Is Raahe or Haukipudas better for the northern lights?

Haukipudas sits closer to the oval, at 62.4 degrees geomagnetic against 62.1. Darkness, cloud and your dates decide the rest; the tables on this page show both towns month by month.

Which has longer nights in December, Raahe or Haukipudas?

Haukipudas, with 17.3 hours of civil night on December 15 against 17.2 in Raahe.

What Kp do Raahe and Haukipudas need?

By SWPC's rule of 66 degrees at Kp 0 and 2 degrees per step, Raahe needs about Kp 2 and Haukipudas Kp 2 for the average oval edge to sit overhead.

When is it too light for aurora in Raahe and Haukipudas?

Raahe: May 15 to July 27. Haukipudas: May 13 to July 29.

Which is clearer, Raahe or Haukipudas?

Haukipudas, with 76% mean cloud in the months with 4 hours or more of civil night against 77% in Raahe (NASA POWER, 2001 to 2020).

Comparison

Raahe vs Haukipudas for the northern lights

Answer

Haukipudas sits 0.3 degrees higher on the IGRF-14 dipole, 62.4 against 62.1. By SWPC's oval-edge rule Haukipudas needs about Kp 2 for the average edge to sit overhead and Raahe Kp 2. On the map Haukipudas is also closer to the pole, by 0.5 degrees.

62.1° / 62.4°

dipole latitude

Side by side

Computed figures for both towns
Figure	Raahe	Haukipudas
Dipole latitude	62.1°	62.4°
Kp for the oval edge overhead	Kp 2	Kp 2
Civil night, December 15	17.2 h	17.3 h
Dark-season days	267	263
Nights with no civil darkness	74	78
Dark-month cloud, NASA POWER	77%	76%
Solar midnight, December 15	00:17	00:14

Raahe sits at 62.1 degrees geomagnetic, inside SWPC's 60 to 75 degree band, where aurora can be seen on more than half of all nights. No storm is needed: by SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 2. Haukipudas sits at 62.4 degrees geomagnetic, inside SWPC's 60 to 75 degree band, where aurora can be seen on more than half of all nights. No storm is needed: by SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 2.

Civil night month by month

On December 15 Raahe has 17.2 hours of civil night and Haukipudas 17.3. Across the 15th of each month, Raahe is darker in 2 months and Haukipudas in 3. The widest gap comes in April, when Raahe has 0.2 more hours.

Hours of civil night on the 15th of each month, 2026
Month	Raahe	Haukipudas	Difference
January	16.3 h	16.4 h	-0.1 h
February	13.5 h	13.6 h	-0.1 h
March	10.5 h	10.5 h	+0.0 h
April	6.7 h	6.5 h	+0.2 h
May	0.0 h	0.0 h	+0.0 h
June	0.0 h	0.0 h	+0.0 h
July	0.0 h	0.0 h	+0.0 h
August	5.0 h	4.8 h	+0.2 h
September	9.1 h	9.1 h	+0.0 h
October	12.5 h	12.5 h	+0.0 h
November	15.5 h	15.5 h	+0.0 h
December	17.2 h	17.3 h	-0.1 h

Difference: Raahe minus Haukipudas. Each figure links to that town's month page.

Season and midnight sun

Raahe has no civil darkness from May 15 to July 27, 74 nights in 2026, and its dark season, 4 or more evening hours of civil night, lasts 267 days. Haukipudas has no civil darkness from May 13 to July 29, 78 nights in 2026, and its dark season, 4 or more evening hours of civil night, lasts 263 days.

Distance, cloud and time zones

The two towns are 68 km apart by great circle. In the dark months both average about 77% cloud in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record. Raahe's best month by civil night times clear sky is January. Haukipudas's best month by civil night times clear sky is January. Time zones: Europe/Helsinki and Europe/Helsinki.

For tonight, open the live pages for Raahe and Haukipudas, which carry the live OVATION cell.

Questions

Is Raahe or Haukipudas better for the northern lights?: Haukipudas sits closer to the oval, at 62.4 degrees geomagnetic against 62.1. Darkness, cloud and your dates decide the rest; the tables on this page show both towns month by month.
Which has longer nights in December, Raahe or Haukipudas?: Haukipudas, with 17.3 hours of civil night on December 15 against 17.2 in Raahe.
What Kp do Raahe and Haukipudas need?: By SWPC's rule of 66 degrees at Kp 0 and 2 degrees per step, Raahe needs about Kp 2 and Haukipudas Kp 2 for the average oval edge to sit overhead.
When is it too light for aurora in Raahe and Haukipudas?: Raahe: May 15 to July 27. Haukipudas: May 13 to July 29.
Which is clearer, Raahe or Haukipudas?: Haukipudas, with 76% mean cloud in the months with 4 hours or more of civil night against 77% in Raahe (NASA POWER, 2001 to 2020).

Sources and verification

IGRF-14 coefficients, NOAA NCEIhttps://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/IAGA/vmod/coeffs/igrf14coeffs.txt
SunCalchttps://github.com/mourner/suncalc
GeoNameshttps://www.geonames.org/export/
NASA POWER climatologyhttps://power.larc.nasa.gov/docs/services/api/temporal/climatology/
NOAA SWPC, Tips on viewing the aurorahttps://www.spaceweather.gov/content/tips-viewing-aurora

Quoted figures last checked against their sources on 2026-09-30; next review 2026-12-31. Computed figures come from SunCalc and the IGRF-14 dipole as described in the methodology. Every quote is listed in the sources ledger.