Can you see the northern lights in Bergen in January?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Bergen have civil darkness, and 48% of past January days reached Kp 3.

How dark is Bergen in January?

Bergen averages 15.3 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 15 h 59 min on the 1st to 14 h 23 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Bergen in January?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Bergen's 1 degree cell 84% mean cloud in January, against 79% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in January 2027 for aurora in Bergen?

By darkness and moon alone, Jan 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Bergen. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.

Is January or February better in Bergen?

By civil night times the clear share, January scores 2.5 hours at Bergen and February 2.5. February comes out ahead.

Bergen · January 2027

Northern lights in Bergen in January 2027

Answer

January gives Bergen 15.4 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 2nd darkest of its 12 months, under 84% mean cloud. 48% of January days since 1996 reached Kp 3, enough for the oval edge to reach Bergen.

15.3 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 60.39, 5.32; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

January against the rest of the year

2.5

2.4

2.1

1.2

0.0

0.6

1.3

2.0

2.6

2.7

2.4

January cloud at Bergen averages 84% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 5 points cloudier than its yearly mean. May is Bergen's clearest month at 71%. By civil night times clear sky, January scores 2.5 hours at Bergen, 4th of 12. Haugesund, 109 km away, averages 88%, cloudier by 4 points.

Civil night at Bergen starts January at 15 h 59 min and reaches 14 h 23 min by January 31, 1.6 hours shorter. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 11.9 hours on the 15th.

January night by night

January opens toward a new moon on Jan 7, with full moon on Jan 22, in Europe/Oslo dates. Bergen gets 268 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: Jan 1 (4 h), Jan 2 (4 h), Jan 3 (4 h).

1
29% lit
12.1 h
2
20% lit
13.7 h
3
13% lit
15.2 h
4
7% lit
15.9 h
5
3% lit
15.8 h
6
1% lit
15.8 h
7
0% lit
15.8 h
New
8
1% lit
15.8 h
9
4% lit
15.0 h
10
8% lit
13.5 h
11
15% lit
12.1 h
12
22% lit
10.6 h
13
31% lit
9.2 h
14
41% lit
7.7 h
15
51% lit
6.1 h
16
62% lit
4.3 h
17
72% lit
2.5 h
18
82% lit
0.8 h
19
90% lit
0.0 h
20
96% lit
0.0 h
21
99% lit
0.0 h
22
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
23
97% lit
0.9 h
24
92% lit
2.6 h
25
84% lit
4.3 h
26
75% lit
5.8 h
27
65% lit
7.4 h
28
55% lit
8.9 h
29
45% lit
10.5 h
30
36% lit
12.1 h
31
27% lit
13.5 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.

Activity in past Januarys

Bergen needs Kp 3 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 443 of the 930 January days from 1996 to 2025 (48%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 8th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 6%. Bergen sits at 61.0 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 3.

January across Norway

Bergen ranks 15th in Norway for civil night on January 15, behind Alta at 17.9 hours. Coming from December (16.1 hours at Bergen), January loses darkness, and February brings shorter nights (13.2 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on January 15 and January cloud, month-page towns in Norway
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Alta	17.9 h	79%
Tromsø	17.8 h	83%
Harstad	17.5 h	80%
Bodø	17.0 h	82%
Mo i Rana	16.7 h	78%
Trondheim	16.0 h	83%
Levanger	16.0 h	83%
Stjørdalshalsen	16.0 h	83%
Kristiansund	15.9 h	85%
Ålesund	15.8 h	85%
Molde	15.8 h	85%
Hamar	15.5 h	79%
Bergen	15.4 h	84%

Darkness and moon, every night

Bergen, January 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
Fri Jan 1	15 h 59 min	12 h 22 min	12 h 7 min	4 h	29%
Sat Jan 2	15 h 57 min	12 h 21 min	13 h 40 min	4 h	20%
Sun Jan 3	15 h 55 min	12 h 20 min	15 h 12 min	4 h	13%
Mon Jan 4	15 h 53 min	12 h 18 min	15 h 53 min	4 h	7%
Tue Jan 5	15 h 51 min	12 h 17 min	15 h 51 min	4 h	3%
Wed Jan 6	15 h 49 min	12 h 15 min	15 h 49 min	4 h	1%
Thu Jan 7	15 h 47 min	12 h 13 min	15 h 47 min	4 h	0%
Fri Jan 8	15 h 45 min	12 h 11 min	15 h 45 min	4 h	1%
Sat Jan 9	15 h 42 min	12 h 9 min	15 h	4 h	4%
Sun Jan 10	15 h 39 min	12 h 7 min	13 h 30 min	4 h	8%
Mon Jan 11	15 h 37 min	12 h 5 min	12 h 3 min	4 h	15%
Tue Jan 12	15 h 34 min	12 h 3 min	10 h 37 min	4 h	22%
Wed Jan 13	15 h 31 min	12 h	9 h 10 min	2 h 37 min	31%
Thu Jan 14	15 h 28 min	11 h 58 min	7 h 40 min	1 h 8 min	41%
Fri Jan 15	15 h 25 min	11 h 55 min	6 h 4 min	0 min	51%
Sat Jan 16	15 h 21 min	11 h 52 min	4 h 21 min	0 min	62%
Sun Jan 17	15 h 18 min	11 h 50 min	2 h 32 min	0 min	72%
Mon Jan 18	15 h 15 min	11 h 47 min	47 min	0 min	82%
Tue Jan 19	15 h 11 min	11 h 44 min	0 min	0 min	90%
Wed Jan 20	15 h 7 min	11 h 41 min	0 min	0 min	96%
Thu Jan 21	15 h 4 min	11 h 38 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Fri Jan 22	15 h	11 h 34 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Sat Jan 23	14 h 56 min	11 h 31 min	52 min	0 min	97%
Sun Jan 24	14 h 52 min	11 h 28 min	2 h 37 min	0 min	92%
Mon Jan 25	14 h 48 min	11 h 24 min	4 h 16 min	0 min	84%
Tue Jan 26	14 h 44 min	11 h 21 min	5 h 50 min	1 h 19 min	75%
Wed Jan 27	14 h 40 min	11 h 17 min	7 h 23 min	2 h 54 min	65%
Thu Jan 28	14 h 36 min	11 h 14 min	8 h 56 min	4 h	55%
Fri Jan 29	14 h 32 min	11 h 10 min	10 h 30 min	4 h	45%
Sat Jan 30	14 h 27 min	11 h 6 min	12 h 3 min	4 h	36%
Sun Jan 31	14 h 23 min	11 h 2 min	13 h 29 min	4 h	27%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Bergen in January?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Bergen have civil darkness, and 48% of past January days reached Kp 3.
How dark is Bergen in January?: Bergen averages 15.3 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 15 h 59 min on the 1st to 14 h 23 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Bergen in January?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Bergen's 1 degree cell 84% mean cloud in January, against 79% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in January 2027 for aurora in Bergen?: By darkness and moon alone, Jan 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Bergen. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is January or February better in Bergen?: By civil night times the clear share, January scores 2.5 hours at Bergen and February 2.5. February comes out ahead.

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.