Gävleborg, Sweden
Northern lights in Gävle
Answer
Tonight
Waiting on darkness
It is not civil-dark yet. The next dusk is listed below.
Observed 11:55 UTC, forecast 13:26 UTC, 91 min lead
Clock times in Europe/Stockholm
Storm level needed
Gävle sits at 60.67N 17.14E in Gävleborg, Sweden. The IGRF-14 centered dipole puts Gävle at 59.4 degrees geomagnetic latitude, 1.3 degrees farther from the magnetic pole than its map latitude suggests. Gävle sits at 59.4 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 4, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less.
"aurora is commonly visible at high latitudes (northern Michigan and Maine)"
The nearest other Glow towns are Sandviken (21 km), Falun (83 km), Uppsala (95 km). Sandviken sits 0.0 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 June 8 to July 3 the sun never reaches -6 degrees, so 26 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 July 26 to May 15 across New Year, 294 days in 2026. Gävle's longest night of the year, Dec 18, has 16 h 11 min of civil night.
Solar midnight at Gävle, when the sun is lowest, falls at 23:47 on local clocks on December 15 and 00:52 on June 15. That is 13 min before midnight in December and 52 min after midnight in June, the gap set by daylight saving and the equation of time. So at Gävle 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 | 15.4 h | 11.9 h | 79% | 3.3 h | |
| Feb | 13.2 h | 9.9 h | 78% | 2.9 h | |
| Mar | 10.7 h | 7.2 h | 69% | 3.3 h | |
| Apr | 7.5 h | 1.8 h | 64% | 2.7 h | |
| May | 4.1 h | 0.0 h | 66% | 1.4 h | |
| Jun | 0.0 h | 0.0 h | 64% | 0.0 h | |
| Jul | 2.5 h | 0.0 h | 65% | 0.9 h | |
| Aug | 6.3 h | 0.0 h | 65% | 2.2 h | |
| Sep | 9.6 h | 5.7 h | 66% | 3.3 h | |
| Oct | 12.3 h | 9.0 h | 73% | 3.3 h | |
| Nov | 14.8 h | 11.4 h | 80% | 3.0 h | |
| Dec | 16.1 h | 12.5 h | 77% | 3.7 hbest |
By the 15th-of-the-month sample, December is the darkest month at Gävle with 16.2 hours of civil night and June the lightest at 0.0. Across the year Gävle gets 3,417 hours of civil night. Astronomical night at Gävle, the sun 18 degrees or more below the horizon, lasts 12.5 hours on December 15.
NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology puts mean cloud amount for the 1 degree cell around Gävle at 70% across the year, from 64% in April to 80% in November. In the months with at least 4 hours of civil night Gävle averages 72%, against a median of 75% for Glow towns in Sweden.
Multiplying civil night by the clear share of the sky gives December the best score, 3.7 hours, ahead of October at 3.3. Gävle's equinox months score 3.3 in March and 3.3 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 4 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge over Gävle, on 24% of days. At Gävle's level the share runs from 19% in December to 31% in September, 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 4. 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/Stockholm dates. 15 of the 30 nights at Gävle have at least 2 moon-free dark hours inside 10 PM to 2 AM, and Oct 6 has the most at 4 h. Tonight Gävle has 11 h 9 min of civil night, 23 min of it with the moon down.
- 2
57% lit
0.4 h
- 3
46% lit
2.0 h
- 4
35% lit
3.9 h
- 5
25% lit
5.8 h
- 6
16% lit
7.5 h
- 7
8% lit
9.2 h
- 8
3% lit
10.8 h
- 9
1% lit
11.8 h
- 10
0% lit
11.9 h
- 11
2% lit
12.0 h
- 12
5% lit
12.1 h
- 13
11% lit
12.2 h
- 14
17% lit
12.2 h
- 15
25% lit
12.3 h
- 16
34% lit
12.3 h
- 17
43% lit
10.9 h
- 18
52% lit
9.3 h
- 19
62% lit
7.8 h
- 20
71% lit
6.3 h
- 21
80% lit
4.8 h
- 22
87% lit
3.3 h
- 23
94% lit
1.8 h
- 24
98% lit
0.2 h
- 25
100% lit
0.0 h
- 26
99% lit
0.0 h
- 27
95% lit
0.0 h
- 28
89% lit
0.0 h
- 29
81% lit
0.0 h
- 30
71% lit
1.0 h
- 31
60% lit
2.9 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 Sweden
Among the 3 Glow towns in Gävleborg, Gävle ranks 3rd by dipole latitude against a regional median of 59.4 degrees; Hudiksvall sits highest at 60.4. Among the 74 Glow towns in Sweden, Gävle ranks 15th by dipole latitude against a national median of 57.9 degrees; Kiruna sits highest at 65.7. On December 15 Gävle gets 16.2 hours of civil night, 12th longest of 74 in Sweden, where the median is 15.8.
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Gävle?
- Gävle sits at 59.4 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 4, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less. Clear, dark sky over Gävle still decides it.
- When is it dark enough in Gävle?
- Civil night, the sun at -6 degrees or lower, is missing from Jun 8 to Jul 3. Tonight has 11 h 9 min of it.
- What is the best month for aurora in Gävle?
- December, by civil night at Gävle times the clear share of the sky from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 average.
- How cloudy is Gävle in the dark months?
- About 72% mean cloud amount over Gävle 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 Gävle?
- A 3-hour Kp of 4 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge overhead, occurred on 24% of days from 1996 to 2025 in the GFZ Potsdam record.
Nearby and related
Nearest Glow towns
Gävle by month
Region and comparisons