Northern Lights Forecast for Bismarck

Yes, during stronger storms, when the aurora has lit up the sky over the Bismarck-Mandan area. Inside the city, streetlights hide the weaker nights. Double Ditch State Historic Site, about 8 miles north on ND 1804 on the bank of the Missouri, is the quick way out of them.

Yes. The State Historical Society of North Dakota keeps the site open year-round, and it is free. It lies about 8 miles north of Bismarck on ND 1804, on the east bank of the Missouri, where the Mandan lived in an earth-lodge village from about 1490 to 1785. There is a parking lot, a paved path through the village and interpretive signs.

Yes, occasionally. The park's badlands have very dark night skies. The South Unit is 133 miles west of Bismarck on I-94, with its entrance in Medora at exits 24 and 27, and the Painted Canyon Visitor Center is 7 miles east of Medora at exit 32. The North Unit is about an hour and ten minutes' drive further north on US 85, about 14 miles south of Watford City.

It gives you a wide stretch of water to the north. Lake Sakakawea State Park is on the south shore beside Garrison Dam, about a mile north of Pick City and about 70 miles north-west of Bismarck. The reservoir behind the dam runs up the Missouri for 178 miles, so from the park's shore the view north and west is over the lake rather than over land.

In Bismarck, you usually need at least Kp 6 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 Bismarck, so seeing the aurora is unlikely.