
Aurora forecast for SeattleUnited States
Vancouver
Aurora forecast for VancouverCanada
Spokane
Aurora forecast for SpokaneUnited States
Boise
Aurora forecast for BoiseUnited States
Missoula
Aurora forecast for MissoulaUnited States
Calgary
Aurora forecast for CalgaryCanada
More United States aurora forecasts Fairbanks · Anchorage · Juneau · Nome · Utqiaġvik (Barrow) · Coldfoot · Talkeetna · Denali Park