Can you see the northern lights in Alta in July?

Not in July 2027. The sun stays above -6 degrees every night at Alta, so there is no civil darkness.

How dark is Alta in July?

Alta averages 0.0 hours of civil night a night in July 2027, from 0 min on the 1st to 0 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Alta in July?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Alta's 1 degree cell 78% mean cloud in July, against 80% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in July 2027 for aurora in Alta?

No night in July 2027 has moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Alta.

Is July or August better in Alta?

By civil night times the clear share, July scores 0.0 hours at Alta and August 0.0. They are level.

Alta · July 2027

Northern lights in Alta in July 2027

Answer

Alta has no civil darkness in July 2027: the sun stays above -6 degrees on all 31 nights. SWPC notes that "It must also be dark so during the summer months at auroral latitudes, the midnight sun prevents auroral observations."

0.0 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 69.97, 23.27; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

July against the rest of the year

3.8

3.0

2.1

1.1

0.0

1.6

2.0

3.2

3.3

July cloud at Alta averages 78% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 2 points clearer than its yearly mean. April is Alta's clearest month at 76%. By civil night times clear sky, July scores 0.0 hours at Alta, 9th of 12. Tromsø, 169 km away, averages 79%, cloudier by 1 points.

The sun never gets 6 degrees below the horizon at Alta in July 2027, so every night is twilight or daylight. August 15 is still without civil night at Alta.

July night by night

The moon runs its cycle as usual, new on Jul 4 and full on Jul 18, but with no civil night it makes no difference at Alta in July.

1
7% lit
no night
2
2% lit
no night
3
0% lit
no night
4
1% lit
no night
New
5
5% lit
no night
6
11% lit
no night
7
20% lit
no night
8
30% lit
no night
9
41% lit
no night
10
52% lit
no night
11
62% lit
no night
12
72% lit
no night
13
80% lit
no night
14
88% lit
no night
15
93% lit
no night
16
97% lit
no night
17
99% lit
no night
18
100% lit
no night
Full
19
99% lit
no night
20
96% lit
no night
21
91% lit
no night
22
84% lit
no night
23
77% lit
no night
24
68% lit
no night
25
58% lit
no night
26
48% lit
no night
27
37% lit
no night
28
27% lit
no night
29
17% lit
no night
30
9% lit
no night
31
3% 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 Julys

Quiet activity already puts the oval edge over Alta, so storm days matter more: 81 of the 930 July days from 1996 to 2025 (9%) reached Kp 5, 8th of 12 months. Alta sits at 67.2 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.

July across Norway

Alta ranks 10th in Norway for civil night on July 15, behind Kristiansand at 4.1 hours. Coming from June (0.0 hours at Alta), July changes little, and August holds about the same.

Civil night on July 15 and July cloud, month-page towns in Norway
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Kristiansand	4.1 h	70%
Stavanger	3.7 h	78%
Haugesund	3.4 h	78%
Drammen	3.2 h	71%
Oslo	3.1 h	71%
Bergen	2.8 h	78%
Hamar	2.4 h	73%
Gjøvik	2.4 h	73%
Lillehammer	2.1 h	76%
Alta	0.0 h	78%
Tromsø	0.0 h	79%
Trondheim	0.0 h	78%

Darkness and moon, every night

Alta, July 2027: each night from local noon to the next noon
Night	Civil	Astronomical	Moon-free dark	Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM	Moon lit
Thu Jul 1	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	7%
Fri Jul 2	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	2%
Sat Jul 3	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	0%
Sun Jul 4	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	1%
Mon Jul 5	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	5%
Tue Jul 6	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	11%
Wed Jul 7	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	20%
Thu Jul 8	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	30%
Fri Jul 9	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	41%
Sat Jul 10	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	52%
Sun Jul 11	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	62%
Mon Jul 12	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	72%
Tue Jul 13	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	80%
Wed Jul 14	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	88%
Thu Jul 15	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	93%
Fri Jul 16	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	97%
Sat Jul 17	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Sun Jul 18	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Mon Jul 19	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Tue Jul 20	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	96%
Wed Jul 21	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	91%
Thu Jul 22	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	84%
Fri Jul 23	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	77%
Sat Jul 24	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	68%
Sun Jul 25	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	58%
Mon Jul 26	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	48%
Tue Jul 27	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	37%
Wed Jul 28	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	27%
Thu Jul 29	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	17%
Fri Jul 30	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	9%
Sat Jul 31	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	3%

Moon lit: SunCalc illuminated fraction at the middle of the 10 PM to 2 AM window.

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Alta in July?: Not in July 2027. The sun stays above -6 degrees every night at Alta, so there is no civil darkness.
How dark is Alta in July?: Alta averages 0.0 hours of civil night a night in July 2027, from 0 min on the 1st to 0 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Alta in July?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Alta's 1 degree cell 78% mean cloud in July, against 80% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in July 2027 for aurora in Alta?: No night in July 2027 has moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Alta.
Is July or August better in Alta?: By civil night times the clear share, July scores 0.0 hours at Alta and August 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.