Photo: Niklas Jonasson / Unsplash
Thursday 29 October in Sør-Varanger, 15:13
Northern lights in Sør-Varanger
In Sør-Varanger the aurora can show from about Kp 2.5. 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 03:00 to 05:00, with 27 % cloud cover, so the chance is low. The best of the next seven nights looks like tomorrow.
Sør-Varanger and the northern lights
Sør-Varanger is a municipality in Finnmark, Norway, with 9,947 inhabitants. The municipal centre lies at 69.7° N, 9 metres above sea level. What counts for the aurora is the magnetic latitude, 66.0° here: under the auroral oval. Here the aurora can show from about Kp 2.5, against Kp 6 in Oslo. Activity was that high in 26% of the hours in 2014–2025.
It gets dark enough for the aurora from 1 September to 10 April, with up to 16 hours of proper darkness a day in midwinter. The polar night, when the sun does not rise, lasts from 27 November to 14 January. Counting the darkness, that makes about 680 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 Sør-Varanger, 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–
- 20:00–
- 21:0098 %
- 22:0098 %
- 23:0098 %
- 00:0098 %
- 01:0093 %
- 02:0067 %
- 03:0036 %
- 04:0018 %
- 05:0032 %
The next seven nights in Sør-Varanger
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 03:00–05:0027 % cloud coverKp max 2.3
- tomorrowModerate11 hours darkBest 22:00–00:0037 % cloud coverKp max 5.0
- the day after tomorrowLow11 hours darkBest 21:00–23:0068 % cloud coverKp max 4.5
- SundayHigh11 hours darkBest 01:00–03:003 % cloud coverKp about 3.5Rough guess from NOAA’s long-range outlook
- MondayLow11 hours darkOvercast all night90 % cloud coverKp about 2.5Rough guess from NOAA’s long-range outlook
- TuesdayLow11 hours darkBest 18:00–20:0031 % cloud coverKp about 2.0Rough guess from NOAA’s long-range outlook
- WednesdayLow11 hours darkBest 00:00–02:0066 % cloud coverKp about 2.5Rough guess from NOAA’s long-range outlook
Plan a trip to Sør-Varanger
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 Sør-Varanger on your website
- Tonight's aurora chance in Sør-Varanger, with the best hours
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When can you see the northern lights in Sør-Varanger?
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 February. Activity peaks around the March and September equinoxes, the nights are longest in midwinter.
- 3.2 hJan
- 3.5 hFeb
- 2.4 hMar
- 0 hApr
- 0 hMay
- 0 hJun
- 0 hJul
- 0 hAug
- 2.1 hSep
- 3.1 hOct
- 4.0 hNov
- 4.3 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 Sør-Varanger
Can I see the northern lights in Sør-Varanger today?
In Sør-Varanger the aurora can show from about Kp 2.5. 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 03:00 to 05:00, with 27 % cloud cover, so the chance is low. The best of the next seven nights looks like tomorrow.
When is the northern lights season in Sør-Varanger?
In Sør-Varanger it gets dark enough for the aurora from 1 September to 10 April, with up to 16 hours of proper darkness a day in midwinter. The polar night, when the sun does not rise, lasts from 27 November to 14 January. The best months are December, November and February, going by darkness and activity in 2014–2025.
What Kp do you need to see the northern lights in Sør-Varanger?
In Sør-Varanger the aurora can show from about Kp 2.5, against Kp 6 in Oslo. Activity was that high in 26% of the hours in 2014–2025. Counting the darkness, that makes about 680 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 Sør-Varanger?
It is darkest in December, with 16 hours on average per day. The whole year by month: Jan 15 h, Feb 12 h, Mar 8 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.