Storm watch · Kp 5.3

Kp 5.3 forecast in the next 3 days — the aurora could push much further south than usual.

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Chile · Aurora australis

Is the aurora visible in Coyhaique tonight?

Right now

Not tonight.

Kp is 0.3. Coyhaique needs Kp 9+ for the oval overhead — right now it’s not reaching Coyhaique.

Tonight's peak is forecast around Kp 2.3 (Quiet). The forecast still depends on darkness, cloud and the moon at your exact spot.

Reliable about 30 minutes ahead — cloud decides the rest.

Coyhaique only catches the aurora during strong geomagnetic storms — it needs roughly Kp 9+ for the southern lights to come into view. Here's tonight's live space weather and how to plan around it.

How to see the aurora from Coyhaique

Face south and find a clear, low horizon in that direction. Everything else — dark skies, adapted eyes, the camera trick — is the same anywhere on Earth, so it lives in the how to photograph the aurora guide.

When can you see the southern lights in Coyhaique?

Aurora season in Coyhaique runs roughly March – September. Here the months that pay off are — the table below shows why. See the full best time to see the aurora guide for the season in detail.

Coyhaique by the numbers

Between Sep 1, 2025 and Aug 31, 2026, Coyhaique had 365 nights dark enough for the aurora, and the planetary Kp reached the Kp 9+ this place needs on 0 of them. Averaged over 2015–2024 and this location's cloud cover, that works out to well under one aurora-possible night a year.

Month by month at Coyhaique
MonthDark hours per nightDark nightsAverage cloud coverAurora-possible nights
January7.5 h3164%0
February8.8 h2861%0
March10.5 h3168%0
April12.3 h3073%0
May13.5 h3179%0
June14.3 h3079%0
July13.8 h3183%0
August12.8 h3182%0
September11 h3076%0
October9.3 h3169%0
November7.8 h3072%0
December7 h3169%0

Sources: the sun's geometry (dark = at least 6° below the horizon), GFZ Potsdam's Kp index 2015–2024 (CC BY 4.0), ERA5 cloud cover via Open-Meteo (the table shows the monthly mean; the estimate counts days that were not overcast). An estimate for comparing places and months, not a forecast — how we estimate this.

Where it’s reliable

Chase it where the oval lives