Photo: Jonatan Pie / Unsplash
Thursday 29 October in Sortland, 16:21
Northern lights in Sortland
In Sortland 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 12 hours of proper darkness. It looks best from 01:00 to 03:00, with 41 % cloud cover, so the chance is low.
Sortland and the northern lights
Sortland is a municipality in Nordland, Norway, with 10,748 inhabitants. It is also officially called Suortá. The municipal centre lies at 68.7° N. What counts for the aurora is the magnetic latitude, 67.2° 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 29 August to 12 April, with up to 16 hours of proper darkness a day in midwinter. The polar night, when the sun does not rise, lasts from 4 December to 8 January. Counting the darkness, that makes about 1,110 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 Sortland, 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–
- 20:0091 %
- 21:0091 %
- 22:0088 %
- 23:0096 %
- 00:0083 %
- 01:0032 %
- 02:0050 %
- 03:0065 %
- 04:0095 %
- 05:0088 %
The next seven nights in Sortland
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 darkBest 01:00–03:0041 % cloud coverKp max 2.3
- tomorrowLow12 hours darkOvercast all night97 % cloud coverKp max 5.0
- the day after tomorrowLow12 hours darkOvercast all night81 % cloud coverKp max 4.5
- SundayModerate12 hours darkBest 18:00–20:0061 % cloud coverKp about 3.5Rough guess from NOAA’s long-range outlook
- MondayLow12 hours darkBest 00:00–02:0076 % cloud coverKp about 2.5Rough guess from NOAA’s long-range outlook
- TuesdayLow12 hours darkOvercast all night100 % cloud coverKp about 2.0Rough guess from NOAA’s long-range outlook
- WednesdayLow12 hours darkOvercast all night94 % cloud coverKp about 2.5Rough guess from NOAA’s long-range outlook
Plan a trip to Sortland
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 Sortland on your website
- Tonight's aurora chance in Sortland, 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 Sortland?
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
- 3.7 hMar
- 0 hApr
- 0 hMay
- 0 hJun
- 0 hJul
- 0 hAug
- 3.2 hSep
- 5.2 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 Sortland
Can I see the northern lights in Sortland today?
In Sortland 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 12 hours of proper darkness. It looks best from 01:00 to 03:00, with 41 % cloud cover, so the chance is low.
When is the northern lights season in Sortland?
In Sortland it gets dark enough for the aurora from 29 August to 12 April, with up to 16 hours of proper darkness a day in midwinter. The polar night, when the sun does not rise, lasts from 4 December to 8 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 Sortland?
In Sortland 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 1,110 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 Sortland?
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 11 h, Nov 14 h, Dec 16 h.