ISS Sightings Abound Over Washington, Oregon, Coastlines - and Wow, Are They Bright

Published 08/21/2026 at 10:55 p.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Lincoln City, Oregon) – Back in the '70s, streaking was something you could arrested for. But this kind of streaking – the kind that means dramatically zipping across the sky – is just too arresting in its own way. (Oregon Coast Beach Connection photo)

The International Space Station (ISS) has been streaking over Washington and Oregon skies in fiery ways in recent nights, and there's at least 12 more sightings in the coming evenings.

If you've got clear skies – and you're in places like Portland, Seattle, Newport, North Bend (both of them), Seaside, Bandon or Westport – you're in for a treat late at night. The ISS has been exceptionally bright sometimes, often brighter than the brightest of planets right now.

Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff have spotted it in recent days glowing intensely and sometimes visible for five to seven minutes.

Weather, unfortunately, may put a dampener in some places, like Portland. At least this weekend. All that clears up at night by Sunday.

Even so, if cloud layers are somewhat thin, the ISS can at times be bright enough to be seen through them.

Oregon Coast Beach Connection: ISS and a bit of the aurora

It's obvious that something is different about this sight: you'll see a very bright light moving quickly – extremely quickly. It zooms around faster than most normal aircraft, even jets. You'll also notice it is not blinking. If you see blinking at all (usually in greens or reds), that's an aircraft. Normally, that's accompanied by some faint noise as well.

Interestingly enough the schedule for ISS sightings is largely the same for Oregon, Washington or even their coastlines. The times listed here are from https://issinfo.net for the Portland area, and they're essentially just like Seattle. They may differ for your area, so make sure you check this site or NASA.

Pacific Northwest Weather | Oregon, Washington, Coastline (see NW from space) |---| Washington Coast Weather |---| Oregon Coast Weather |---| Inland Oregon Weather

How to read this listing:

Time are when the ISS becomes visible, and the directions mean where it starts and which directions it's heading towards. The maximum height is degrees in the sky (or the highest it gets).

The degrees of brightness is the tricky part. Anything – (minus) is brighter than numbers that are positive (over zero). So a -1 magnitude of brightness is sizably brighter than a 1 magnitude.

Saturday, August 22, 3:37 a.m.: SSW → ENE. Max height: 25°. Visible for 3 min 50 sec. Degree of brightness: -0.6 (fair).

Saturday, August 22, 5:13 a.m.: WSW → ENE. Max height: 58°. Visible for 7 min 40 sec. Degree of brightness: -2.9 (bright).

Sunday, August 23, 2:49 a.m.: SSW → ENE. Max height: 16°. Visible for 1 min 50 sec. Degree of brightness: 0.7 (faint).

Sunday, August 23, 4:25 a.m.: WSW → ENE. Max height: 85°. Visible for 6 min. Degree of brightness: -3.4 (very bright).

Monday, August 24, 3:37 a.m.: SW → ENE. Max height: 62°. Visible for 4 min. Degree of brightness: -1.1 (moderate).

Monday, August 24, 5:14 a.m.: W → ENE. Max height: 34°. Visible for 8 min. Degree of brightness: -2.0 (bright).

Tuesday, August 25, 2:49 a.m.: SW → ENE. Max height: 38°. Visible for 2 min 10 sec. Degree of brightness: 0.6 (faint).

Tuesday, August 25, 4:26 a.m.: W → ENE. Max height: 43°. Visible for 6 min. Degree of brightness: -2.4 (bright).

Wednesday, August 26, 2:01 a.m.: SSW → ENE. Max height: 24°. Visible for 20 sec. Degree of brightness: 1.5 (faint).

Wednesday, August 26, 3:38 a.m.: WSW → ENE. Max height: 59°. Visible for 4 min 20 sec. Degree of brightness: -1.1 (moderate).

Wednesday, August 26, 5:15 a.m.: WNW → ENE. Max height: 28°. Visible for 8 min 20 sec. Degree of brightness: -1.5 (moderate).

Thursday, August 27, 2:50 a.m.: WSW → ENE. Max height: 87°. Visible for 2 min 20 sec. Degree of brightness: 0.8 (faint).

Times should be similar in Oregon and Washington areas like Silverton, Spokane, Bremerton, Ashland, Rome, Pendleton, Coos Bay, Port Orford, Eugene, Bend, Westport, Queets, Camas, etc.

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