Photo: Jonatan Pie / Unsplash
Thursday 29 October in Longyearbyen, 22:34
Northern lights in Longyearbyen
In Longyearbyen the aurora can show from about Kp 1. 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 (88 % cloud cover even in the clearest hours), so the chance is low.
Polar night: the sun does not rise today
Longyearbyen and the northern lights
Longyearbyen is on Svalbard and has about 2,600 inhabitants. The town lies at 78.2° N, 10 metres above sea level. What counts for the aurora is the magnetic latitude, 75.3° here: north of the auroral oval, so the aurora is often in the southern sky. Here the aurora can show from about Kp 1, against Kp 6 in Oslo. Activity was that high in 72% of the hours in 2014–2025.
It gets dark enough for the aurora from 23 September to 19 March, with up to 22 hours of proper darkness a day in midwinter. The polar night, when the sun does not rise, lasts from 27 October to 14 February. Counting the darkness, that makes about 1,750 hours in a typical year with both darkness and enough activity, most of them in December. The clouds decide how many of them bring an aurora.
Tonight in Longyearbyen, 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.
- 18:00–
- 19:00–
- 20:0043 %
- 21:0043 %
- 22:0084 %
- 23:0092 %
- 00:0098 %
- 01:0099 %
- 02:0096 %
- 03:0099 %
- 04:0098 %
- 05:0088 %
The next seven nights in Longyearbyen
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 2.3
- tomorrowLow12 hours darkOvercast all night92 % cloud coverKp max 5.0
- the day after tomorrowLow12 hours darkOvercast all night87 % cloud coverKp max 4.5
- SundayLow12 hours darkOvercast all night92 % cloud coverKp about 3.5Rough guess from NOAA’s long-range outlook
- MondayLow12 hours darkOvercast all night88 % cloud coverKp about 2.5Rough guess from NOAA’s long-range outlook
- TuesdayLow12 hours darkOvercast all night99 % cloud coverKp about 2.0Rough guess from NOAA’s long-range outlook
- WednesdayLow12 hours darkOvercast all night100 % cloud coverKp about 2.5Rough guess from NOAA’s long-range outlook
Plan a trip to Longyearbyen
The next four weeks, night by night: activity, darkness and moon
- 30 Oct–1 NovGood conditions · Kp ≈ 5.0 · moon 61 %
- 16 Nov–18 NovGood conditions · Kp ≈ 4.0 · moon 56 %
The aurora forecast for Longyearbyen on your website
- Tonight's aurora chance in Longyearbyen, 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 Longyearbyen?
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: December, January and November. Activity peaks around the March and September equinoxes, the nights are longest in midwinter.
- 12.1 hJan
- 8.6 hFeb
- 3.0 hMar
- 0 hApr
- 0 hMay
- 0 hJun
- 0 hJul
- 0 hAug
- 0 hSep
- 7.4 hOct
- 11.1 hNov
- 15.3 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 Longyearbyen
Can I see the northern lights in Longyearbyen today?
In Longyearbyen the aurora can show from about Kp 1. 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 (88 % cloud cover even in the clearest hours), so the chance is low.
When is the northern lights season in Longyearbyen?
In Longyearbyen it gets dark enough for the aurora from 23 September to 19 March, with up to 22 hours of proper darkness a day in midwinter. The polar night, when the sun does not rise, lasts from 27 October to 14 February. The best months are December, January and November, going by darkness and activity in 2014–2025.
What Kp do you need to see the northern lights in Longyearbyen?
In Longyearbyen the aurora can show from about Kp 1, against Kp 6 in Oslo. Activity was that high in 72% of the hours in 2014–2025. Counting the darkness, that makes about 1,750 hours in a typical year with both darkness and enough activity, most of them in December. The clouds decide how many of them bring an aurora.
When is it darkest in Longyearbyen?
It is darkest in December, with 22 hours on average per day. The whole year by month: Jan 18 h, Feb 12 h, Mar 4 h, Apr 0 h, May 0 h, Jun 0 h, Jul 0 h, Aug 0 h, Sep 0 h, Oct 10 h, Nov 16 h, Dec 22 h.