Akureyri · May 2027
Northern lights in Akureyri in May 2027
Answer
May against the rest of the year
May cloud at Akureyri averages 83% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, close to its yearly mean of 82%. June is Akureyri's clearest month at 80%. By civil night times clear sky, May scores 0.0 hours at Akureyri, 10th of 12. Reykjavík, 249 km away, averages 80%, clearer by 3 points.
Civil night at Akureyri starts May at 3 h 39 min and reaches 0 min by May 31, 3.6 hours shorter. 21 Akureyri nights this month have no civil darkness at all. No night keeps the 10 PM to 2 AM window fully dark at Akureyri. The sun never reaches 18 degrees down, so Akureyri gets no astronomical night in May.
May night by night
May opens toward a new moon on May 6, with full moon on May 20, in Atlantic/Reykjavik dates. Akureyri gets 18 hours of civil night with the moon below the horizon across the month. The best of them for moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM: May 1 (2 h 40 min), May 2 (2 h 34 min), May 3 (2 h 27 min).
- 1
21% lit
3.6 h
- 2
14% lit
3.4 h
- 3
7% lit
3.2 h
- 4
3% lit
3.0 h
- 5
0% lit
2.7 h
- 6
1% lit
2.2 h
- 7
3% lit
0.0 h
- 8
9% lit
0.0 h
- 9
16% lit
0.0 h
- 10
26% lit
0.0 h
- 11
37% lit
no night
- 12
48% lit
no night
- 13
59% lit
no night
- 14
70% lit
no night
- 15
79% lit
no night
- 16
87% lit
no night
- 17
93% lit
no night
- 18
98% lit
no night
- 19
100% lit
no night
- 20
100% lit
no night
- 21
98% lit
no night
- 22
94% lit
no night
- 23
88% lit
no night
- 24
82% lit
no night
- 25
74% lit
no night
- 26
65% lit
no night
- 27
56% lit
no night
- 28
46% lit
no night
- 29
36% lit
no night
- 30
27% lit
no night
- 31
18% lit
no night
Each cell is the night that starts on that date. Hours are civil-dark time with the moon below the horizon; the green rule scales with them. Green outline: new moon. Bone outline: full moon.
Activity in past Mays
Quiet activity already puts the oval edge over Akureyri, so storm days matter more: 97 of the 930 May days from 1996 to 2025 (10%) reached Kp 5, 6th of 12 months. Akureyri sits at 69.7 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 0.
May across Iceland
Akureyri ranks 4th in Iceland for civil night on May 15, behind Reykjanesbær at 1.5 hours. Coming from April (6.4 hours at Akureyri), May loses darkness, and June holds about the same.
| Town | Civil night | Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Reykjanesbær | 1.5 h | 78% |
| Hafnarfjörður | 1.4 h | 80% |
| Reykjavík | 1.2 h | 80% |
| Akureyri | 0.0 h | 83% |
Darkness and moon, every night
| Night | Civil | Astronomical | Moon-free dark | Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM | Moon lit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat May 1 | 3 h 39 min | 0 min | 3 h 39 min | 2 h 40 min | 21% |
| Sun May 2 | 3 h 26 min | 0 min | 3 h 26 min | 2 h 34 min | 14% |
| Mon May 3 | 3 h 12 min | 0 min | 3 h 12 min | 2 h 27 min | 7% |
| Tue May 4 | 2 h 57 min | 0 min | 2 h 57 min | 2 h 20 min | 3% |
| Wed May 5 | 2 h 42 min | 0 min | 2 h 42 min | 2 h 12 min | 0% |
| Thu May 6 | 2 h 25 min | 0 min | 2 h 10 min | 1 h 49 min | 1% |
| Fri May 7 | 2 h 6 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 3% |
| Sat May 8 | 1 h 44 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 9% |
| Sun May 9 | 1 h 16 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 16% |
| Mon May 10 | 31 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 26% |
| Tue May 11 | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 37% |
| Wed May 12 | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 48% |
| Thu May 13 | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 59% |
| Fri May 14 | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 70% |
| Sat May 15 | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 79% |
| Sun May 16 | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 87% |
| Mon May 17 | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 93% |
| Tue May 18 | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 98% |
| Wed May 19 | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 100% |
| Thu May 20 | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 100% |
| Fri May 21 | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 98% |
| Sat May 22 | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 94% |
| Sun May 23 | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 88% |
| Mon May 24 | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 82% |
| Tue May 25 | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 74% |
| Wed May 26 | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 65% |
| Thu May 27 | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 56% |
| Fri May 28 | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 46% |
| Sat May 29 | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 36% |
| Sun May 30 | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 27% |
| Mon May 31 | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 18% |
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Akureyri in May?
- On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 10 of 31 nights at Akureyri have civil darkness, and 10% of past May days reached Kp 5.
- How dark is Akureyri in May?
- Akureyri averages 0.8 hours of civil night a night in May 2027, from 3 h 39 min on the 1st to 0 min on the last night.
- How cloudy is Akureyri in May?
- NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Akureyri's 1 degree cell 83% mean cloud in May, against 82% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
- What is the best night in May 2027 for aurora in Akureyri?
- By darkness and moon alone, May 1, with 2 h 40 min of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Akureyri. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
- Is May or June better in Akureyri?
- By civil night times the clear share, May scores 0.0 hours at Akureyri and June 0.0. They are level.
Sources and verification
- SunCalchttps://github.com/mourner/suncalc
- NASA POWER climatologyhttps://power.larc.nasa.gov/docs/services/api/temporal/climatology/
- GFZ Potsdam Kp indexhttps://kp.gfz.de/en/data
- 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.