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Northern lights in Abisko

Current conditions for Abisko, the latitude maths behind them and where to stand.

Kp index now

1.67Quiet

NOAA estimate at 23:31 UTC

Aurora chance in Abisko

8%

NOAA OVATION for 00:23 UTC

Cloud cover

89%Mostly cloudy

MET Norway, around 01:34 local time

Sky

Dark enough

Sun at -29° over Abisko

Abisko is inside the oval even at Kp 0.

Next 36 hours in Abisko

  1. Sat 17 Oct, 01:00: Dark but cloudy
  2. Sat 17 Oct, 02:00: Dark but cloudy
  3. Sat 17 Oct, 03:00: Dark but cloudy
  4. Sat 17 Oct, 04:00: Dark but cloudy
  5. Sat 17 Oct, 05:00: Dark but cloudy
  6. Sat 17 Oct, 06:00: Too light
  7. Sat 17 Oct, 07:00: Too light
  8. Sat 17 Oct, 08:00: Too light
  9. Sat 17 Oct, 09:00: Too light
  10. Sat 17 Oct, 10:00: Too light
  11. Sat 17 Oct, 11:00: Too light
  12. Sat 17 Oct, 12:00: Too light
  13. Sat 17 Oct, 13:00: Too light
  14. Sat 17 Oct, 14:00: Too light
  15. Sat 17 Oct, 15:00: Too light
  16. Sat 17 Oct, 16:00: Too light
  17. Sat 17 Oct, 17:00: Too light
  18. Sat 17 Oct, 18:00: Too light
  19. Sat 17 Oct, 19:00: Dark but cloudy
  20. Sat 17 Oct, 20:00: Dark but cloudy
  21. Sat 17 Oct, 21:00: Dark but cloudy
  22. Sat 17 Oct, 22:00: Dark but cloudy
  23. Sat 17 Oct, 23:00: Dark but cloudy
  24. Sun 18 Oct, 00:00: Dark but cloudy
  25. Sun 18 Oct, 01:00: Dark but cloudy
  26. Sun 18 Oct, 02:00: Dark but cloudy
  27. Sun 18 Oct, 03:00: Dark but cloudy
  28. Sun 18 Oct, 04:00: Dark but cloudy
  29. Sun 18 Oct, 05:00: Dark but cloudy
  30. Sun 18 Oct, 06:00: Too light
  31. Sun 18 Oct, 07:00: Too light
  32. Sun 18 Oct, 08:00: Too light
  33. Sun 18 Oct, 09:00: Too light
  34. Sun 18 Oct, 10:00: Too light
  35. Sun 18 Oct, 11:00: Too light
  36. Sun 18 Oct, 12:00: Too light
  • Dark, clear, Kp high enough
  • Dark and clear, Kp too low
  • Dark but cloudy
  • Too light
  • No forecast

No hour in this window is dark, clear and active enough.

Hours are local time in Abisko.

Rule of thumb: sun below −12°, cloud cover at or under 40 % and forecast Kp of 0 or more.

Kp: last day and 3-day forecast

035792026-10-15 21:00 UTC · Kp 2.332026-10-16 00:00 UTC · Kp 3.33Fri 162026-10-16 03:00 UTC · Kp 22026-10-16 06:00 UTC · Kp 1.672026-10-16 09:00 UTC · Kp 2.332026-10-16 12:00 UTC · Kp 1.672026-10-16 15:00 UTC · Kp 3.332026-10-16 18:00 UTC · Kp 3.672026-10-16 21:00 UTC · Kp 2.672026-10-17 00:00 UTC · Kp 4Sat 172026-10-17 03:00 UTC · Kp 3.332026-10-17 06:00 UTC · Kp 22026-10-17 09:00 UTC · Kp 1.332026-10-17 12:00 UTC · Kp 1.332026-10-17 15:00 UTC · Kp 1.332026-10-17 18:00 UTC · Kp 22026-10-17 21:00 UTC · Kp 1.672026-10-18 00:00 UTC · Kp 1.67Sun 182026-10-18 03:00 UTC · Kp 1.672026-10-18 06:00 UTC · Kp 1.332026-10-18 09:00 UTC · Kp 1.332026-10-18 12:00 UTC · Kp 1.332026-10-18 15:00 UTC · Kp 1.332026-10-18 18:00 UTC · Kp 1.332026-10-18 21:00 UTC · Kp 1.672026-10-19 00:00 UTC · Kp 1.67Mon 19G1 storm (Kp 5)
  • Observed or estimated
  • NOAA forecast
  • Kp needed in Abisko
  • G1 storm (Kp 5)

Highest forecast Kp in the next 3 days: 4.0

Days in UTC

Data fetched 2026-10-16 23:34 UTC. NOAA SWPC for Kp and OVATION, MET Norway for clouds.

Abisko in numbers

Country
Sweden
Latitude
68.4° N
Geomagnetic latitude (approx.)
66.4° N
Oval reaches the place from
Kp 0
Arctic Circle
199 km north of it
Time zone
Europe/Stockholm
OVATION chance now
8%

Hours of darkness through the year

Hours with the sun below −12° on the 15th of each month, calculated for Abisko. Aurora needs a dark sky; this is the limit before any cloud or Kp.

Hours of darkness through the year
Month Dark hours
January 14.9
February 12.1
March 8.4
April 0.3
May None
June None
July None
August None
September 6.0
October 10.4
November 13.8
December 15.8

Abisko is a village in Swedish Lapland on the south shore of Torneträsk, a lake about 70 km long. It lies close to 200 km north of the Arctic Circle, next to Abisko National Park. There are few lights for kilometres around, which is the main reason aurora watchers come.

Of the six places on Aurorix it is by far the smallest. That means the sky is dark from the doorstep, and it also means few services and nobody to turn the lights off for you. Plan food and transport before dark.

Where to watch

  • The Aurora Sky Station on Mount Nuolja is reached by chairlift from the Abisko Mountain Station and gives a view over Torneträsk from above the valley floor. Check opening times and book ahead, as access depends on the season.
  • The shore of Torneträsk near the village has an open northern horizon over the water and needs no booking.
  • Abisko National Park trails start 4 km west of the village. Walk only on paths you know and carry a headlamp: the hills are steep and the terrain is rough in the dark.
  • Björkliden, a few kilometres west along the road and railway, looks over the lake from a different angle if cloud sits over the village.

Getting there and getting around

Daily SJ electric trains between Stockholm and the Norwegian city of Narvik stop at Abisko. The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Kiruna, about 100 km to the east by road; Narvik is the closest town on the Norwegian side. Without a car you can still reach the Mountain Station and the lakeshore on foot, which is a real advantage over Tromsø or Reykjavik.

Local conditions

Abisko sits behind the Scandinavian Mountains and has a reputation for clearer skies than the Norwegian coast. Treat the reputation as a prior, not a promise: use the cloud tile and the hourly strip to see what the forecast says for the night you are there.

Winter cold is serious and the lake wind makes it worse. Phones and camera batteries lose charge quickly outdoors, so keep spares inside your jacket.

Reading the numbers for Abisko

Abisko is a high-latitude, low-light location, so it needs little geomagnetic activity. The facts table shows the Kp at which the oval reaches the village. Here the usual limit is the sky itself: darkness and cloud decide more nights than Kp does. The darkness table shows dark hours from September to early April on the 15th of each month.

Sources

Other destinations

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