Can you see the northern lights in Mo i Rana in August?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 28 of 31 nights at Mo i Rana have civil darkness, and 11% of past August days reached Kp 5.

How dark is Mo i Rana in August?

Mo i Rana averages 4.0 hours of civil night a night in August 2027, from 0 min on the 1st to 6 h 52 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Mo i Rana in August?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Mo i Rana's 1 degree cell 78% mean cloud in August, against 80% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in August 2027 for aurora in Mo i Rana?

By darkness and moon alone, Aug 29, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Mo i Rana. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.

Is August or September better in Mo i Rana?

By civil night times the clear share, August scores 0.9 hours at Mo i Rana and September 1.6. September comes out ahead.

Mo i Rana · August 2027

Northern lights in Mo i Rana in August 2027

Answer

August gives Mo i Rana 4.3 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 9th darkest of its 12 months, under 78% mean cloud. 11% of August days since 1996 reached storm level, Kp 5.

4.0 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 66.31, 14.14; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

August against the rest of the year

3.7

2.7

2.2

1.3

0.0

0.9

1.6

2.1

3.3

3.5

August cloud at Mo i Rana averages 78% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 2 points clearer than its yearly mean. January is Mo i Rana's clearest month at 78%. By civil night times clear sky, August scores 0.9 hours at Mo i Rana, 9th of 12. Bodø, 108 km away, averages 77%, clearer by 1 points.

Civil night at Mo i Rana starts August at 0 min and reaches 6 h 52 min by August 31 as the nights lengthen by 6.9 hours. 3 Mo i Rana nights this month have no civil darkness at all. The 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on 5 of 31 nights. The sun never reaches 18 degrees down, so Mo i Rana gets no astronomical night in August.

August night by night

August opens toward a new moon on Aug 2 and Aug 31, with full moon on Aug 17, in Europe/Oslo dates. Mo i Rana gets 49 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: Aug 29 (4 h), Aug 30 (4 h), Aug 31 (4 h).

1
0% lit
no night
2
0% lit
no night
New
3
3% lit
no night
4
9% lit
0.8 h
5
17% lit
1.4 h
6
26% lit
1.9 h
7
37% lit
2.2 h
8
47% lit
2.5 h
9
57% lit
2.8 h
10
67% lit
3.1 h
11
76% lit
3.3 h
12
84% lit
3.6 h
13
90% lit
3.8 h
14
95% lit
2.6 h
15
98% lit
0.4 h
16
100% lit
0.0 h
17
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
18
98% lit
0.0 h
19
94% lit
0.0 h
20
88% lit
0.0 h
21
81% lit
0.0 h
22
72% lit
0.0 h
23
63% lit
0.0 h
24
52% lit
0.0 h
25
41% lit
0.0 h
26
30% lit
0.0 h
27
20% lit
0.0 h
28
11% lit
2.2 h
29
5% lit
4.9 h
30
1% lit
6.7 h
31
0% lit
6.9 h
New

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 Augusts

Quiet activity already puts the oval edge over Mo i Rana, so storm days matter more: 99 of the 930 August days from 1996 to 2025 (11%) reached Kp 5, 5th of 12 months. Mo i Rana sits at 65.2 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 1.

August across Norway

Mo i Rana ranks 16th in Norway for civil night on August 15, behind Kristiansand at 6.9 hours. Coming from July (0.0 hours at Mo i Rana), August adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into September (8.9 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on August 15 and August cloud, month-page towns in Norway
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Kristiansand	6.9 h	72%
Stavanger	6.8 h	79%
Haugesund	6.7 h	79%
Drammen	6.6 h	71%
Oslo	6.5 h	71%
Bergen	6.4 h	80%
Hamar	6.3 h	70%
Gjøvik	6.3 h	70%
Lillehammer	6.2 h	74%
Ålesund	5.8 h	83%
Molde	5.8 h	83%
Kristiansund	5.6 h	81%
Mo i Rana	4.3 h	78%

Darkness and moon, every night

Mo i Rana, August 2027: each night from local noon to the next noon
Night	Civil	Moon-free dark	Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM	Moon lit
Sun Aug 1	0 min	0 min	0 min	0%
Mon Aug 2	0 min	0 min	0 min	0%
Tue Aug 3	0 min	0 min	0 min	3%
Wed Aug 4	45 min	45 min	45 min	9%
Thu Aug 5	1 h 25 min	1 h 25 min	1 h 25 min	17%
Fri Aug 6	1 h 52 min	1 h 52 min	1 h 46 min	26%
Sat Aug 7	2 h 13 min	2 h 13 min	1 h 57 min	37%
Sun Aug 8	2 h 32 min	2 h 32 min	2 h 7 min	47%
Mon Aug 9	2 h 49 min	2 h 49 min	2 h 15 min	57%
Tue Aug 10	3 h 5 min	3 h 5 min	2 h 23 min	67%
Wed Aug 11	3 h 20 min	3 h 20 min	2 h 31 min	76%
Thu Aug 12	3 h 34 min	3 h 34 min	2 h 38 min	84%
Fri Aug 13	3 h 47 min	3 h 47 min	2 h 45 min	90%
Sat Aug 14	4 h	2 h 34 min	1 h 25 min	95%
Sun Aug 15	4 h 12 min	22 min	0 min	98%
Mon Aug 16	4 h 24 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Tue Aug 17	4 h 35 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Wed Aug 18	4 h 46 min	0 min	0 min	98%
Thu Aug 19	4 h 57 min	0 min	0 min	94%
Fri Aug 20	5 h 7 min	0 min	0 min	88%
Sat Aug 21	5 h 18 min	0 min	0 min	81%
Sun Aug 22	5 h 28 min	0 min	0 min	72%
Mon Aug 23	5 h 38 min	0 min	0 min	63%
Tue Aug 24	5 h 48 min	0 min	0 min	52%
Wed Aug 25	5 h 57 min	0 min	0 min	41%
Thu Aug 26	6 h 7 min	0 min	0 min	30%
Fri Aug 27	6 h 16 min	0 min	0 min	20%
Sat Aug 28	6 h 25 min	2 h 13 min	2 h 5 min	11%
Sun Aug 29	6 h 34 min	4 h 54 min	4 h	5%
Mon Aug 30	6 h 43 min	6 h 43 min	4 h	1%
Tue Aug 31	6 h 52 min	6 h 52 min	4 h	0%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Mo i Rana in August?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 28 of 31 nights at Mo i Rana have civil darkness, and 11% of past August days reached Kp 5.
How dark is Mo i Rana in August?: Mo i Rana averages 4.0 hours of civil night a night in August 2027, from 0 min on the 1st to 6 h 52 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Mo i Rana in August?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Mo i Rana's 1 degree cell 78% mean cloud in August, against 80% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in August 2027 for aurora in Mo i Rana?: By darkness and moon alone, Aug 29, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Mo i Rana. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is August or September better in Mo i Rana?: By civil night times the clear share, August scores 0.9 hours at Mo i Rana and September 1.6. September 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.