Photo: Jonatan Pie / Unsplash
Thursday 29 October in Vadsø, 15:11
Northern lights in Vadsø
In Vadsø 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 02:00 to 04:00, with 29 % cloud cover, so the chance is low. The best of the next seven nights looks like tomorrow.
Vadsø and the northern lights
Vadsø is a municipality in Finnmark, Norway, with 5,808 inhabitants. The municipal centre lies at 70.1° N, 6 metres above sea level. What counts for the aurora is the magnetic latitude, 66.4° 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 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 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 Vadsø, 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–
- 20:0096 %
- 21:0096 %
- 22:0098 %
- 23:0093 %
- 00:0076 %
- 01:0040 %
- 02:0022 %
- 03:0035 %
- 04:0047 %
- 05:0018 %
The next seven nights in Vadsø
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 02:00–04:0029 % cloud coverKp max 2.3
- tomorrowHigh11 hours darkBest 00:00–02:0027 % cloud coverKp max 5.0
- the day after tomorrowLow11 hours darkOvercast all night82 % cloud coverKp max 4.5
- SundayModerate11 hours darkBest 01:00–03:0028 % cloud coverKp about 3.5Rough guess from NOAA’s long-range outlook
- MondayLow11 hours darkOvercast all night91 % 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 darkOvercast all night94 % cloud coverKp about 2.5Rough guess from NOAA’s long-range outlook
Plan a trip to Vadsø
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 Vadsø on your website
- Tonight's aurora chance in Vadsø, 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 Vadsø?
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 Vadsø
Can I see the northern lights in Vadsø today?
In Vadsø 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 02:00 to 04:00, with 29 % cloud cover, so the chance is low. The best of the next seven nights looks like tomorrow.
When is the northern lights season in Vadsø?
In Vadsø 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 February, going by darkness and activity in 2014–2025.
What Kp do you need to see the northern lights in Vadsø?
In Vadsø 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 Vadsø?
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.