Murmansk, Russia
Northern lights in Nikel
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 Europe/Moscow
Storm level needed
Nikel sits at 69.41N 30.22E in Murmansk, Russia. The IGRF-14 centered dipole puts Nikel at 65.7 degrees geomagnetic latitude, 3.7 degrees farther from the magnetic pole than its map latitude suggests. Nikel sits at 65.7 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.
"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 Zapolyarnyy (23 km), Murmansk (124 km), Severomorsk (131 km). Zapolyarnyy sits 0.1 degrees lower 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 April 28 to August 14 the sun never reaches -6 degrees, so 109 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 23 to April 19 across New Year, 240 days in 2026. Nikel's longest night of the year, Dec 20, has 19 h 9 min of civil night.
Solar midnight at Nikel, when the sun is lowest, falls at 00:54 on local clocks on December 15 and 00:59 on June 15. That is 54 min after midnight in December and 59 min after midnight in June, the gap set by daylight saving and the equation of time. So at Nikel the darkest hour sits late in SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window.
Month by month
| Month | Night | Civil | Cloud | Clear dark | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 17.7 h | 12.4 h | 81% | 3.4 hbest | |
| Feb | 14.0 h | 9.4 h | 80% | 2.8 h | |
| Mar | 10.2 h | 4.7 h | 80% | 2.0 h | |
| Apr | 5.0 h | 0.0 h | 80% | 1.0 h | |
| May | 0.0 h | 0.0 h | 82% | 0.0 h | |
| Jun | 0.0 h | 0.0 h | 82% | 0.0 h | |
| Jul | 0.0 h | 0.0 h | 76% | 0.0 h | |
| Aug | 1.3 h | 0.0 h | 79% | 0.3 h | |
| Sep | 8.4 h | 0.0 h | 81% | 1.6 h | |
| Oct | 12.7 h | 8.0 h | 87% | 1.7 h | |
| Nov | 16.6 h | 11.6 h | 85% | 2.5 h | |
| Dec | 19.1 h | 13.3 h | 86% | 2.7 h |
By the 15th-of-the-month sample, December is the darkest month at Nikel with 19.1 hours of civil night and May the lightest at 0.0. Across the year Nikel gets 3,178 hours of civil night. Astronomical night at Nikel, the sun 18 degrees or more below the horizon, lasts 13.3 hours on December 15.
NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology puts mean cloud amount for the 1 degree cell around Nikel at 82% across the year, from 76% in July to 87% in October. In the months with at least 4 hours of civil night Nikel averages 83%, against a median of 77% for Glow towns in Russia.
Multiplying civil night by the clear share of the sky gives January the best score, 3.4 hours, ahead of February at 2.8. Nikel's equinox months score 2.0 in March and 1.6 in September, the weeks SWPC links with larger storms.
Kp history
Quiet levels are enough at Nikel: a 3-hour Kp of 1 or more occurred on 96% 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 Europe/Moscow dates. 15 of the 30 nights at Nikel have at least 2 moon-free dark hours inside 10 PM to 2 AM, and Oct 7 has the most at 4 h. Tonight Nikel has 10 h 54 min of civil night, 0 min of it with the moon down.
- 2
58% lit
0.0 h
- 3
47% lit
0.0 h
- 4
35% lit
0.0 h
- 5
25% lit
3.8 h
- 6
16% lit
6.6 h
- 7
9% lit
8.8 h
- 8
4% lit
10.9 h
- 9
1% lit
11.8 h
- 10
0% lit
12.0 h
- 11
2% lit
12.1 h
- 12
5% lit
12.3 h
- 13
10% lit
12.4 h
- 14
17% lit
12.5 h
- 15
25% lit
12.7 h
- 16
33% lit
12.8 h
- 17
43% lit
12.9 h
- 18
52% lit
13.1 h
- 19
62% lit
12.5 h
- 20
71% lit
7.9 h
- 21
79% lit
5.8 h
- 22
87% lit
3.9 h
- 23
93% lit
1.9 h
- 24
98% lit
0.0 h
- 25
100% lit
0.0 h
- 26
99% lit
0.0 h
- 27
96% lit
0.0 h
- 28
90% lit
0.0 h
- 29
82% lit
0.0 h
- 30
72% lit
0.0 h
- 31
61% lit
0.0 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.
Within Russia
Among the 10 Glow towns in Murmansk, Nikel ranks 1st by dipole latitude against a regional median of 64.0 degrees, the highest of them. Among the 77 Glow towns in Russia, Nikel ranks 1st by dipole latitude against a national median of 57.3 degrees, the highest of them. On December 15 Nikel gets 19.1 hours of civil night, 1st longest of 77 in Russia, where the median is 16.7.
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Nikel?
- Nikel sits at 65.7 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. Clear, dark sky over Nikel still decides it.
- When is it dark enough in Nikel?
- Civil night, the sun at -6 degrees or lower, is missing from Apr 28 to Aug 14. Tonight has 10 h 54 min of it.
- What is the best month for aurora in Nikel?
- January, by civil night at Nikel times the clear share of the sky from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 average.
- How cloudy is Nikel in the dark months?
- About 83% mean cloud amount over Nikel 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 Nikel?
- Almost always: the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 1. Storm days, Kp 5 or more, made up 10% of days from 1996 to 2025 in the GFZ record.
Nearby and related
Nearest Glow towns
Nikel by month
Region and comparisons