Photo: Federico Di Dio photography / Unsplash
Thursday 29 October in Sodankylä, 16:46
Northern lights in Sodankylä
In Sodankylä the aurora can show from about Kp 3.5. Tonight's forecast is Kp 2.3, and right now it is 0.3. Tonight there are 12 hours of proper darkness. It looks overcast all night (100 % cloud cover even in the clearest hours), so the chance is low.
Sodankylä and the northern lights
Sodankylä is a municipality in Lappi, Finland, with 8,126 inhabitants. The municipal centre lies at 67.4° N. What counts for the aurora is the magnetic latitude, 64.4° here. Here the aurora can show from about Kp 3.5, against Kp 7 in Helsinki. Activity was that high in 10% of the hours in 2014–2025.
It gets dark enough for the aurora from 25 August to 16 April, with up to 16 hours of proper darkness a day in midwinter. The polar night, when the sun does not rise, lasts from 20 December to 23 December. Counting the darkness, that makes about 270 hours in a typical year with both darkness and enough activity, most of them in November. The clouds decide how many of them bring an aurora.
Tonight in Sodankylä, 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 %
- 19:00100 %
- 20:00100 %
- 21:00100 %
- 22:00100 %
- 23:00100 %
- 00:00100 %
- 01:00100 %
- 02:00100 %
- 03:00100 %
- 04:00100 %
- 05:00100 %
The next seven nights in Sodankylä
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 night100 % cloud coverKp max 2.3
- tomorrowLow12 hours darkBest 20:00–22:0056 % cloud coverKp max 5.0
- the day after tomorrowLow12 hours darkOvercast all night100 % cloud coverKp max 4.5
- SundayLow12 hours darkOvercast all night81 % cloud coverKp about 3.5Rough guess from NOAA’s long-range outlook
- MondayLow12 hours darkOvercast all night89 % cloud coverKp about 2.5Rough guess from NOAA’s long-range outlook
- TuesdayLow12 hours darkBest 19:00–21:0018 % cloud coverKp about 2.0Rough guess from NOAA’s long-range outlook
- WednesdayLow12 hours darkBest 01:00–03:0038 % cloud coverKp about 2.5Rough guess from NOAA’s long-range outlook
Plan a trip to Sodankylä
The next four weeks, night by night: activity, darkness and moon
- 30 Oct–1 NovGood conditions · Kp ≈ 5.0 · moon 62 %
- 16 Nov–18 NovPossible · Kp ≈ 4.0 · moon 55 %
The aurora forecast for Sodankylä on your website
- Tonight's aurora chance in Sodankylä, with the best hours
- Updates itself every hour
- Free with no sign-up: you just copy the code
- For cabins, hotels, campsites and tour operators
- In English or Norwegian, for your guests
When can you see the northern lights in Sodankylä?
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.
Best here: November, December and October. Activity peaks around the March and September equinoxes, the nights are longest in midwinter.
- 0.9 hJan
- 1.2 hFeb
- 1.2 hMar
- 0.2 hApr
- 0 hMay
- 0 hJun
- 0 hJul
- 0 hAug
- 1.0 hSep
- 1.4 hOct
- 1.5 hNov
- 1.5 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 Sodankylä
Can I see the northern lights in Sodankylä today?
In Sodankylä the aurora can show from about Kp 3.5. Tonight's forecast is Kp 2.3, and right now it is 0.3. Tonight there are 12 hours of proper darkness. It looks overcast all night (100 % cloud cover even in the clearest hours), so the chance is low.
When is the northern lights season in Sodankylä?
In Sodankylä it gets dark enough for the aurora from 25 August to 16 April, with up to 16 hours of proper darkness a day in midwinter. The polar night, when the sun does not rise, lasts from 20 December to 23 December. The best months are November, December and October, going by darkness and activity in 2014–2025.
What Kp do you need to see the northern lights in Sodankylä?
In Sodankylä the aurora can show from about Kp 3.5, against Kp 7 in Helsinki. Activity was that high in 10% of the hours in 2014–2025. Counting the darkness, that makes about 270 hours in a typical year with both darkness and enough activity, most of them in November. The clouds decide how many of them bring an aurora.
When is it darkest in Sodankylä?
It is darkest in December, with 16 hours on average per day. The whole year by month: Jan 15 h, Feb 11 h, Mar 9 h, Apr 2 h, May 0 h, Jun 0 h, Jul 0 h, Aug 0 h, Sep 6 h, Oct 10 h, Nov 14 h, Dec 16 h.