Lapland, FinlandMagnetic latitude 64.7°Population 8,067191 m above sea level
Northern lights in Sodankylä parish village
Sodankylä parish village sits right under the auroral oval: on clear, dark nights the aurora is often overhead, even when activity is quiet. Clouds matter far more than the Kp number here.
Right now
The aurora may be in view right now — go outside and look north!
Magnetometer at Pello (123 km away): low magnetic activity.
Updates every minute while this page is open. Ground data: FMI MIRACLE R-index (CC BY 4.0).
Tonight in one minute
Maybe — worth a look
- Solar activity Strong enough: Kp 5 expected, 0 needed here.
- Sky Partly cloudy (53% cloud) — look for gaps.
- Darkness Dark from 19:25 to 06:32.
What to do: Go somewhere dark around 23:00, give your eyes 15 minutes to adjust and look north, low over the horizon.
Tuesday 20 October — Good chance · Kp 5 · best around 01:30 · Forecast cloud: 53%. · Reliability: good
Each box is one night: the colour shows the chance, the number the expected Kp. Tap a night for details.
📅 Add these nights to your calendar — it updates itself (.ics)
How far ahead can the northern lights be forecast?
- Minutes to an hour: satellites 1.5 million km away measure the solar wind before it reaches Earth. This is the surest warning — the “Right now” box uses it.
- 1–3 days: when the Sun throws out a cloud of particles, it takes one to three days to arrive. NOAA's 3-hourly forecast covers these nights; the timing can still be off by a few hours.
- 4–27 days: the Sun turns once every 27 days, and regions that disturbed Earth's field last time often do it again. NOAA's 27-day outlook gives this rough trend — new eruptions are not in it yet.
Tonight
Updated 21:30 local time
Excellent chance
Best around 23:00. Forecast max Kp 5.0 (this place needs 0), average cloud 53%.
- Dark enough
- 19:25 – 06:32
- Sunset
- 17:26 · sunrise 08:32
- Moon
- 61% · ↑ 18:15 · ↓ 22:07
- Kp neededKp index: a 0–9 measure of geomagnetic activity. The higher it is, the further from the poles the aurora reaches.
- Kp 0
- Look towards
- north (358°)
Cloud layers and weather
Low cloud blocks the aurora completely. Thin high cloud often still lets a bright aurora shine through, so a sky with only high cloud is worth a look.
| Time | Mon, 21 | Tue, 00 | Tue, 03 | Tue, 06 | Tue, 21 | Wed, 00 | Wed, 03 | Wed, 06 | Wed, 21 | Thu, 00 | Thu, 03 | Thu, 06 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 8% | 14% | 10% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 13% |
| Mid cloud | 17% | 9% | 6% | 2% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 11% | 26% | 42% |
| High cloud | 37% | 46% | 50% | 26% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 4% | 8% | 6% |
| Temperature | 7 °C | 6 °C | 6 °C | 4 °C | 2 °C | 2 °C | 3 °C | 3 °C | 1 °C | 0 °C | 1 °C | 1 °C |
| Feels like | 2 °C | 2 °C | 2 °C | 1 °C | 0 °C | -1 °C | -1 °C | -1 °C | -3 °C | -3 °C | -2 °C | -2 °C |
| Wind | 7 m/s | 6 m/s | 5 m/s | 4 m/s | 2 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s |
Cloud layers and weather: Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0).
Score = activity (NOAA Kp and OVATION) × clear sky (MET Norway) × darkness × moonlight. Methodology
Weather in Sodankylä parish village
The aurora only shows through clear skies, so the weather matters as much as the Kp index. Here is the general forecast for Sodankylä parish village: temperature, wind and the chance of rain for the coming days.
Planning further ahead? See the hour-by-hour weather forecast for Sodankylä parish village on Atlas of Seasons.
Seeing it right now?
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Live webcams near Sodankylä parish village
Check the sky for yourself: public cameras within 300 km. They open on the camera owner's website.
