Friday 30 October in Paltamo, 00:00
Northern lights in Paltamo
In Paltamo the aurora can show from about Kp 5. Tonight's forecast is Kp 5.0, and right now it is 0.7. Tonight there are 12 hours of proper darkness. It looks overcast all night (88 % cloud cover even in the clearest hours), so the chance is low.
Paltamo and the northern lights
Paltamo is a municipality in Kainuu, Finland, with 3,037 inhabitants. The municipal centre lies at 64.4° N. What counts for the aurora is the magnetic latitude, 61.4° here. Here the aurora can show from about Kp 5, against Kp 7 in Helsinki. Activity was that high in 2% of the hours in 2014–2025.
It gets dark enough for the aurora every night except from 26 April to 15 August, with up to 15 hours of proper darkness a day in midwinter. Counting the darkness, that makes about 53 hours in a typical year with both darkness and enough activity, most of them in September. The clouds decide how many of them bring an aurora.
Tonight in Paltamo, hour by hour
When it is dark enough, how cloudy it is, and the chance each hour from the Kp forecast and the cloud cover. Hours already gone have no forecast.
- 18:00100 %
- 19:0097 %
- 20:0099 %
- 21:00100 %
- 22:00100 %
- 23:0099 %
- 00:0093 %
- 01:0087 %
- 02:0088 %
- 03:0099 %
- 04:00100 %
- 05:00100 %
The next seven nights in Paltamo
Darkness, cloud and the chance for each night. The Kp forecast reaches three nights; the dashed nights after rest on NOAA’s long-range outlook and are only a pointer.
- tonightLow12 hours darkOvercast all night88 % cloud coverKp max 5.0
- tomorrowLow12 hours darkOvercast all night100 % cloud coverKp max 4.5
- the day after tomorrowLow12 hours darkOvercast all night100 % cloud coverKp about 3.5Rough guess from NOAA’s long-range outlook
- MondayLow12 hours darkOvercast all night100 % cloud coverKp about 2.5Rough guess from NOAA’s long-range outlook
- TuesdayLow12 hours darkBest 19:00–21:0061 % cloud coverKp about 2.0Rough guess from NOAA’s long-range outlook
- WednesdayLow12 hours darkBest 01:00–03:0017 % cloud coverKp about 2.5Rough guess from NOAA’s long-range outlook
- ThursdayLow12 hours darkBest 19:00–21:0017 % cloud coverKp about 3.0Rough guess from NOAA’s long-range outlook
Plan a trip to Paltamo
The next four weeks, night by night: activity, darkness and moon
- 30 Oct–1 NovWeak · Kp ≈ 5.0 · moon 62 %
- 16 Nov–18 NovWeak · Kp ≈ 4.0 · moon 55 %
The aurora forecast for Paltamo on your website
- Tonight's aurora chance in Paltamo, with the best hours
- Updates itself every hour
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When can you see the northern lights in Paltamo?
The aurora needs both darkness and enough activity on the sun. Each column is a day: dark blue is the hours that are dark enough, green those of them when activity has been high enough here, on average 2014–2025.
Here it takes Kp 5 or more, which is rare: on average only a few minutes a night. The best chance is in September, November and October. Activity peaks around the March and September equinoxes, the nights are longest in midwinter.
- 0.1 hJan
- 0.2 hFeb
- 0.2 hMar
- 0.1 hApr
- 0 hMay
- 0 hJun
- 0 hJul
- 0 hAug
- 0.3 hSep
- 0.3 hOct
- 0.3 hNov
- 0.2 hDec
Clouds are left out: on average cloud cover varies little from month to month, while it decides each single night. See the forecast above.
Questions about the northern lights in Paltamo
Can I see the northern lights in Paltamo today?
In Paltamo the aurora can show from about Kp 5. Tonight's forecast is Kp 5.0, and right now it is 0.7. Tonight there are 12 hours of proper darkness. It looks overcast all night (88 % cloud cover even in the clearest hours), so the chance is low.
When is the northern lights season in Paltamo?
In Paltamo it gets dark enough for the aurora every night except from 26 April to 15 August, with up to 15 hours of proper darkness a day in midwinter. The best months are September, November and October, going by darkness and activity in 2014–2025.
What Kp do you need to see the northern lights in Paltamo?
In Paltamo the aurora can show from about Kp 5, against Kp 7 in Helsinki. Activity was that high in 2% of the hours in 2014–2025. Counting the darkness, that makes about 53 hours in a typical year with both darkness and enough activity, most of them in September. The clouds decide how many of them bring an aurora.
When is it darkest in Paltamo?
It is darkest in December, with 15 hours on average per day. The whole year by month: Jan 14 h, Feb 12 h, Mar 9 h, Apr 4 h, May 0 h, Jun 0 h, Jul 0 h, Aug 0 h, Sep 8 h, Oct 10 h, Nov 14 h, Dec 15 h.