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

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 7 of 31 nights at Mo i Rana have civil darkness, and 10% of past May days reached Kp 5.

How dark is Mo i Rana in May?

Mo i Rana averages 0.5 hours of civil night a night in May 2027, from 3 h 14 min on the 1st to 0 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Mo i Rana in May?

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

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

By darkness and moon alone, May 1, with 2 h 37 min 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 May or June better in Mo i Rana?

By civil night times the clear share, May scores 0.0 hours at Mo i Rana and June 0.0. They are level.

Mo i Rana · May 2027

Northern lights in Mo i Rana in May 2027

Answer

May gives Mo i Rana 0.0 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 10th darkest of its 12 months, under 80% mean cloud. 10% of May days since 1996 reached storm level, Kp 5.

0.5 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 66.31, 14.14; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

May 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

May 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, May scores 0.0 hours at Mo i Rana, 10th of 12. Bodø, 108 km away, averages the same 80%.

Civil night at Mo i Rana starts May at 3 h 14 min and reaches 0 min by May 31, 3.2 hours shorter. 24 Mo i Rana nights this month have no civil darkness at all. No night keeps the 10 PM to 2 AM window fully dark at Mo i Rana. The sun never reaches 18 degrees down, so Mo i Rana gets no astronomical night in May.

May night by night

May opens toward a new moon on May 6, with full moon on May 20, in Europe/Oslo dates. Mo i Rana gets 15 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: May 1 (2 h 37 min), May 2 (2 h 29 min), May 3 (2 h 21 min).

1
22% lit
3.2 h
2
14% lit
3.0 h
3
8% lit
2.7 h
4
3% lit
2.4 h
5
1% lit
2.0 h
6
0% lit
1.6 h
New
7
3% lit
0.0 h
8
8% lit
no night
9
16% lit
no night
10
25% lit
no night
11
36% lit
no night
12
47% lit
no night
13
58% lit
no night
14
69% lit
no night
15
79% lit
no night
16
87% lit
no night
17
93% lit
no night
18
97% lit
no night
19
100% lit
no night
20
100% lit
no night
Full
21
98% lit
no night
22
94% lit
no night
23
89% lit
no night
24
82% lit
no night
25
74% lit
no night
26
66% lit
no night
27
57% lit
no night
28
47% lit
no night
29
37% lit
no night
30
28% lit
no night
31
19% lit
no night

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 Mays

Quiet activity already puts the oval edge over Mo i Rana, so storm days matter more: 97 of the 930 May days from 1996 to 2025 (10%) reached Kp 5, 6th 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.

May across Norway

Mo i Rana ranks 16th in Norway for civil night on May 15, behind Kristiansand at 5.1 hours. Coming from April (6.2 hours at Mo i Rana), May loses darkness, and June holds about the same.

Civil night on May 15 and May cloud, month-page towns in Norway
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Kristiansand	5.1 h	69%
Stavanger	4.8 h	71%
Haugesund	4.7 h	70%
Oslo	4.5 h	68%
Drammen	4.5 h	68%
Bergen	4.3 h	71%
Hamar	4.1 h	70%
Gjøvik	4.1 h	70%
Lillehammer	3.9 h	75%
Ålesund	3.1 h	82%
Molde	2.9 h	82%
Kristiansund	2.6 h	74%
Mo i Rana	0.0 h	80%

Darkness and moon, every night

Mo i Rana, May 2027: each night from local noon to the next noon
Night	Civil	Moon-free dark	Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM	Moon lit
Sat May 1	3 h 14 min	3 h 14 min	2 h 37 min	22%
Sun May 2	2 h 58 min	2 h 58 min	2 h 29 min	14%
Mon May 3	2 h 42 min	2 h 42 min	2 h 21 min	8%
Tue May 4	2 h 24 min	2 h 24 min	2 h 12 min	3%
Wed May 5	2 h 3 min	2 h 3 min	2 h 2 min	1%
Thu May 6	1 h 39 min	1 h 39 min	1 h 39 min	0%
Fri May 7	1 h 8 min	0 min	0 min	3%
Sat May 8	0 min	0 min	0 min	8%
Sun May 9	0 min	0 min	0 min	16%
Mon May 10	0 min	0 min	0 min	25%
Tue May 11	0 min	0 min	0 min	36%
Wed May 12	0 min	0 min	0 min	47%
Thu May 13	0 min	0 min	0 min	58%
Fri May 14	0 min	0 min	0 min	69%
Sat May 15	0 min	0 min	0 min	79%
Sun May 16	0 min	0 min	0 min	87%
Mon May 17	0 min	0 min	0 min	93%
Tue May 18	0 min	0 min	0 min	97%
Wed May 19	0 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Thu May 20	0 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Fri May 21	0 min	0 min	0 min	98%
Sat May 22	0 min	0 min	0 min	94%
Sun May 23	0 min	0 min	0 min	89%
Mon May 24	0 min	0 min	0 min	82%
Tue May 25	0 min	0 min	0 min	74%
Wed May 26	0 min	0 min	0 min	66%
Thu May 27	0 min	0 min	0 min	57%
Fri May 28	0 min	0 min	0 min	47%
Sat May 29	0 min	0 min	0 min	37%
Sun May 30	0 min	0 min	0 min	28%
Mon May 31	0 min	0 min	0 min	19%

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 May?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 7 of 31 nights at Mo i Rana have civil darkness, and 10% of past May days reached Kp 5.
How dark is Mo i Rana in May?: Mo i Rana averages 0.5 hours of civil night a night in May 2027, from 3 h 14 min on the 1st to 0 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Mo i Rana in May?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Mo i Rana's 1 degree cell 80% mean cloud in May, against 80% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in May 2027 for aurora in Mo i Rana?: By darkness and moon alone, May 1, with 2 h 37 min 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 May or June better in Mo i Rana?: By civil night times the clear share, May scores 0.0 hours at Mo i Rana and June 0.0. They are level.

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.