Canada · Aurora borealis
Is the aurora visible in Hay River tonight?
Right now
Wait for dark.
Kp is 2.3. Hay River needs Kp 1+ for the oval overhead — right now it’s overhead.
Tonight's peak is forecast around Kp 5.0 (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.
Hay River 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 09:09 PM — that’s when the sky goes dark and the aurora could show.
Add a reminderHow to see the aurora from Hay River
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 Hay River?
Aurora season in Hay River runs roughly September – March. Here the months that pay off are September, March, and April — the table below shows why. See the full best time to see the aurora guide for the season in detail.
Hay River by the numbers
Between Sep 1, 2025 and Aug 31, 2026, Hay River had 332 nights dark enough for the aurora, and the planetary Kp reached the Kp 1+ this place needs on 329 of them. Averaged over 2015–2024 and this location's cloud cover, that works out to about 169 aurora-possible nights a year, most of them in September, March, and April.
| Month | Dark hours per night | Dark nights | Average cloud cover | Aurora-possible nights |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 15.5 h | 31 | 74% | 11 |
| February | 13.3 h | 28 | 67% | 13 |
| March | 10.5 h | 31 | 59% | 18 |
| April | 7.5 h | 30 | 57% | 18 |
| May | 4 h | 31 | 51% | 20 |
| June | 0 | 3 | 57% | 2 |
| July | 2.5 h | 25 | 57% | 16 |
| August | 6.5 h | 31 | 56% | 20 |
| September | 9.5 h | 30 | 59% | 18 |
| October | 12.3 h | 31 | 72% | 12 |
| November | 14.8 h | 30 | 75% | 10 |
| December | 16.3 h | 31 | 73% | 11 |
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 Hay River
Some links below are paid affiliate links. If you book a tour, reserve a stay or buy gear through them, we may earn a commission — it never costs you anything extra and helps keep the forecast free.
- Booking.com
Aurora cabins & lodges
Cabins, lodges and aurora-view stays near Hay River — settle in and watch the lights.
Find stays - Discover Cars
Rent a car to chase clear skies
Self-drive to dark-sky spots away from town glow. Compare every local supplier.
Compare cars - SafetyWing
Cover the trip
Travel medical cover for a trip to Hay River — remote, cold and weather-dependent — from a few dollars a day.
Get covered