KP Index Tracker: Glowcast

Glowcast is a KP index tracker and aurora forecast app that tells you whether the northern lights are actually visible where you stand. It combines the live aurora oval with darkness, cloud cover and moonlight at your location, so you get one honest answer instead of a bare number.

WHY GLOWCAST
Many aurora apps hide the forecast behind full-screen ads and cookie banners. Their aurora alerts arrive late, only once an hour, or for a region hundreds of kilometres away. Some force you to create an account or make you pay per alert. And the classic: the app says "1 % chance" while the sky above you is glowing. Glowcast works differently: no account, no cookie banner and no paying per alert. For the cloud forecast, Glowcast sends only rounded coordinates (about 1 km).

VISIBILITY AT YOUR LOCATION
• Live map of the aurora oval
• Visibility for your spot from four factors: distance to the oval, darkness, cloud cover and the moon
• A clear reason for every rating, for example "oval close, but cloudy"

KP INDEX AND SOLAR WIND
• Current KP index, explained in plain words
• Solar wind with the estimated arrival time at Earth, so you know when it gets exciting

AURORA ALERTS FOR YOUR PLACE
• Free: a Kp alert when the Kp index reaches the level your location needs, not when a global number changes somewhere else
• Pro: a visibility alert when your chance at your spot is high enough, counting darkness and clouds
• Pro: the exact visibility percentage, the hourly curve and the best time to look

GLOWCAST PRO (SUBSCRIPTION)
• Smart early warnings while the solar wind is still on its way
• Several locations, for example home, cabin and a dark spot outside town
• 27-day aurora outlook based on the rotation of the sun
• Solar wind of the last 24 hours as a chart
The free version is useful on its own: live oval, KP index, the visibility level at your location and the Kp alert for your location.

AURORA LOG AND SHARING
• Log every sighting with time, place and Kp, and collect badges through the season
• Stamp your own aurora photo with place, time and Kp, or share tonight's chance with friends

DATA SOURCES
Space weather data comes from the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), cloud data from MET Norway. Glowcast is not affiliated with either.

Forecast without guarantee. The aurora is a natural phenomenon, and even the best forecast can be wrong. Glowcast shows probabilities, not promises.

Sources: https://www.spaceweather.gov and https://api.met.no

Recent changes:
- New: tonight's aurora band over your place, read from the real Kp forecast, clouds and darkness
- New: live sky cameras from Abisko, Tromsø, Sodankylä, Fairbanks, Yellowknife and Churchill
- Pro now shows the exact %, the hour-by-hour curve, the best time and the visibility alarm for your place
- Fixes and polish