Northern Lights Forecast for Winnipeg

From inside the city the aurora normally looks like a white or grey haze, like thin cloud, according to Scott Young, astronomer at the Manitoba Museum Planetarium. The colour shows on a camera in night mode, or further out of town. In the biggest storms the sky over Winnipeg has turned crimson, but that is not the usual view.

In places. The provincial park is about 24 km north of the city on Highway 59, and a University of Manitoba physics instructor has named it as a place with little light pollution. It is low wooded hills rather than open plain, so pick a clearing or a spot by the lake with a clear view north.

Yes. The marsh, about 35 km north of Winnipeg, runs public astronomy nights that start with a talk and move to telescopes on the roof of the interpretive centre, weather permitting; some have been about the aurora. The marsh keeps its lighting low so as not to disturb migrating birds, and the open wetland gives a wide view of the sky.

By train or plane, since no road reaches Churchill. VIA Rail's train from Winnipeg takes about 45 hours with two nights on board, and Calm Air flies from Winnipeg in about two hours. Churchill is far enough north to see the aurora on quiet nights that show nothing in Winnipeg; February and March are its aurora months.

In Winnipeg, you usually need at least Kp 4 to have a reasonable chance of seeing the northern lights. Lower Kp can still bring a faint aurora display low on the northern horizon, but it is less common.

This is based on magnetic latitude, and Kp index is a global geomagnetic index, so treat it as a rule of thumb, not a location-specific guarantee.

Tonight, the NOAA Kp index forecast is 1.6 to 2.7. That is below the usual Kp index threshold for Winnipeg, so seeing the aurora is unlikely.