Is Saint Petersburg or Velikiy Novgorod better for the northern lights?

Saint Petersburg sits closer to the oval, at 56.7 degrees geomagnetic against 55.2. 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, Saint Petersburg or Velikiy Novgorod?

Saint Petersburg, with 16.0 hours of civil night on December 15 against 15.7 in Velikiy Novgorod.

What Kp do Saint Petersburg and Velikiy Novgorod need?

By SWPC's rule of 66 degrees at Kp 0 and 2 degrees per step, Saint Petersburg needs about Kp 5 and Velikiy Novgorod Kp 6 for the average oval edge to sit overhead.

When is it too light for aurora in Saint Petersburg and Velikiy Novgorod?

Saint Petersburg: never, every night has civil darkness. Velikiy Novgorod: never, every night has civil darkness.

Which is clearer, Saint Petersburg or Velikiy Novgorod?

Velikiy Novgorod, with 74% mean cloud in the months with 4 hours or more of civil night against 75% in Saint Petersburg (NASA POWER, 2001 to 2020).

Comparison

Saint Petersburg vs Velikiy Novgorod for the northern lights

Answer

Saint Petersburg sits 1.5 degrees higher on the IGRF-14 dipole, 56.7 against 55.2. By SWPC's oval-edge rule Saint Petersburg needs about Kp 5 for the average edge to sit overhead and Velikiy Novgorod Kp 6. On the map Saint Petersburg is also closer to the pole, by 1.4 degrees.

56.7° / 55.2°

dipole latitude

Side by side

Computed figures for both towns
Figure	Saint Petersburg	Velikiy Novgorod
Dipole latitude	56.7°	55.2°
Kp for the oval edge overhead	Kp 5	Kp 6
Civil night, December 15	16.0 h	15.7 h
Dark-season days	301	313
Nights with no civil darkness	0	0
Dark-month cloud, NASA POWER	75%	74%
Solar midnight, December 15	00:54	00:50

Saint Petersburg sits at 56.7 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 5, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less. Velikiy Novgorod sits at 55.2 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 6, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less.

Civil night month by month

On December 15 Saint Petersburg has 16.0 hours of civil night and Velikiy Novgorod 15.7. Across the 15th of each month, Saint Petersburg is darker in 4 months and Velikiy Novgorod in 7. The widest gap comes in June, when Velikiy Novgorod has 1.7 more hours.

Hours of civil night on the 15th of each month, 2026
Month	Saint Petersburg	Velikiy Novgorod	Difference
January	15.3 h	15.1 h	+0.2 h
February	13.2 h	13.1 h	+0.1 h
March	10.7 h	10.8 h	-0.1 h
April	7.7 h	7.9 h	-0.2 h
May	4.5 h	5.0 h	-0.5 h
June	1.0 h	2.7 h	-1.7 h
July	3.1 h	3.9 h	-0.8 h
August	6.5 h	6.9 h	-0.4 h
September	9.6 h	9.7 h	-0.1 h
October	12.3 h	12.3 h	+0.0 h
November	14.7 h	14.5 h	+0.2 h
December	16.0 h	15.7 h	+0.3 h

Difference: Saint Petersburg minus Velikiy Novgorod. Each figure links to that town's month page.

Season and midnight sun

Saint Petersburg has some civil darkness every night of 2026, and its dark season, 4 or more evening hours of civil night, lasts 301 days. Velikiy Novgorod has some civil darkness every night of 2026, and its dark season, 4 or more evening hours of civil night, lasts 313 days.

Distance, cloud and time zones

The two towns are 167 km apart by great circle. In the dark months both average about 75% cloud in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record. Saint Petersburg's best month by civil night times clear sky is March. Velikiy Novgorod's best month by civil night times clear sky is March. Time zones: Europe/Moscow and Europe/Moscow.

For tonight, open the live pages for Saint Petersburg and Velikiy Novgorod, which carry the live OVATION cell.

Questions

Is Saint Petersburg or Velikiy Novgorod better for the northern lights?: Saint Petersburg sits closer to the oval, at 56.7 degrees geomagnetic against 55.2. 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, Saint Petersburg or Velikiy Novgorod?: Saint Petersburg, with 16.0 hours of civil night on December 15 against 15.7 in Velikiy Novgorod.
What Kp do Saint Petersburg and Velikiy Novgorod need?: By SWPC's rule of 66 degrees at Kp 0 and 2 degrees per step, Saint Petersburg needs about Kp 5 and Velikiy Novgorod Kp 6 for the average oval edge to sit overhead.
When is it too light for aurora in Saint Petersburg and Velikiy Novgorod?: Saint Petersburg: never, every night has civil darkness. Velikiy Novgorod: never, every night has civil darkness.
Which is clearer, Saint Petersburg or Velikiy Novgorod?: Velikiy Novgorod, with 74% mean cloud in the months with 4 hours or more of civil night against 75% in Saint Petersburg (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.