Capital Region, Iceland
Northern lights in Kópavogur
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 Atlantic/Reykjavik
Storm level needed
Kópavogur sits at 64.11N 21.91W in Capital Region, Iceland. The IGRF-14 centered dipole puts Kópavogur at 68.8 degrees geomagnetic latitude, 4.7 degrees closer to the magnetic pole than its map latitude suggests. Kópavogur sits at 68.8 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.
"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 Reykjavík (3 km), Hafnarfjörður (5 km), Reykjanesbær (34 km). Reykjavík 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 May 17 to July 25 the sun never reaches -6 degrees, so 70 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 8 to May 3 across New Year, 269 days in 2026. Kópavogur's longest night of the year, Dec 19, has 17 h 2 min of civil night.
Solar midnight at Kópavogur, when the sun is lowest, falls at 01:23 on local clocks on December 15 and 01:28 on June 15. That is 1 h 23 min after midnight in December and 1 h 28 min after midnight in June, the gap set by daylight saving and the equation of time. So at Kópavogur the darkest hour sits late in SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window.
Month by month
| Month | Night | Civil | Cloud | Clear dark | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 16.1 h | 12.1 h | 78% | 3.5 h | |
| Feb | 13.4 h | 9.8 h | 79% | 2.8 h | |
| Mar | 10.5 h | 6.5 h | 80% | 2.1 h | |
| Apr | 6.8 h | 0.0 h | 81% | 1.3 h | |
| May | 1.3 h | 0.0 h | 80% | 0.3 h | |
| Jun | 0.0 h | 0.0 h | 81% | 0.0 h | |
| Jul | 0.0 h | 0.0 h | 83% | 0.0 h | |
| Aug | 5.3 h | 0.0 h | 79% | 1.1 h | |
| Sep | 9.2 h | 4.6 h | 80% | 1.8 h | |
| Oct | 12.4 h | 8.7 h | 78% | 2.7 h | |
| Nov | 15.3 h | 11.5 h | 78% | 3.4 h | |
| Dec | 17.0 h | 12.8 h | 76% | 4.1 hbest |
By the 15th-of-the-month sample, December is the darkest month at Kópavogur with 17.0 hours of civil night and June the lightest at 0.0. Across the year Kópavogur gets 3,267 hours of civil night. Astronomical night at Kópavogur, the sun 18 degrees or more below the horizon, lasts 12.8 hours on December 15.
NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology puts mean cloud amount for the 1 degree cell around Kópavogur at 79% across the year, from 76% in December to 83% in July. In the months with at least 4 hours of civil night Kópavogur averages 79%, against a median of 79% for Glow towns in Iceland.
Multiplying civil night by the clear share of the sky gives December the best score, 4.1 hours, ahead of January at 3.5. Kópavogur's equinox months score 2.1 in March and 1.8 in September, the weeks SWPC links with larger storms.
Kp history
Quiet levels are enough at Kópavogur: a 3-hour Kp of 0 or more occurred on 100% of days from 1996 to 2025 in the GFZ Potsdam record. The days that matter are storm days, Kp 5 or more: 10% of all days, most often in September.
Share of UTC days in each calendar month whose highest 3-hour Kp reached Kp 5. 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 Atlantic/Reykjavik dates. 15 of the 30 nights at Kópavogur have at least 2 moon-free dark hours inside 10 PM to 2 AM, and Oct 6 has the most at 4 h. Tonight Kópavogur has 11 h 5 min of civil night, 0 min of it with the moon down.
- 2
57% lit
0.0 h
- 3
45% lit
0.3 h
- 4
34% lit
3.3 h
- 5
24% lit
5.5 h
- 6
15% lit
7.5 h
- 7
8% lit
9.3 h
- 8
3% lit
11.1 h
- 9
1% lit
11.8 h
- 10
0% lit
11.9 h
- 11
2% lit
12.0 h
- 12
6% lit
12.1 h
- 13
11% lit
12.2 h
- 14
18% lit
12.3 h
- 15
26% lit
12.4 h
- 16
35% lit
12.6 h
- 17
44% lit
12.7 h
- 18
53% lit
10.2 h
- 19
63% lit
8.3 h
- 20
72% lit
6.5 h
- 21
80% lit
4.9 h
- 22
88% lit
3.3 h
- 23
94% lit
1.6 h
- 24
98% lit
0.0 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
0.0 h
- 31
60% lit
2.3 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 Iceland
Among the 3 Glow towns in Capital Region, Kópavogur ranks 2nd by dipole latitude against a regional median of 68.8 degrees; Reykjavík sits highest at 68.8. Among the 5 Glow towns in Iceland, Kópavogur ranks 3rd by dipole latitude against a national median of 68.8 degrees; Akureyri sits highest at 69.7. On December 15 Kópavogur gets 17.0 hours of civil night, 2nd longest of 5 in Iceland, where the median is 17.0.
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Kópavogur?
- Kópavogur sits at 68.8 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. Clear, dark sky over Kópavogur still decides it.
- When is it dark enough in Kópavogur?
- Civil night, the sun at -6 degrees or lower, is missing from May 17 to Jul 25. Tonight has 11 h 5 min of it.
- What is the best month for aurora in Kópavogur?
- December, by civil night at Kópavogur times the clear share of the sky from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 average.
- How cloudy is Kópavogur in the dark months?
- About 79% mean cloud amount over Kópavogur 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 Kópavogur?
- Almost always: the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 0. Storm days, Kp 5 or more, made up 10% of days from 1996 to 2025 in the GFZ record.
- Why does this page point to Reykjavík?
- Kópavogur sits within 15 km of Reykjavík with the same rounded dipole latitude, Kp and dark season, so Glow treats Reykjavík as the main page for both.
Nearby and related
Nearest Glow towns
Kópavogur by month
Region and comparisons