- Sodankylä all-sky camera ↗ Open the live camera (opens in a new tab) All-sky
- Aurora Magic – Luosto fell live ↗ Open the live camera (opens in a new tab) Scenic
- Pyhätunturi north/north-west aurora live ↗ Open the live camera (opens in a new tab) Scenic
- Pyhä – Northern Lights Village aurora cam ↗ Open the live camera (opens in a new tab) Scenic
- Pyhä fell webcams ↗ Open the live camera (opens in a new tab) Scenic
These cameras belong to their owners — we only link to them. Most show little in daylight or under cloud, and some pause in summer.
What you would see from Sodankylä parish village
Facing north. Bands show where the aurora sits at two activity levels.
| Kp | What you see | Lower edge | Ray tops | Distance to the aurora |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Visible to the north | 27° | 44° | 200 km |
| 2 | Overhead and all around | – | – | – |
| 3 | Overhead, and also to the south | – | – | – |
| 4 | Overhead, and also to the south | – | – | – |
| 5 | Overhead, and also to the south | – | – | – |
| 6 | Overhead, and also to the south | – | – | – |
| 7 | Overhead, and also to the south | – | – | – |
| 8 | Overhead, and also to the south | – | – | – |
| 9 | Overhead, and also to the south | – | – | – |
The Kp scale in plain words
Kp is a 0–9 score for how strongly the Earth's magnetic field is being shaken by the solar wind. The higher it goes, the further from the poles the northern lights reach. Kp 0–2 is a quiet night; Kp 5 and above is a geomagnetic storm.
- Kp 0–2 Quiet eye in Sodankylä parish village Only under the auroral oval: northern Norway, Swedish and Finnish Lapland, Iceland, Alaska, northern Canada.
- Kp 3 Unsettled Bright in the Arctic; low on the horizon in central Scandinavia and southern Iceland.
- Kp 4 Active Overhead in the Arctic; low in the north from southern Norway, Sweden, Finland and northern Scotland.
- Kp 5 Minor storm (G1) next 24 h Scotland, southern Scandinavia, the Baltic states, the northern US states and southern Canada.
- Kp 6 Moderate storm (G2) Northern England, Denmark, northern Germany and Poland, the US Midwest — often clearer in photos than to the eye.
- Kp 7 Strong storm (G3) Most of the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Czechia; red glow in photos from France and the northern Alps.
- Kp 8 Severe storm (G4) Central Europe to the eye; red sky in photos from northern Italy, Spain, the Balkans and Turkey's Black Sea coast.
- Kp 9 Extreme storm (G5) Seen across Europe and the US; in photos as far south as the Mediterranean, Turkey and North Africa (May 2024).
Light pollution
Suburban sky. Noticeable sky glow. Bright displays are visible, but driving out of town makes a clear difference.
Estimate from NASA VIIRS night-light data (sky-glow model within 50 km). Check access and private land before you go.
Hills and mountains
The horizon towards the north is open (terrain below 0.7°), so low aurora is not blocked.
From elevation data (AWS Terrain Tiles) along seven lines of sight up to 30 km.
Best months to see the aurora in Sodankylä parish village
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
September has been the best month (38% of nights), followed by March (35%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 38% | 38% | 6.1 h | 5° / 11°C |
| October | 21% | 21% | 10.4 h | -1° / 2°C |
| November | 26% | 26% | 13.8 h | -9° / -4°C |
| December | 20% | 20% | 15.1 h | -13° / -7°C |
| January | 26% | 26% | 14.5 h | -16° / -10°C |
| February | 27% | 27% | 11.5 h | -15° / -9°C |
| March | 35% | 35% | 8.0 h | -12° / -4°C |
| April | 19% | 44% | 1.9 h | -6° / 0°C |
Darkness through the year
- No full darkness (Sun 12° below the horizon) from 16 April to 26 August — the sky stays too bright for most auroras.
- Midnight sun from 30 May to 14 July.
- Polar night from 19 December to 24 December: the sun stays below the horizon, giving the longest viewing windows.
- Next new moon 9 November, next full moon 26 October. The darkest skies are in the week around new moon.
