Yamalo-Nenets, Russia
Northern lights in Nadym
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 Asia/Yekaterinburg
Storm level needed
Nadym sits at 65.53N 72.52E in Yamalo-Nenets, Russia. The IGRF-14 centered dipole puts Nadym at 57.6 degrees geomagnetic latitude, 8.0 degrees farther from the magnetic pole than its map latitude suggests. Nadym sits at 57.6 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 5, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less.
"aurora is commonly visible at high latitudes (northern Michigan and Maine)"
The nearest other Glow towns are Novyy Urengoy (197 km), Muravlenko (216 km), Gubkinskiy (224 km). Novyy Urengoy sits 0.3 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 11 to July 31 the sun never reaches -6 degrees, so 82 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 12 to April 29 across New Year, 261 days in 2026. Nadym's longest night of the year, Dec 19, has 17 h 28 min of civil night.
Solar midnight at Nadym, when the sun is lowest, falls at 00:05 on local clocks on December 15 and 00:10 on June 15. That is 5 min after midnight in December and 10 min after midnight in June, the gap set by daylight saving and the equation of time. So at Nadym 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 | 16.5 h | 12.2 h | 64% | 5.9 h | |
| Feb | 13.6 h | 9.7 h | 62% | 5.2 h | |
| Mar | 10.5 h | 6.2 h | 67% | 3.5 h | |
| Apr | 6.5 h | 0.0 h | 69% | 2.0 h | |
| May | 0.0 h | 0.0 h | 77% | 0.0 h | |
| Jun | 0.0 h | 0.0 h | 72% | 0.0 h | |
| Jul | 0.0 h | 0.0 h | 65% | 0.0 h | |
| Aug | 4.6 h | 0.0 h | 74% | 1.2 h | |
| Sep | 9.0 h | 3.9 h | 76% | 2.2 h | |
| Oct | 12.5 h | 8.6 h | 87% | 1.6 h | |
| Nov | 15.6 h | 11.5 h | 73% | 4.2 h | |
| Dec | 17.4 h | 12.9 h | 64% | 6.3 hbest |
By the 15th-of-the-month sample, December is the darkest month at Nadym with 17.4 hours of civil night and May the lightest at 0.0. Across the year Nadym gets 3,229 hours of civil night. Astronomical night at Nadym, the sun 18 degrees or more below the horizon, lasts 12.9 hours on December 15.
NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology puts mean cloud amount for the 1 degree cell around Nadym at 71% across the year, from 62% in February to 87% in October. In the months with at least 4 hours of civil night Nadym averages 71%, against a median of 77% for Glow towns in Russia.
Multiplying civil night by the clear share of the sky gives December the best score, 6.3 hours, ahead of January at 5.9. Nadym's equinox months score 3.5 in March and 2.2 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 5 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge over Nadym, on 10% of days. At Nadym's level the share runs from 5% in December to 14% in September, 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 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 Asia/Yekaterinburg dates. 15 of the 30 nights at Nadym have at least 2 moon-free dark hours inside 10 PM to 2 AM, and Oct 7 has the most at 4 h. Tonight Nadym has 11 h 1 min of civil night, 0 min of it with the moon down.
- 2
59% lit
0.0 h
- 3
47% lit
0.0 h
- 4
36% lit
2.0 h
- 5
26% lit
4.7 h
- 6
17% lit
6.8 h
- 7
9% lit
8.8 h
- 8
4% lit
10.6 h
- 9
1% lit
11.8 h
- 10
0% lit
11.9 h
- 11
2% lit
12.0 h
- 12
5% lit
12.2 h
- 13
10% lit
12.3 h
- 14
17% lit
12.4 h
- 15
24% lit
12.5 h
- 16
33% lit
12.6 h
- 17
42% lit
12.7 h
- 18
51% lit
12.8 h
- 19
61% lit
9.1 h
- 20
70% lit
7.2 h
- 21
79% lit
5.5 h
- 22
87% lit
3.8 h
- 23
93% lit
2.1 h
- 24
97% lit
0.3 h
- 25
100% lit
0.0 h
- 26
99% lit
0.0 h
- 27
96% lit
0.0 h
- 28
91% lit
0.0 h
- 29
83% lit
0.0 h
- 30
73% lit
0.0 h
- 31
62% lit
0.7 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 Russia
Among the 8 Glow towns in Yamalo-Nenets, Nadym ranks 4th by dipole latitude against a regional median of 57.1 degrees; Labytnangi sits highest at 59.1. Among the 77 Glow towns in Russia, Nadym ranks 38th by dipole latitude against a national median of 57.3 degrees; Nikel sits highest at 65.7. On December 15 Nadym gets 17.4 hours of civil night, 25th longest of 77 in Russia, where the median is 16.7.
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Nadym?
- Nadym sits at 57.6 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 5, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less. Clear, dark sky over Nadym still decides it.
- When is it dark enough in Nadym?
- Civil night, the sun at -6 degrees or lower, is missing from May 11 to Jul 31. Tonight has 11 h 1 min of it.
- What is the best month for aurora in Nadym?
- December, by civil night at Nadym times the clear share of the sky from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 average.
- How cloudy is Nadym in the dark months?
- About 71% mean cloud amount over Nadym 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 Nadym?
- A 3-hour Kp of 5 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge overhead, occurred on 10% of days from 1996 to 2025 in the GFZ Potsdam record.
Nearby and related
Nearest Glow towns
Nadym by month
Region and comparisons