Northern Lights in New Jersey: Tonight's Aurora Forecast
New Jersey needs about Kp 7 on the northern horizon. Live NOAA Kp, tonight's cloud cover and moon, the aurora oval map, and the darkest places to watch from.
Aurora season is open — equinox weeks bring the most stormsThe New Jersey aurora season at a glance
Live · NOAA SWPCThe aurora was photographed from Sussex County, the Pine Barrens and even the Jersey Shore during the 10–11 May 2024 G5 storm — a naked-eye display in a state that usually goes years without one.
Can you see the northern lights tonight in New Jersey?
The verdict below combines NOAA SWPC's planetary Kp forecast with the Kp 7 that New Jersey's darkest northern spots need, tonight's cloud cover from Open-Meteo at High Point State Park, the moon, and the hours of full darkness. Then each city and dark-sky site gets its own cloud reading — the sky often clears inland when the lakeshore or coast is socked in.
Reading NOAA SWPC and Open-Meteo for High Point State Park · New Jersey tonight…
Tonight, city by city and site by site
| Location | Cloud tonight | Kp tonight | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newark, NJ city | … | … | … |
| Trenton, NJ city | … | … | … |
| Sussex, NJ city | … | … | … |
| High Point State Park, Sussex County est. Bortle 4 | … | … | … |
| Island Beach State Park est. Bortle 4 | … | … | … |
| Worthington State Forest, Delaware Water Gap est. Bortle 4 | … | … | … |
| Sandy Hook, Gateway National Recreation Area est. Bortle 5 | … | … | … |
Cloud is the 9 pm–3 am average from Open-Meteo for each point; Kp is NOAA SWPC's maximum forecast for tonight. City rows use a city-center location — drive to a dark northern horizon for the real thing.
The aurora oval over New Jersey right now
NOAA's OVATION model maps where aurora is likely overhead in the next 30–90 minutes. Green cells mean a small chance, red a strong one. The map opens on High Point State Park; enter a ZIP to recenter, and widen the span to see the whole oval across Canada.
Loading the NOAA OVATION aurora forecast…
Best places to see the northern lights in New Jersey
Sussex County is your dark sky. For a Kp 7+ forecast, get to High Point or the Wallkill refuge before dark and face north-northwest. Shore towns are bright — pick Island Beach, not the boardwalks.
High Point State Park, Sussex County
The state's highest point, looking north into the Catskills and the Delaware Valley.
Island Beach State Park
Ten miles of undeveloped barrier island — the darkest shoreline between New York and Atlantic City.
Worthington State Forest, Delaware Water Gap
River-valley dark pocket along the Kittatinny Ridge.
Sandy Hook, Gateway National Recreation Area
Workable for storms when you want a north view across Raritan Bay and the ocean.
When to see the northern lights in New Jersey
September – November autumn season
The equinox weeks around September 22 are statistically the most geomagnetically active of the year, and nights are long again. For New Jersey this is the best window to catch a G3+ storm, which happen most often around the equinoxes.
December – February cold and clear
Geomagnetic activity dips, but long nights and cold dry air give the best transparency of the year. Watch the 3-day forecast; any G3+ storm is worth a drive north.
March – April spring season
The March equinox brings the second annual peak in geomagnetic storms. Nights are still long in March. By late April the late sunsets start to cut into viewing time.
May – August short nights
Short nights and twilight — summer haze and late sunsets make faint displays hard to see. Big storms still punch through: NOAA rated the 10–11 May 2024 event G5, the top of its scale, and it was seen across most of the lower 48.
How to see — and photograph — the aurora from New Jersey
Kp, geomagnetic latitude, and solar cycle 25
The aurora forms in an oval around the geomagnetic pole, which sits over northern Canada rather than at the geographic pole. That tilt is why the eastern United States is magnetically "further north" than the West: New Jersey is at about 50° geomagnetic latitude. The planetary K-index (Kp, 0–9) measures how disturbed Earth's magnetic field is; as Kp rises, the oval expands toward the equator by roughly 2° of latitude per step. From New Jersey's darkest northern areas, Kp 7 brings the oval's edge into view on the horizon; Kp 9 puts it overhead.
NOAA's G-scale is a simpler label on the same thing: G1 (Kp 5) minor, G2 (Kp 6) moderate, G3 (Kp 7) strong, G4 (Kp 8) severe, G5 (Kp 9) extreme. Solar cycle 25 reached its maximum in 2024–2025 — NOAA rated the 10–11 May 2024 storm G5, the top of its scale — and the declining phase of a cycle historically produces the biggest individual storms, so 2026 and 2027 remain good years to watch. Storms also cluster near the equinoxes, which is why September–October and March–April are "aurora season" everywhere in the lower 48.
New Jersey northern lights FAQ
More New Jersey nights and seasons
More Northeast northern lights forecasts
Live Kp, NOAA scales and the OVATION aurora model are read in your browser from NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center (services.swpc.noaa.gov); cloud cover and sunrise/sunset from Open-Meteo. Kp thresholds are climatological rules of thumb for a dark northern horizon, not guarantees, and Bortle classes are estimates. Hero image: “Northern Lights seen from the United States on May 11, 2024 - 4” — USDAgov — Public domain. National picture: which states can see the aurora tonight → · check your ZIP →