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Northern lights in Tromsø

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

Kp index now

1.67Quiet

NOAA estimate at 23:31 UTC

Aurora chance in Tromsø

8%

NOAA OVATION for 00:23 UTC

Cloud cover

89%Mostly cloudy

MET Norway, around 01:34 local time

Sky

Dark enough

Sun at -28° over Tromsø

Tromsø is inside the oval even at Kp 0.

Next 36 hours in Tromsø

  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 Tromsø.

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 Tromsø
  • 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.

Tromsø in numbers

Country
Norway
Latitude
69.7° N
Geomagnetic latitude (approx.)
67.5° N
Oval reaches the place from
Kp 0
Arctic Circle
344 km north of it
Time zone
Europe/Oslo
OVATION chance now
8%

Hours of darkness through the year

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

Hours of darkness through the year
Month Dark hours
January 15.2
February 12.1
March 8.2
April None
May None
June None
July None
August None
September 5.5
October 10.3
November 14.0
December 16.1

Tromsø is the city of northern Norway: a city on the island of Tromsøya, linked to the mainland by the Tromsø Bridge and a tunnel. At almost 70 degrees north it is the most northerly of the six places on Aurorix. Its northern lights observatory was founded in 1927.

The city is lit, but the landscape around it is steep and close. Within a short drive there are fjords, islands and mountain lakes where the street lights vanish behind a ridge. That makes Tromsø the easiest place on this list to combine an aurora night with dinner and a hotel bed.

Where to watch

  • Kvaløya, the island west of the city, is connected by the Sandnessund Bridge and has open coastline with little artificial light once you are past the suburb of Kvaløysletta.
  • Tromsdalen, on the mainland side across the sound, is a short trip from the centre and gives views toward the north and east.
  • The Fjellheisen cable car lifts you above the city on the mainland side. The view takes in the whole island, so you can judge where the lit areas end.
  • Inside the city, the Arctic Cathedral on the mainland shore, built in 1965, is a landmark but sits in lit streets. It works better as a reference point than as a viewing site.

Getting there and getting around

Tromsø has an airport with scheduled flights from Oslo and other Norwegian cities, and a Hurtigruten coastal ferry stop. The airport is on Tromsøya, so the transfer is short. Many guided aurora tours leave from the city centre in the early evening and drive toward the Finnish or Swedish border when the coastal forecast is poor.

Midnight sun and polar night

The midnight sun is above the horizon from 19 May to 27 July. Polar night, when the sun does not rise at all, runs from 28 November to 14 January. In polar night there are still blue twilight hours around midday; the dark hours that matter for aurora are the rest of the day.

Local conditions

The coastal climate brings cloud and wind more often than the interior. That is the main reason the hourly strip can show many hours as "dark but cloudy" even when Kp is high. Look at the cloud forecast for neighbouring areas on the weather service of your choice before you commit to a long drive, and set a time to turn back.

Sources

Other destinations

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