Photo: Vincent Guth / Unsplash
Thursday 29 October in Porsanger, 15:30
Northern lights in Porsanger
In Porsanger the aurora can show from about Kp 2. Tonight's forecast is Kp 2.3, and right now it is 0.3. Tonight there are 11 hours of proper darkness. It looks best from 22:00 to 00:00, with 18 % cloud cover, so the chance is low. The best of the next seven nights looks like tomorrow.
Porsanger and the northern lights
Porsanger is a municipality in Finnmark, Norway, with 3,906 inhabitants. It is also officially called Porsáŋgu and Porsanki. The municipal centre lies at 70.1° N, 18 metres above sea level. What counts for the aurora is the magnetic latitude, 67.0° here: under the auroral oval. Here the aurora can show from about Kp 2, against Kp 6 in Oslo. Activity was that high in 43% of the hours in 2014–2025.
It gets dark enough for the aurora from 2 September to 9 April, with up to 16 hours of proper darkness a day in midwinter. The polar night, when the sun does not rise, lasts from 25 November to 16 January. Counting the darkness, that makes about 1,080 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 Porsanger, 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–
- 20:0037 %
- 21:0037 %
- 22:0019 %
- 23:0016 %
- 00:0036 %
- 01:0045 %
- 02:0056 %
- 03:0091 %
- 04:0096 %
- 05:0093 %
The next seven nights in Porsanger
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.
- tonightLow11 hours darkBest 22:00–00:0018 % cloud coverKp max 2.3
- tomorrowModerate11 hours darkBest 22:00–00:0051 % cloud coverKp max 5.0
- the day after tomorrowLow11 hours darkOvercast all night91 % cloud coverKp max 4.5
- SundayHigh11 hours darkBest 01:00–03:0028 % cloud coverKp about 3.5Rough guess from NOAA’s long-range outlook
- MondayLow11 hours darkOvercast all night92 % cloud coverKp about 2.5Rough guess from NOAA’s long-range outlook
- TuesdayLow12 hours darkBest 18:00–20:0068 % cloud coverKp about 2.0Rough guess from NOAA’s long-range outlook
- WednesdayLow12 hours darkOvercast all night84 % cloud coverKp about 2.5Rough guess from NOAA’s long-range outlook
Plan a trip to Porsanger
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 Porsanger on your website
- Tonight's aurora chance in Porsanger, with the best hours
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When can you see the northern lights in Porsanger?
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, November and January. Activity peaks around the March and September equinoxes, the nights are longest in midwinter.
- 5.8 hJan
- 5.5 hFeb
- 3.3 hMar
- 0 hApr
- 0 hMay
- 0 hJun
- 0 hJul
- 0 hAug
- 3.2 hSep
- 4.7 hOct
- 6.1 hNov
- 7.0 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 Porsanger
Can I see the northern lights in Porsanger today?
In Porsanger the aurora can show from about Kp 2. Tonight's forecast is Kp 2.3, and right now it is 0.3. Tonight there are 11 hours of proper darkness. It looks best from 22:00 to 00:00, with 18 % cloud cover, so the chance is low. The best of the next seven nights looks like tomorrow.
When is the northern lights season in Porsanger?
In Porsanger it gets dark enough for the aurora from 2 September to 9 April, with up to 16 hours of proper darkness a day in midwinter. The polar night, when the sun does not rise, lasts from 25 November to 16 January. The best months are December, November and January, going by darkness and activity in 2014–2025.
What Kp do you need to see the northern lights in Porsanger?
In Porsanger the aurora can show from about Kp 2, against Kp 6 in Oslo. Activity was that high in 43% of the hours in 2014–2025. Counting the darkness, that makes about 1,080 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 Porsanger?
It is darkest in December, with 16 hours on average per day. The whole year by month: Jan 15 h, Feb 12 h, Mar 7 h, Apr 0 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.