Northern Lights Tonight: NOAA Forecasts a G1 Storm on Halloween, Best Hours in ET

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) expects a G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storm on Halloween night, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, with the strongest period forecast from 11 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) Saturday to 1 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) Sunday, Nov. 1. That is the 03:00 to 06:00 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) block of SWPC’s 3-day forecast, issued at 00:30 UTC on Oct. 31, which puts the planetary K-index (Kp) at 4.67. Below, the forecast is converted to Eastern Time (ET) and Pacific Time (PT) across the clock change, followed by the next dates to watch in November.

Northern lights forecast for Halloween night by time zone

SWPC publishes its forecast in three-hour UTC blocks. U.S. clocks fall back at 2 a.m. EDT on Sunday, Nov. 1 (06:00 UTC, which is 1 a.m. EST), so the same forecast reads differently on either side of that moment. Our conversion of the evening and overnight blocks:

UTC block	Eastern Time	Pacific Time	Forecast Kp
Oct. 31, 21:00-24:00	Sat., 5-8 p.m. EDT	Sat., 2-5 p.m. PDT	4.00
Nov. 1, 00:00-03:00	Sat., 8-11 p.m. EDT	Sat., 5-8 p.m. PDT	3.67
Nov. 1, 03:00-06:00	Sat., 11 p.m. EDT to 1 a.m. EST Sun.	Sat., 8-11 p.m. PDT	4.67 (G1)
Nov. 1, 06:00-09:00	Sun., 1-4 a.m. EST	Sat., 11 p.m. PDT to Sun., 2 a.m. PDT	3.33
Nov. 1, 09:00-12:00	Sun., 4-7 a.m. EST	Sun., 1-4 a.m. PST	2.67

Source: SWPC 3-Day Forecast issued Oct. 31, 2026, 00:30 UTC; time-zone conversion by Fresh Calendars. PDT is Pacific Daylight Time (UTC minus 7 hours) and PST is Pacific Standard Time (UTC minus 8 hours); Pacific clocks fall back at 2 a.m. PDT, 09:00 UTC.

The highest Kp in the whole forecast, 5.00 (G1), sits in the 00:00 to 03:00 UTC block on Oct. 31, which was Friday, Oct. 30, 8 to 11 p.m. EDT. SWPC’s 3-day forecast gives the Oct. 31-Nov. 2 maximum as 5.00 (NOAA Scale G1) and the greatest observed Kp over the previous 24 hours as 4, below NOAA scale levels.

Why SWPC expects a G1 storm tonight

SWPC’s rationale says the geomagnetic field is likely to reach G1 (Minor) storm levels on Oct. 31-Nov. 1 because of a positive-polarity coronal hole (CH) high speed stream (HSS), a fast flow of solar wind. Unsettled conditions are likely on Nov. 2 as the stream’s influence wanes. SWPC’s G1 watch lists G1 (Minor) as the highest level for both Oct. 31 and Nov. 1.

The alerts confirm the build-up. SWPC issued a G1 watch on Oct. 29 at 19:10 UTC, a warning for a K-index of 5 on Oct. 30 at 23:11 UTC (valid to 06:00 UTC on Oct. 31), and an alert that the K-index of 4 threshold had been reached at 22:35 UTC on Oct. 30.

Where can the aurora be seen at G1?

NOAA’s Space Weather Scales page says that at G1 (Kp 5) aurora is commonly visible at high latitudes, with northern Michigan and Maine given as examples. At G2, the next level up, it can reach as low as New York and Idaho. Tonight’s forecast is G1, not G2, and SWPC does not name any city where the aurora will appear. For a live read, SWPC runs an experimental aurora dashboard.

Generic tips apply: get away from city lights, face north, and try a phone camera, which can pick up faint aurora the eye misses.

How will the Moon affect the view on Oct. 31?

The Moon is a waning gibbous on Halloween, 63% lit, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO). It rises late in the evening: 11:52 p.m. Central Daylight Time (CDT) in Chicago, by USNO’s calculation for Chicago’s coordinates. Moonlight arrives after that and can wash out faint aurora, so the hours before moonrise are the darker ones. The full Moon was Oct. 26; our moon phase calendar lists every night through November.

Northern lights dates to mark in November 2026

SWPC’s 27-day outlook, issued Oct. 26, lists the largest forecast Kp for each UTC date. After Nov. 1 (Kp 4) and Nov. 2 (Kp 3), the next dates with a forecast Kp of 4 are below, with USNO moon phases (converted to EST).

Date	Outlook Kp	Moon
Mon., Nov. 9	4	New Moon, 2:02 a.m. EST
Tue., Nov. 17	4	First Quarter, 6:48 a.m. EST
Wed., Nov. 18	4	No phase change listed

Nov. 9 pairs a Kp 4 forecast with the new moon, which means the darkest skies of the month. The 27-day outlook is a long-range product and changes, so check the 3-day forecast before going out. The Full Moon falls on Tue., Nov. 24 at 9:53 a.m. EST, after the outlook table ends on Nov. 21, so it is a moon date only. Print the dates on the November 2026 printable calendar or our free Northern Lights Watch Dates sheet.

What else is in the November sky?

For meteors and planets this month, see our November 2026 meteor shower guide and the night sky calendar for planets and the Moon. If you stay out past the clock change, see when daylight saving time ends.