Canada · Aurora borealis
Is the aurora visible in Fort Smith tonight?
Right now
Maybe — stay ready.
Kp is 0.0. Fort Smith needs Kp 1+ for the oval overhead — right now it’s low on the northern horizon.
Tonight's peak is forecast around Kp 5.3 (Minor storm). The forecast still depends on darkness, cloud and the moon at your exact spot.
Reliable about 30 minutes ahead — cloud decides the rest.
Fort Smith sits right under the auroral oval — it needs roughly Kp 1+ for the northern lights to come into view. Here's tonight's live space weather and how to plan around it.
Come back at 08:54 PM — that’s when the sky goes dark and the aurora could show.
Add a reminderHow to see the aurora from Fort Smith
Face north 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 northern lights in Fort Smith?
Aurora season in Fort Smith runs roughly September – March. Here the months that pay off are March, April, and September — the table below shows why. See the full best time to see the aurora guide for the season in detail.
Fort Smith by the numbers
Between Sep 1, 2025 and Aug 31, 2026, Fort Smith had 353 nights dark enough for the aurora, and the planetary Kp reached the Kp 1+ this place needs on 350 of them. Averaged over 2015–2024 and this location's cloud cover, that works out to about 168 aurora-possible nights a year, most of them in March, April, and September.
| Month | Dark hours per night | Dark nights | Average cloud cover | Aurora-possible nights |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 15.5 h | 31 | 74% | 10 |
| February | 13.3 h | 28 | 68% | 12 |
| March | 10.5 h | 31 | 58% | 18 |
| April | 7.8 h | 30 | 59% | 18 |
| May | 4.5 h | 31 | 56% | 19 |
| June | 0.8 h | 18 | 60% | 11 |
| July | 3 h | 31 | 59% | 18 |
| August | 6.5 h | 31 | 58% | 19 |
| September | 9.5 h | 30 | 63% | 16 |
| October | 12.3 h | 31 | 74% | 10 |
| November | 14.8 h | 30 | 80% | 8 |
| December | 16 h | 31 | 76% | 10 |
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.
Plan the trip
Aurora tours & stays near Fort Smith
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Aurora cabins & lodges
Cabins, lodges and aurora-view stays near Fort Smith — settle in and watch the lights.
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Rent a car to chase clear skies
Self-drive to dark-sky spots away from town glow. Compare every local supplier.
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Cover the trip
Travel medical cover for a trip to Fort Smith — remote, cold and weather-dependent — from a few dollars a day.
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