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

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

How dark is Mo i Rana in December?

Mo i Rana averages 17.6 hours of civil night a night in December 2026, from 17 h 3 min on the 1st to 17 h 33 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Mo i Rana in December?

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

What is the best night in December 2026 for aurora in Mo i Rana?

By darkness and moon alone, Dec 2, 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 December or January better in Mo i Rana?

By civil night times the clear share, December scores 3.5 hours at Mo i Rana and January 3.7. January comes out ahead.

Mo i Rana · December 2026

Northern lights in Mo i Rana in December 2026

Answer

December gives Mo i Rana 17.7 hours of civil night on the 15th, the darkest month of its year, under 80% mean cloud. 5% of December days since 1996 reached storm level, Kp 5.

17.6 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 66.31, 14.14; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

December 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

December cloud at Mo i Rana averages 80% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, close to its yearly mean of 80%. January is Mo i Rana's clearest month at 78%. By civil night times clear sky, December scores 3.5 hours at Mo i Rana, 2nd of 12. Bodø, 108 km away, averages 84%, cloudier by 4 points.

Civil night at Mo i Rana starts December at 17 h 3 min and reaches 17 h 33 min by December 31 as the nights lengthen by 0.5 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 12.9 hours on the 15th.

December night by night

December opens toward a new moon on Dec 9, with full moon on Dec 24, in Europe/Oslo dates. Mo i Rana gets 294 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: Dec 2 (4 h), Dec 3 (4 h), Dec 4 (4 h).

1
43% lit
8.9 h
2
32% lit
10.7 h
3
23% lit
12.5 h
4
15% lit
14.4 h
5
9% lit
16.5 h
6
4% lit
17.4 h
7
1% lit
17.4 h
8
0% lit
17.4 h
9
1% lit
17.5 h
New
10
3% lit
17.5 h
11
8% lit
17.6 h
12
13% lit
16.8 h
13
20% lit
14.5 h
14
28% lit
12.7 h
15
37% lit
11.0 h
16
47% lit
9.3 h
17
58% lit
7.6 h
18
68% lit
5.8 h
19
78% lit
3.8 h
20
86% lit
1.1 h
21
93% lit
0.0 h
22
98% lit
0.0 h
23
100% lit
0.0 h
24
99% lit
0.0 h
Full
25
95% lit
0.0 h
26
88% lit
2.4 h
27
79% lit
4.6 h
28
69% lit
6.6 h
29
59% lit
8.4 h
30
48% lit
10.2 h
31
38% lit
12.0 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 Decembers

Quiet activity already puts the oval edge over Mo i Rana, so storm days matter more: 44 of the 930 December days from 1996 to 2025 (5%) reached Kp 5, one of the three quietest months for that level. 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.

December across Norway

Mo i Rana ranks 5th in Norway for civil night on December 15, behind Alta at 19.4 hours. Coming from November (15.8 hours at Mo i Rana), December adds darkness, and January brings shorter nights (16.7 hours on the 15th). The December solstice falls on December 21, 21:49 Mo i Rana time.

Civil night on December 15 and December cloud, month-page towns in Norway
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Alta	19.4 h	83%
Tromsø	19.2 h	85%
Harstad	18.7 h	83%
Bodø	18.0 h	84%
Mo i Rana	17.7 h	80%
Levanger	16.9 h	81%
Trondheim	16.8 h	81%
Stjørdalshalsen	16.8 h	81%
Kristiansund	16.7 h	85%
Ålesund	16.6 h	84%
Molde	16.6 h	84%
Hamar	16.2 h	77%

Darkness and moon, every night

Mo i Rana, December 2026: each night from local noon to the next noon
Night	Civil	Astronomical	Moon-free dark	Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM	Moon lit
Tue Dec 1	17 h 3 min	12 h 31 min	8 h 55 min	2 h 16 min	43%
Wed Dec 2	17 h 7 min	12 h 33 min	10 h 42 min	4 h	32%
Thu Dec 3	17 h 11 min	12 h 36 min	12 h 29 min	4 h	23%
Fri Dec 4	17 h 14 min	12 h 38 min	14 h 22 min	4 h	15%
Sat Dec 5	17 h 17 min	12 h 41 min	16 h 31 min	4 h	9%
Sun Dec 6	17 h 21 min	12 h 43 min	17 h 21 min	4 h	4%
Mon Dec 7	17 h 24 min	12 h 45 min	17 h 24 min	4 h	1%
Tue Dec 8	17 h 26 min	12 h 47 min	17 h 26 min	4 h	0%
Wed Dec 9	17 h 29 min	12 h 49 min	17 h 29 min	4 h	1%
Thu Dec 10	17 h 31 min	12 h 50 min	17 h 31 min	4 h	3%
Fri Dec 11	17 h 34 min	12 h 52 min	17 h 34 min	4 h	8%
Sat Dec 12	17 h 36 min	12 h 53 min	16 h 46 min	4 h	13%
Sun Dec 13	17 h 37 min	12 h 55 min	14 h 29 min	4 h	20%
Mon Dec 14	17 h 39 min	12 h 56 min	12 h 39 min	4 h	28%
Tue Dec 15	17 h 40 min	12 h 57 min	10 h 58 min	4 h	37%
Wed Dec 16	17 h 42 min	12 h 57 min	9 h 18 min	2 h 28 min	47%
Thu Dec 17	17 h 43 min	12 h 58 min	7 h 37 min	46 min	58%
Fri Dec 18	17 h 43 min	12 h 59 min	5 h 48 min	0 min	68%
Sat Dec 19	17 h 44 min	12 h 59 min	3 h 45 min	0 min	78%
Sun Dec 20	17 h 44 min	12 h 59 min	1 h 9 min	0 min	86%
Mon Dec 21	17 h 44 min	12 h 59 min	0 min	0 min	93%
Tue Dec 22	17 h 44 min	12 h 59 min	0 min	0 min	98%
Wed Dec 23	17 h 44 min	12 h 59 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Thu Dec 24	17 h 43 min	12 h 58 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Fri Dec 25	17 h 42 min	12 h 58 min	0 min	0 min	95%
Sat Dec 26	17 h 41 min	12 h 57 min	2 h 26 min	0 min	88%
Sun Dec 27	17 h 40 min	12 h 56 min	4 h 38 min	0 min	79%
Mon Dec 28	17 h 39 min	12 h 55 min	6 h 35 min	0 min	69%
Tue Dec 29	17 h 37 min	12 h 54 min	8 h 23 min	1 h 40 min	59%
Wed Dec 30	17 h 35 min	12 h 53 min	10 h 10 min	3 h 28 min	48%
Thu Dec 31	17 h 33 min	12 h 52 min	11 h 59 min	4 h	38%

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 December?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Mo i Rana have civil darkness, and 5% of past December days reached Kp 5.
How dark is Mo i Rana in December?: Mo i Rana averages 17.6 hours of civil night a night in December 2026, from 17 h 3 min on the 1st to 17 h 33 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Mo i Rana in December?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Mo i Rana's 1 degree cell 80% mean cloud in December, against 80% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in December 2026 for aurora in Mo i Rana?: By darkness and moon alone, Dec 2, 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 December or January better in Mo i Rana?: By civil night times the clear share, December scores 3.5 hours at Mo i Rana and January 3.7. January 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.