Murmansk, Russia
Northern lights in Apatity
Answer
Tonight
Waiting on darkness
It is not civil-dark yet. The next dusk is listed below.
Observed 11:49 UTC, forecast 13:20 UTC, 91 min lead
Clock times in Europe/Moscow
Storm level needed
Apatity sits at 67.58N 33.41E in Murmansk, Russia. The IGRF-14 centered dipole puts Apatity at 63.6 degrees geomagnetic latitude, 4.0 degrees farther from the magnetic pole than its map latitude suggests. Apatity sits at 63.6 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.
"The best place to observe the aurora is under an oval shaped region between the north and south latitudes of about 60 and 75 degrees. At these polar latitudes, the aurora can be observed more than half of the nights of a given year."
The nearest other Glow towns are Monchegorsk (46 km), Polyarnyye Zori (46 km), Olenegorsk (63 km). Monchegorsk sits 0.4 degrees higher on the dipole and needs the same Kp.
Approximate: SWPC calls its Kp to latitude rule an average, and a centered dipole can differ by a degree from fuller field models. How the storm level is matched
The year in darkness
From May 4 to August 8 the sun never reaches -6 degrees, so 97 nights in 2026 have no civil darkness at all. SWPC puts it plainly: "It must also be dark so during the summer months at auroral latitudes, the midnight sun prevents auroral observations." Glow's dark season, at least 4 hours of civil night between 18:00 and 06:00, runs from August 18 to April 23 across New Year, 249 days in 2026. Apatity's longest night of the year, Dec 19, has 18 h 14 min of civil night.
Solar midnight at Apatity, when the sun is lowest, falls at 00:41 on local clocks on December 15 and 00:47 on June 15. That is 41 min after midnight in December and 47 min after midnight in June, the gap set by daylight saving and the equation of time. So at Apatity the darkest hour sits near the middle of SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window in winter.
Month by month
| Month | Night | Civil | Cloud | Clear dark | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 17.1 h | 12.3 h | 75% | 4.3 hbest | |
| Feb | 13.8 h | 9.5 h | 76% | 3.3 h | |
| Mar | 10.3 h | 5.5 h | 74% | 2.7 h | |
| Apr | 5.8 h | 0.0 h | 77% | 1.3 h | |
| May | 0.0 h | 0.0 h | 79% | 0.0 h | |
| Jun | 0.0 h | 0.0 h | 76% | 0.0 h | |
| Jul | 0.0 h | 0.0 h | 73% | 0.0 h | |
| Aug | 3.4 h | 0.0 h | 78% | 0.7 h | |
| Sep | 8.8 h | 2.5 h | 80% | 1.8 h | |
| Oct | 12.6 h | 8.3 h | 85% | 1.9 h | |
| Nov | 16.1 h | 11.6 h | 82% | 2.9 h | |
| Dec | 18.2 h | 13.1 h | 80% | 3.6 h |
By the 15th-of-the-month sample, December is the darkest month at Apatity with 18.2 hours of civil night and May the lightest at 0.0. Across the year Apatity gets 3,191 hours of civil night. Astronomical night at Apatity, the sun 18 degrees or more below the horizon, lasts 13.1 hours on December 15.
NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology puts mean cloud amount for the 1 degree cell around Apatity at 78% across the year, from 73% in July to 85% in October. In the months with at least 4 hours of civil night Apatity averages 79%, against a median of 77% for Glow towns in Russia.
Multiplying civil night by the clear share of the sky gives January the best score, 4.3 hours, ahead of December at 3.6. Apatity's equinox months score 2.7 in March and 1.8 in September, the weeks SWPC links with larger storms.
Kp history
From 1996 to 2025, the GFZ Potsdam record shows a 3-hour Kp of 2 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge over Apatity, on 77% of days. At Apatity's level the share runs from 70% in December to 85% in March, while storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 10%.
Share of UTC days in each calendar month whose highest 3-hour Kp reached Kp 2. Kp history by year
Moon, next 30 nights
Over the 30 nights from Oct 2, the new moon falls on Oct 10 and the full moon on Oct 26, in Europe/Moscow dates. 15 of the 30 nights at Apatity have at least 2 moon-free dark hours inside 10 PM to 2 AM, and Oct 7 has the most at 4 h. Tonight Apatity has 10 h 58 min of civil night, 0 min of it with the moon down.
- 2
58% lit
0.0 h
- 3
47% lit
0.0 h
- 4
35% lit
0.0 h
- 5
25% lit
4.5 h
- 6
16% lit
6.8 h
- 7
9% lit
8.9 h
- 8
4% lit
10.8 h
- 9
1% lit
11.8 h
- 10
0% lit
12.0 h
- 11
2% lit
12.1 h
- 12
5% lit
12.2 h
- 13
10% lit
12.3 h
- 14
17% lit
12.4 h
- 15
25% lit
12.6 h
- 16
33% lit
12.7 h
- 17
43% lit
12.8 h
- 18
52% lit
12.9 h
- 19
62% lit
9.7 h
- 20
71% lit
7.4 h
- 21
79% lit
5.5 h
- 22
87% lit
3.8 h
- 23
93% lit
1.9 h
- 24
98% lit
0.0 h
- 25
100% lit
0.0 h
- 26
99% lit
0.0 h
- 27
96% lit
0.0 h
- 28
90% lit
0.0 h
- 29
82% lit
0.0 h
- 30
72% lit
0.0 h
- 31
61% lit
0.0 h
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.
Within Russia
Among the 10 Glow towns in Murmansk, Apatity ranks 8th by dipole latitude against a regional median of 64.0 degrees; Nikel sits highest at 65.7. Among the 77 Glow towns in Russia, Apatity ranks 8th by dipole latitude against a national median of 57.3 degrees; Nikel sits highest at 65.7. On December 15 Apatity gets 18.2 hours of civil night, 11th longest of 77 in Russia, where the median is 16.7.
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Apatity?
- Apatity sits at 63.6 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. Clear, dark sky over Apatity still decides it.
- When is it dark enough in Apatity?
- Civil night, the sun at -6 degrees or lower, is missing from May 4 to Aug 8. Tonight has 10 h 58 min of it.
- What is the best month for aurora in Apatity?
- January, by civil night at Apatity times the clear share of the sky from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 average.
- How cloudy is Apatity in the dark months?
- About 79% mean cloud amount over Apatity in the months with at least 4 hours of civil night, from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology.
- How often is activity high enough for Apatity?
- A 3-hour Kp of 2 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge overhead, occurred on 77% of days from 1996 to 2025 in the GFZ Potsdam record.
Nearby and related
Nearest Glow towns
Apatity by month
Region and comparisons