Troms, Norway
Northern lights in Tromsø
Answer
Tonight
Waiting on darkness
It is not civil-dark yet. The next dusk is listed below.
Observed 10:58 UTC, forecast 12:30 UTC, 92 min lead
Clock times in Europe/Oslo
Storm level needed
Tromsø sits at 69.65N 18.96E in Troms, Norway. The IGRF-14 centered dipole puts Tromsø at 67.5 degrees geomagnetic latitude, 2.2 degrees farther from the magnetic pole than its map latitude suggests. Tromsø sits at 67.5 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 0.
"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 Harstad (134 km), Alta (169 km), Kiruna (206 km). Harstad sits 0.4 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 27 to August 14 the sun never reaches -6 degrees, so 110 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 18 across New Year, 239 days in 2026. Tromsø's longest night of the year, Dec 19, has 19 h 17 min of civil night.
Solar midnight at Tromsø, when the sun is lowest, falls at 23:39 on local clocks on December 15 and 00:44 on June 15. That is 21 min before midnight in December and 44 min after midnight in June, the gap set by daylight saving and the equation of time. So at Tromsø 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 | 17.8 h | 12.4 h | 83% | 3.0 hbest | |
| Feb | 14.0 h | 9.3 h | 83% | 2.4 h | |
| Mar | 10.2 h | 4.6 h | 85% | 1.5 h | |
| Apr | 4.8 h | 0.0 h | 81% | 0.9 h | |
| May | 0.0 h | 0.0 h | 80% | 0.0 h | |
| Jun | 0.0 h | 0.0 h | 81% | 0.0 h | |
| Jul | 0.0 h | 0.0 h | 79% | 0.0 h | |
| Aug | 0.6 h | 0.0 h | 79% | 0.1 h | |
| Sep | 8.4 h | 0.0 h | 82% | 1.5 h | |
| Oct | 12.7 h | 8.0 h | 83% | 2.2 h | |
| Nov | 16.6 h | 11.6 h | 84% | 2.7 h | |
| Dec | 19.2 h | 13.3 h | 85% | 2.9 h |
By the 15th-of-the-month sample, December is the darkest month at Tromsø with 19.2 hours of civil night and May the lightest at 0.0. Across the year Tromsø gets 3,178 hours of civil night. Astronomical night at Tromsø, 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 Tromsø at 82% across the year, from 79% in July to 85% in March. In the months with at least 4 hours of civil night Tromsø averages 83%, against a median of 77% for Glow towns in Norway.
Multiplying civil night by the clear share of the sky gives January the best score, 3.0 hours, ahead of December at 2.9. Tromsø's equinox months score 1.5 in March and 1.5 in September, the weeks SWPC links with larger storms.
Kp history
Quiet levels are enough at Tromsø: a 3-hour Kp of 0 or more occurred on 100% 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/Oslo dates. 15 of the 30 nights at Tromsø have at least 2 moon-free dark hours inside 10 PM to 2 AM, and Oct 7 has the most at 4 h. Tonight Tromsø has 10 h 54 min of civil night, 0 min of it with the moon down.
- 2
57% lit
0.0 h
- 3
46% lit
0.0 h
- 4
35% lit
0.0 h
- 5
25% lit
3.7 h
- 6
16% lit
6.6 h
- 7
8% lit
8.9 h
- 8
3% lit
11.0 h
- 9
1% lit
11.9 h
- 10
0% lit
12.0 h
- 11
2% lit
12.1 h
- 12
5% lit
12.3 h
- 13
11% lit
12.4 h
- 14
17% lit
12.5 h
- 15
25% lit
12.7 h
- 16
34% lit
12.8 h
- 17
43% lit
12.9 h
- 18
52% lit
13.1 h
- 19
62% lit
13.2 h
- 20
71% lit
7.9 h
- 21
80% lit
5.8 h
- 22
87% lit
3.9 h
- 23
94% lit
1.9 h
- 24
98% lit
0.0 h
- 25
100% lit
0.0 h
- 26
99% lit
0.0 h
- 27
95% lit
0.0 h
- 28
89% lit
0.0 h
- 29
81% lit
0.0 h
- 30
71% lit
0.0 h
- 31
60% 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 Norway
Among the 2 Glow towns in Troms, Tromsø ranks 1st by dipole latitude against a regional median of 67.3 degrees, the highest of them. Among the 32 Glow towns in Norway, Tromsø ranks 1st by dipole latitude against a national median of 59.9 degrees, the highest of them. On December 15 Tromsø gets 19.2 hours of civil night, 2nd longest of 32 in Norway, where the median is 16.0.
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Tromsø?
- Tromsø sits at 67.5 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 0. Clear, dark sky over Tromsø still decides it.
- When is it dark enough in Tromsø?
- Civil night, the sun at -6 degrees or lower, is missing from Apr 27 to Aug 14. Tonight has 10 h 54 min of it.
- What is the best month for aurora in Tromsø?
- January, by civil night at Tromsø times the clear share of the sky from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 average.
- How cloudy is Tromsø in the dark months?
- About 83% mean cloud amount over Tromsø 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 Tromsø?
- Almost always: the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 0. Storm days, Kp 5 or more, made up 10% of days from 1996 to 2025 in the GFZ record.
- Is a Tromsø December noon dark enough?
- No. The sun does not rise near the winter solstice, but at noon it stays above -6 degrees, which is civil twilight. Glow counts darkness from -6 degrees down.
- Why is there no live cloud forecast for Tromsø?
- NWS skyCover covers the United States only. Tromsø is in Norway, so the page shows NASA POWER's long-term monthly average instead of a forecast.
Nearby and related
Nearest Glow towns
Tromsø by month
Region and comparisons