YozoraAtlas

Where can you see the northern lights in Norway?

All 69 places on Yozora Atlas in Norway see the northern lights on their northern horizon in a storm of Kp 7 or less. 28 lie under the aurora’s usual ring, Reisa National Park among them, where it shows on almost any clear, dark night. At the southern edge, in Oslo, it takes an active night (Kp 4), about 95 nights a year. Those are nights with enough activity, not sightings: clouds and the moon hide many of them.

Kp 0 to 2Kp 3Kp 4Kp level that brings the aurora to the northern horizon
Night-lights map of Norway with every place colored by the storm strength it needs to see the northern lights
  • Kp 0 to 2under the ring28 placesalmost every night
  • Kp 3an unsettled night19 places~185 nights a year
  • Kp 4an active night22 places~95 nights a year

Which parts of Norway see the northern lights most often?

Each county with the Kp range of its places, the nights a year its best place reaches that level, and the darkest place to watch from.

State or regionPlacesKp neededNights a yearDarkest place to watch from
Finnmark4Kp 0 to 1365 nightsVarangerhalvøya National ParkBortle 4, Kp 0
Nordland8Kp 0 to 1365 nightsMøysalen National ParkBortle 4, Kp 0
Troms6Kp 0 to 1365 nightsReisa National ParkBortle 3, Kp 0
Møre og Romsdal3Kp 2275 nightsnone at Bortle 4 or darker
Trøndelag8Kp 2 to 3275 nightsBørgefjell National ParkBortle 2, Kp 2
Buskerud2Kp 3 to 4185 nightsHallingskarvet National ParkBortle 3, Kp 3
Innlandet13Kp 3185 nightsFemundsmarka National ParkBortle 3, Kp 3
Vestland4Kp 3185 nightsJostedalsbreen National ParkBortle 3, Kp 3
Agder4Kp 495 nightsnone at Bortle 4 or darker
Akershus3Kp 495 nightsnone at Bortle 4 or darker

The darkest places in Norway to watch the northern lights

The towns in Norway where the northern lights show most often

  1. Reisa National Park Troms · Bortle 3 · Kp 0365 nights
  2. Varangerhalvøya National Park Finnmark · Bortle 4 · Kp 0365 nights
  3. Stabbursdalen National Park Finnmark · Bortle 4 · Kp 0365 nights
  4. Møysalen National Park Nordland · Bortle 4 · Kp 0365 nights
  5. Ånderdalen National Park Troms · Bortle 4 · Kp 0365 nights
  6. Anárjohka National Park Finnmark · Bortle 3 · Kp 1346 nights
  7. Øvre Pasvik National Park Finnmark · Bortle 3 · Kp 1346 nights
  8. Lomsdal-Visten National Park Nordland · Bortle 3 · Kp 1345 nights
  9. Junkerdal National Park Nordland · Bortle 3 · Kp 1345 nights
  10. Øvre Dividal National Park Troms · Bortle 3 · Kp 1345 nights
  1. Harstad Troms · Kp 0365 nights
  2. Tromsø Troms · Kp 0365 nights
  3. Bodø Nordland · Kp 1345 nights
  4. Levanger Trøndelag · Kp 2275 nights
  5. Molde Møre og Romsdal · Kp 2275 nights
  6. Kristiansund Møre og Romsdal · Kp 2275 nights
  7. Ålesund Møre og Romsdal · Kp 2275 nights
  8. Trondheim Trøndelag · Kp 2275 nights
  9. Lillehammer Innlandet · Kp 3185 nights
  10. Hamar Innlandet · Kp 3185 nights

Nights a year since 1932 with the Kp level the place needs, between 9 pm and 3 am. These are nights with enough activity, not sightings: clouds and the moon hide many of them, and away from the far north a display is often a faint glow low in the north that a phone camera shows better than the eye. From inside a town only bright displays show through the glow: each town page names the closest dark spot without the town in its northern sky.

When are the northern lights most likely in Norway?

Averaged over the 69 places, the most nights with a strong enough storm during darkness come in March and October: geomagnetic storms are more frequent around the equinoxes, and the nights are long enough to see them. In June 69 of the 69 places have no night dark enough, the sun staying less than 12° below the horizon. Clouds are not counted here; each place page has its clear nights by month.

17.8Jan17.3Feb19.5Mar14.4Apr1.8May0.0Jun0.2Jul8.8Aug18.5Sep18.6Oct16.9Nov16.9Dec

How the Kp levels and night counts for Norway are worked out

The aurora forms in a ring around the magnetic north pole, and the stronger a geomagnetic storm, the further south it reaches. Storm strength is measured by the Kp index, from 0 (quiet) to 9 (extreme). For each place the Kp level comes from its magnetic latitude, using the rule NOAA uses: the edge of the aurora sits at 66.5° magnetic latitude at Kp 0 and about 2° further south per step. It can be off by one level, and a phone camera often shows a display the eye barely sees. How often that level was reached comes from the Kp record of GFZ Potsdam, 1932 to 2025. None of this is a forecast: for tonight, see NOAA’s 30-minute aurora forecast. How it works