Can you see the northern lights in Östersund in December?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Östersund have civil darkness, and 70% of past December days reached Kp 2.

How dark is Östersund in December?

Östersund averages 16.6 hours of civil night a night in December 2026, from 16 h 14 min on the 1st to 16 h 38 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Östersund in December?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Östersund's 1 degree cell 75% mean cloud in December, against 74% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in December 2026 for aurora in Östersund?

By darkness and moon alone, Dec 3, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Östersund. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.

Is December or January better in Östersund?

By civil night times the clear share, December scores 4.2 hours at Östersund and January 3.3. December comes out ahead.

Östersund · December 2026

Northern lights in Östersund in December 2026

Answer

December gives Östersund 16.7 hours of civil night on the 15th, the darkest month of its year, under 75% mean cloud. 70% of December days since 1996 reached Kp 2, enough for the oval edge to reach Östersund.

16.6 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 63.18, 14.64; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

December against the rest of the year

3.3

3.2

3.0

2.1

0.7

0.0

1.6

2.4

3.0

3.2

4.2

December cloud at Östersund averages 75% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, close to its yearly mean of 74%. April is Östersund's clearest month at 71%. That makes December the best month of Östersund's year by civil night times clear sky, 4.2 hours. Sundsvall, 162 km away, averages 73%, clearer by 2 points.

Civil night at Östersund starts December at 16 h 14 min and reaches 16 h 38 min by December 31 as the nights lengthen by 0.4 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 12.7 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/Stockholm dates. Östersund gets 278 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 3 (4 h), Dec 4 (4 h), Dec 5 (4 h).

1
43% lit
8.6 h
2
32% lit
10.2 h
3
23% lit
11.8 h
4
15% lit
13.5 h
5
9% lit
15.2 h
6
4% lit
16.5 h
7
1% lit
16.5 h
8
0% lit
16.5 h
9
1% lit
16.6 h
New
10
3% lit
16.6 h
11
8% lit
16.6 h
12
13% lit
15.1 h
13
20% lit
13.4 h
14
28% lit
11.8 h
15
37% lit
10.3 h
16
47% lit
8.8 h
17
58% lit
7.3 h
18
68% lit
5.6 h
19
78% lit
3.8 h
20
86% lit
1.8 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
0.3 h
26
88% lit
2.5 h
27
79% lit
4.4 h
28
69% lit
6.2 h
29
59% lit
7.9 h
30
48% lit
9.5 h
31
38% lit
11.1 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

Östersund needs Kp 2 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 648 of the 930 December days from 1996 to 2025 (70%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, one of the three quietest months for that level; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 5%. Östersund sits at 62.2 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 2.

December across Sweden

Östersund ranks 8th in Sweden for civil night on December 15, behind Kiruna at 18.3 hours. Coming from November (15.2 hours at Östersund), December adds darkness, and January brings shorter nights (15.9 hours on the 15th). The December solstice falls on December 21, 21:49 Östersund time.

Civil night on December 15 and December cloud, month-page towns in Sweden
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Kiruna	18.3 h	80%
Boden	17.5 h	75%
Luleå	17.4 h	80%
Piteå	17.3 h	75%
Skellefteå	17.2 h	76%
Umeå	16.9 h	80%
Örnsköldsvik	16.8 h	73%
Östersund	16.7 h	75%
Härnösand	16.6 h	73%
Sundsvall	16.5 h	73%
Hudiksvall	16.4 h	74%
Uppsala	16.0 h	83%

Darkness and moon, every night

Östersund, 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	16 h 14 min	12 h 18 min	8 h 33 min	2 h 17 min	43%
Wed Dec 2	16 h 17 min	12 h 20 min	10 h 11 min	3 h 54 min	32%
Thu Dec 3	16 h 20 min	12 h 22 min	11 h 49 min	4 h	23%
Fri Dec 4	16 h 23 min	12 h 24 min	13 h 29 min	4 h	15%
Sat Dec 5	16 h 25 min	12 h 26 min	15 h 14 min	4 h	9%
Sun Dec 6	16 h 28 min	12 h 28 min	16 h 28 min	4 h	4%
Mon Dec 7	16 h 30 min	12 h 30 min	16 h 30 min	4 h	1%
Tue Dec 8	16 h 32 min	12 h 32 min	16 h 32 min	4 h	0%
Wed Dec 9	16 h 35 min	12 h 33 min	16 h 35 min	4 h	1%
Thu Dec 10	16 h 36 min	12 h 35 min	16 h 36 min	4 h	3%
Fri Dec 11	16 h 38 min	12 h 36 min	16 h 38 min	4 h	8%
Sat Dec 12	16 h 40 min	12 h 37 min	15 h 8 min	4 h	13%
Sun Dec 13	16 h 41 min	12 h 38 min	13 h 26 min	4 h	20%
Mon Dec 14	16 h 42 min	12 h 39 min	11 h 51 min	4 h	28%
Tue Dec 15	16 h 44 min	12 h 40 min	10 h 19 min	4 h	37%
Wed Dec 16	16 h 44 min	12 h 41 min	8 h 48 min	2 h 28 min	47%
Thu Dec 17	16 h 45 min	12 h 41 min	7 h 15 min	54 min	58%
Fri Dec 18	16 h 46 min	12 h 42 min	5 h 35 min	0 min	68%
Sat Dec 19	16 h 46 min	12 h 42 min	3 h 47 min	0 min	78%
Sun Dec 20	16 h 47 min	12 h 42 min	1 h 45 min	0 min	86%
Mon Dec 21	16 h 47 min	12 h 42 min	0 min	0 min	93%
Tue Dec 22	16 h 46 min	12 h 42 min	0 min	0 min	98%
Wed Dec 23	16 h 46 min	12 h 42 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Thu Dec 24	16 h 46 min	12 h 42 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Fri Dec 25	16 h 45 min	12 h 41 min	19 min	0 min	95%
Sat Dec 26	16 h 44 min	12 h 41 min	2 h 29 min	0 min	88%
Sun Dec 27	16 h 43 min	12 h 40 min	4 h 26 min	0 min	79%
Mon Dec 28	16 h 42 min	12 h 39 min	6 h 12 min	0 min	69%
Tue Dec 29	16 h 41 min	12 h 38 min	7 h 52 min	1 h 35 min	59%
Wed Dec 30	16 h 40 min	12 h 37 min	9 h 29 min	3 h 13 min	48%
Thu Dec 31	16 h 38 min	12 h 36 min	11 h 7 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 Östersund in December?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Östersund have civil darkness, and 70% of past December days reached Kp 2.
How dark is Östersund in December?: Östersund averages 16.6 hours of civil night a night in December 2026, from 16 h 14 min on the 1st to 16 h 38 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Östersund in December?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Östersund's 1 degree cell 75% mean cloud in December, against 74% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in December 2026 for aurora in Östersund?: By darkness and moon alone, Dec 3, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Östersund. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is December or January better in Östersund?: By civil night times the clear share, December scores 4.2 hours at Östersund and January 3.3. December 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.