Can you see the northern lights in Vänersborg in September?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Vänersborg have civil darkness, and 14% of past September days reached Kp 5.

How dark is Vänersborg in September?

Vänersborg averages 9.7 hours of civil night a night in September 2027, from 8 h 27 min on the 1st to 11 h on the last night.

How cloudy is Vänersborg in September?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Vänersborg's 1 degree cell 72% mean cloud in September, against 76% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in September 2027 for aurora in Vänersborg?

By darkness and moon alone, Sep 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Vänersborg. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.

Is September or October better in Vänersborg?

By civil night times the clear share, September scores 2.7 hours at Vänersborg and October 3.0. October comes out ahead.

Vänersborg · September 2027

Northern lights in Vänersborg in September 2027

Answer

September gives Vänersborg 9.7 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 7th darkest of its 12 months, under 72% mean cloud. 14% of September days since 1996 reached Kp 5, enough for the oval edge to reach Vänersborg.

9.7 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 58.38, 12.32; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

September against the rest of the year

2.4

2.1

2.7

2.3

1.5

0.9

1.2

2.0

2.7

3.0

2.8

2.5

September cloud at Vänersborg averages 72% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 4 points clearer than its yearly mean. June is Vänersborg's clearest month at 69%. By civil night times clear sky, September scores 2.7 hours at Vänersborg, 3rd of 12. Gothenburg, 78 km away, averages 69%, clearer by 3 points.

Civil night at Vänersborg starts September at 8 h 27 min and reaches 11 h by September 30 as the nights lengthen by 2.5 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 6.3 hours on the 15th.

September night by night

Full moon comes first, on Sep 16, then the new moon on Sep 30, in Europe/Stockholm dates. Vänersborg gets 149 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: Sep 1 (4 h), Sep 2 (4 h), Sep 3 (4 h).

1
2% lit
8.4 h
2
7% lit
8.5 h
3
14% lit
8.6 h
4
22% lit
8.7 h
5
32% lit
8.8 h
6
42% lit
8.9 h
7
52% lit
8.5 h
8
61% lit
7.7 h
9
70% lit
6.5 h
10
79% lit
5.2 h
11
86% lit
3.9 h
12
92% lit
2.5 h
13
96% lit
1.2 h
14
99% lit
0.0 h
15
100% lit
0.0 h
16
99% lit
0.0 h
Full
17
96% lit
0.0 h
18
91% lit
0.0 h
19
85% lit
0.0 h
20
76% lit
0.0 h
21
67% lit
0.1 h
22
56% lit
0.9 h
23
45% lit
2.2 h
24
33% lit
3.8 h
25
23% lit
5.5 h
26
14% lit
7.3 h
27
7% lit
9.0 h
28
2% lit
10.7 h
29
0% lit
10.9 h
30
1% lit
11.0 h
New

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 Septembers

Vänersborg needs Kp 5 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 126 of the 900 September days from 1996 to 2025 (14%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, one of the three most active months for that level; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 14%. Vänersborg sits at 58.0 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.

September across Sweden

Vänersborg ranks 5th in Sweden for civil night on September 15, behind Malmö at 9.9 hours. Coming from August (6.9 hours at Vänersborg), September adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into October (12.3 hours on the 15th). The September equinox falls on September 23, 07:56 Vänersborg time, inside the weeks SWPC links with larger storms.

Civil night on September 15 and September cloud, month-page towns in Sweden
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Malmö	9.9 h	65%
Helsingborg	9.9 h	71%
Gothenburg	9.8 h	69%
Jönköping	9.8 h	68%
Vänersborg	9.7 h	72%
Stockholm	9.7 h	72%
Linköping	9.7 h	69%
Örebro	9.7 h	72%
Sollentuna	9.7 h	73%
Uppsala	9.6 h	73%
Västerås	9.6 h	73%
Hudiksvall	9.5 h	67%

Darkness and moon, every night

Vänersborg, September 2027: each night from local noon to the next noon
Night	Civil	Astronomical	Moon-free dark	Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM	Moon lit
Wed Sep 1	8 h 27 min	4 h 22 min	8 h 27 min	4 h	2%
Thu Sep 2	8 h 32 min	4 h 31 min	8 h 32 min	4 h	7%
Fri Sep 3	8 h 38 min	4 h 40 min	8 h 38 min	4 h	14%
Sat Sep 4	8 h 43 min	4 h 49 min	8 h 43 min	4 h	22%
Sun Sep 5	8 h 49 min	4 h 57 min	8 h 49 min	4 h	32%
Mon Sep 6	8 h 54 min	5 h 5 min	8 h 54 min	4 h	42%
Tue Sep 7	9 h	5 h 14 min	8 h 30 min	4 h	52%
Wed Sep 8	9 h 5 min	5 h 22 min	7 h 41 min	3 h 59 min	61%
Thu Sep 9	9 h 10 min	5 h 29 min	6 h 32 min	2 h 49 min	70%
Fri Sep 10	9 h 16 min	5 h 37 min	5 h 14 min	1 h 28 min	79%
Sat Sep 11	9 h 21 min	5 h 45 min	3 h 53 min	4 min	86%
Sun Sep 12	9 h 26 min	5 h 52 min	2 h 32 min	0 min	92%
Mon Sep 13	9 h 32 min	5 h 59 min	1 h 14 min	0 min	96%
Tue Sep 14	9 h 37 min	6 h 7 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Wed Sep 15	9 h 42 min	6 h 14 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Thu Sep 16	9 h 48 min	6 h 21 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Fri Sep 17	9 h 53 min	6 h 27 min	0 min	0 min	96%
Sat Sep 18	9 h 58 min	6 h 34 min	0 min	0 min	91%
Sun Sep 19	10 h 3 min	6 h 41 min	0 min	0 min	85%
Mon Sep 20	10 h 8 min	6 h 47 min	0 min	0 min	76%
Tue Sep 21	10 h 14 min	6 h 54 min	7 min	0 min	67%
Wed Sep 22	10 h 19 min	7 h	55 min	0 min	56%
Thu Sep 23	10 h 24 min	7 h 7 min	2 h 10 min	1 min	45%
Fri Sep 24	10 h 29 min	7 h 13 min	3 h 45 min	1 h 34 min	33%
Sat Sep 25	10 h 34 min	7 h 19 min	5 h 30 min	3 h 15 min	23%
Sun Sep 26	10 h 39 min	7 h 25 min	7 h 15 min	4 h	14%
Mon Sep 27	10 h 45 min	7 h 31 min	8 h 58 min	4 h	7%
Tue Sep 28	10 h 50 min	7 h 37 min	10 h 39 min	4 h	2%
Wed Sep 29	10 h 55 min	7 h 43 min	10 h 55 min	4 h	0%
Thu Sep 30	11 h	7 h 49 min	11 h	4 h	1%

Moon lit: SunCalc illuminated fraction at the middle of the 10 PM to 2 AM window.

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Vänersborg in September?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Vänersborg have civil darkness, and 14% of past September days reached Kp 5.
How dark is Vänersborg in September?: Vänersborg averages 9.7 hours of civil night a night in September 2027, from 8 h 27 min on the 1st to 11 h on the last night.
How cloudy is Vänersborg in September?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Vänersborg's 1 degree cell 72% mean cloud in September, against 76% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in September 2027 for aurora in Vänersborg?: By darkness and moon alone, Sep 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Vänersborg. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is September or October better in Vänersborg?: By civil night times the clear share, September scores 2.7 hours at Vänersborg and October 3.0. October 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.