Aurora nights in Sodankylä parish village since 1995
Nights when Kp reached 4.7 or more while it was dark here.
Most recent strong nights
- 10 October 2026 · Kp 7.3
- 4 October 2026 · Kp 5.7
- 3 April 2026 · Kp 5.7
- 2 April 2026 · Kp 5.0
- 22 March 2026 · Kp 6.7
- 20 March 2026 · Kp 7.0
- 13 March 2026 · Kp 6.0
- 3 March 2026 · Kp 5.0
Practical information
- Nearest airport
- Kittilä International Airport (KTT) · 81 km
- Typical low / high in September
- 5° / 11°C
- What to wear
- Cool nights: layers, a windproof jacket, hat and gloves for standing still outside. Full clothing guide
- Emergency number
- 112
- Winter driving
- Winter tyres are mandatory from 1 November to 31 March when weather or road conditions require them. Minimum tread is 3 mm, and since December 2024 non-studded winter tyres need the three-peak mountain snowflake symbol. Studded tyres may be used from 1 November to 31 March or until the Monday after Easter. Fintraffic's Liikennetilanne (Traffic Situation) service shows road conditions and road weather cameras. Road conditions
- Access to land
- Everyman's right (jokamiehenoikeus) lets anyone move about, and camp or stay temporarily, in the countryside regardless of who owns it, without permission. It does not cover yards, cultivated land or other specially designated areas, nor activities that damage nature or disturb others.
- Official space-weather service
- Finnish Meteorological Institute: Auroras and space weather · FMI Auroras Now! (all-sky cameras) · ISES RWC Finland (FMI)
- Weather service
- Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI)
Questions and answers
What Kp do you need to see the aurora in Sodankylä parish village?
Sodankylä parish village sits right under the auroral oval: on clear, dark nights the aurora is often overhead, even when activity is quiet. Clouds matter far more than the Kp number here.
Which way should I look for the aurora in Sodankylä parish village?
Face north (about 358° from true north). At Kp 0 the lower edge of the aurora sits roughly 27° above the horizon; stronger activity lifts it higher and further across the sky.
What is the best month to see the aurora in Sodankylä parish village?
Over 2005–2025, September gave the best odds in Sodankylä parish village (38% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by March (35%).
When is the aurora season in Sodankylä parish village?
From 16 April to 26 August the sky in Sodankylä parish village never gets dark enough. Outside that period the aurora can be seen whenever activity and clouds allow.
Is there much light pollution in Sodankylä parish village?
Noticeable sky glow. Bright displays are visible, but driving out of town makes a clear difference.
When was the aurora last possible in Sodankylä parish village?
Activity last reached storm level (Kp 5 or more) during darkness in Sodankylä parish village on 10 October 2026 (Kp 7.3) — 769 such nights since 1995. Here the aurora also appears on many quieter nights.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Sodankylä parish village share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- Poikkijoki 0 km
- Kaanaanmaa 1 km
- Kiviharju 1 km
- Kylälaakso 1 km
- Rissasenperä 2 km
- Paulaharju 2 km
- Emaus 2 km
- Karjalampi 2 km
- Kirkonkylä 3 km
- Soulusvisa 3 km
- Jääkärikangas 3 km
- Tähtelä 6 km
- Petäjämaa 6 km
- Mänty 6 km
- Känsäsaarenmaa 7 km
- Juntinaapa 7 km
- Nuulanen 9 km
- Kursanmännikkö 9 km
- Sattanen 10 km
- Siurunmaa 11 km
- Salmi 11 km
- Rovala 11 km
- Pekkala 11 km
- Puljunperä 11 km
- Välisuvanto 11 km
- Sipola 12 km
- Sietaniemi 12 km
- Onnela 12 km
- Maijala 12 km
- Kuusiniemi 12 km
- Hirviäkuru 12 km
- Pulju 13 km
- Myllykylänpää 15 km
- Myllykylä 15 km
- Vierelä 16 km
- Vaalajärvi 16 km
- Pumpanen 16 km
- Piekkola 16 km
- Keskikylä 16 km
- Toivolanpää 16 km