North Savo, Finland
Northern lights in Iisalmi
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/Helsinki
Storm level needed
Iisalmi sits at 63.56N 27.19E in North Savo, Finland. The IGRF-14 centered dipole puts Iisalmi at 60.6 degrees geomagnetic latitude, 2.9 degrees farther from the magnetic pole than its map latitude suggests. Iisalmi sits at 60.6 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 3.
"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 Siilinjärvi (58 km), Kuopio (78 km), Kajaani (79 km). Siilinjärvi sits 0.5 degrees lower 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 20 to July 22 the sun never reaches -6 degrees, so 64 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 6 to May 5 across New Year, 273 days in 2026. Iisalmi's longest night of the year, Dec 20, has 16 h 53 min of civil night.
Solar midnight at Iisalmi, when the sun is lowest, falls at 00:06 on local clocks on December 15 and 01:11 on June 15. That is 6 min after midnight in December and 1 h 11 min after midnight in June, the gap set by daylight saving and the equation of time. So at Iisalmi 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 | 16.0 h | 12.1 h | 79% | 3.4 hbest | |
| Feb | 13.4 h | 9.8 h | 77% | 3.1 h | |
| Mar | 10.6 h | 6.6 h | 70% | 3.2 h | |
| Apr | 7.0 h | 0.0 h | 71% | 2.0 h | |
| May | 2.1 h | 0.0 h | 69% | 0.7 h | |
| Jun | 0.0 h | 0.0 h | 68% | 0.0 h | |
| Jul | 0.0 h | 0.0 h | 69% | 0.0 h | |
| Aug | 5.5 h | 0.0 h | 68% | 1.8 h | |
| Sep | 9.3 h | 4.8 h | 72% | 2.6 h | |
| Oct | 12.4 h | 8.8 h | 83% | 2.1 h | |
| Nov | 15.2 h | 11.4 h | 88% | 1.8 h | |
| Dec | 16.8 h | 12.7 h | 83% | 2.9 h |
By the 15th-of-the-month sample, December is the darkest month at Iisalmi with 16.8 hours of civil night and June the lightest at 0.0. Across the year Iisalmi gets 3,285 hours of civil night. Astronomical night at Iisalmi, the sun 18 degrees or more below the horizon, lasts 12.7 hours on December 15.
NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology puts mean cloud amount for the 1 degree cell around Iisalmi at 75% across the year, from 68% in June to 88% in November. In the months with at least 4 hours of civil night Iisalmi averages 77%, against a median of 76% for Glow towns in Finland.
Multiplying civil night by the clear share of the sky gives January the best score, 3.4 hours, ahead of March at 3.2. Iisalmi's equinox months score 3.2 in March and 2.6 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 3 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge over Iisalmi, on 50% of days. At Iisalmi's level the share runs from 43% in June to 58% 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 3. 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/Helsinki dates. 15 of the 30 nights at Iisalmi have at least 2 moon-free dark hours inside 10 PM to 2 AM, and Oct 6 has the most at 4 h. Tonight Iisalmi has 11 h 5 min of civil night, 0 min of it with the moon down.
- 2
58% lit
0.0 h
- 3
47% lit
0.5 h
- 4
35% lit
3.2 h
- 5
25% lit
5.3 h
- 6
16% lit
7.3 h
- 7
9% lit
9.1 h
- 8
4% 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
10% lit
12.2 h
- 14
17% lit
12.3 h
- 15
25% lit
12.4 h
- 16
33% lit
12.5 h
- 17
43% lit
12.6 h
- 18
52% lit
10.3 h
- 19
62% lit
8.4 h
- 20
71% lit
6.7 h
- 21
79% lit
5.1 h
- 22
87% lit
3.5 h
- 23
93% lit
1.9 h
- 24
98% lit
0.1 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
81% lit
0.0 h
- 30
72% lit
0.0 h
- 31
61% lit
2.2 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 Finland
Among the 4 Glow towns in North Savo, Iisalmi ranks 1st by dipole latitude against a regional median of 60.0 degrees, the highest of them. Among the 65 Glow towns in Finland, Iisalmi ranks 13th by dipole latitude against a national median of 59.0 degrees; Rovaniemi sits highest at 63.6. On December 15 Iisalmi gets 16.8 hours of civil night, 11th longest of 65 in Finland, where the median is 16.3.
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Iisalmi?
- Iisalmi sits at 60.6 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 3. Clear, dark sky over Iisalmi still decides it.
- When is it dark enough in Iisalmi?
- Civil night, the sun at -6 degrees or lower, is missing from May 20 to Jul 22. Tonight has 11 h 5 min of it.
- What is the best month for aurora in Iisalmi?
- January, by civil night at Iisalmi times the clear share of the sky from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 average.
- How cloudy is Iisalmi in the dark months?
- About 77% mean cloud amount over Iisalmi 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 Iisalmi?
- A 3-hour Kp of 3 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge overhead, occurred on 50% of days from 1996 to 2025 in the GFZ Potsdam record.
Nearby and related
Nearest Glow towns
Iisalmi by month
Region and comparisons