Photo: Niklas Jonasson / Unsplash
Thursday 29 October in Gällivare, 16:12
Northern lights in Gällivare
In Gällivare the aurora can show from about Kp 3. Tonight's forecast is Kp 2.3, and right now it is 0.3. Tonight there are 11 hours of proper darkness. It looks overcast all night (100 % cloud cover even in the clearest hours), so the chance is low. The best of the next seven nights looks like tomorrow.
Gällivare and the northern lights
Gällivare is a municipality in Norrbottens län, Sweden, with 17,120 inhabitants. The municipal centre lies at 67.1° N. What counts for the aurora is the magnetic latitude, 65.0° here: under the auroral oval. Here the aurora can show from about Kp 3, against Kp 6.5 in Stockholm. Activity was that high in 20% of the hours in 2014–2025.
It gets dark enough for the aurora from 24 August to 17 April, with up to 16 hours of proper darkness a day in midwinter. Counting the darkness, that makes about 540 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 Gällivare, 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–
- 21:00100 %
- 22:00100 %
- 23:00100 %
- 00:00100 %
- 01:0099 %
- 02:00100 %
- 03:00100 %
- 04:0099 %
- 05:0096 %
The next seven nights in Gällivare
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 darkOvercast all night100 % cloud coverKp max 2.3
- tomorrowHigh12 hours darkBest 01:00–03:0021 % cloud coverKp max 5.0
- the day after tomorrowLow12 hours darkOvercast all night95 % cloud coverKp max 4.5
- SundayHigh12 hours darkBest 18:00–20:009 % cloud coverKp about 3.5Rough guess from NOAA’s long-range outlook
- MondayLow12 hours darkBest 00:00–02:0048 % cloud coverKp about 2.5Rough guess from NOAA’s long-range outlook
- TuesdayLow12 hours darkBest 18:00–20:0051 % cloud coverKp about 2.0Rough guess from NOAA’s long-range outlook
- WednesdayLow12 hours darkBest 00:00–02:0046 % cloud coverKp about 2.5Rough guess from NOAA’s long-range outlook
Plan a trip to Gällivare
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 Gällivare on your website
- Tonight's aurora chance in Gällivare, 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 Gällivare?
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 February. Activity peaks around the March and September equinoxes, the nights are longest in midwinter.
- 2.3 hJan
- 2.7 hFeb
- 1.9 hMar
- 0.4 hApr
- 0 hMay
- 0 hJun
- 0 hJul
- 0 hAug
- 1.9 hSep
- 2.7 hOct
- 3.0 hNov
- 3.0 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 Gällivare
Can I see the northern lights in Gällivare today?
In Gällivare the aurora can show from about Kp 3. Tonight's forecast is Kp 2.3, and right now it is 0.3. Tonight there are 11 hours of proper darkness. It looks overcast all night (100 % cloud cover even in the clearest hours), so the chance is low. The best of the next seven nights looks like tomorrow.
When is the northern lights season in Gällivare?
In Gällivare it gets dark enough for the aurora from 24 August to 17 April, with up to 16 hours of proper darkness a day in midwinter. The best months are November, December and February, going by darkness and activity in 2014–2025.
What Kp do you need to see the northern lights in Gällivare?
In Gällivare the aurora can show from about Kp 3, against Kp 6.5 in Stockholm. Activity was that high in 20% of the hours in 2014–2025. Counting the darkness, that makes about 540 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 Gällivare?
It is darkest in January, with 15 hours on average per day. The whole year by month: Jan 15 h, Feb 12 h, Mar 8 h, Apr 2 h, May 0 h, Jun 0 h, Jul 0 h, Aug 0 h, Sep 7 h, Oct 11 h, Nov 14 h, Dec 15 h.