Avannaata, GreenlandMagnetic latitude 77.8°Population 1,129
Northern lights in Upernavik
Upernavik 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-north-west!
Latest measured half-hour activity worldwide: Hp30 2.
Updates every minute while this page is open. Ground data: GFZ Potsdam Hp30 index (CC BY 4.0).
Tonight in one minute
Yes — good chance tonight
- Solar activity Strong enough: Kp 4.7 expected, 0 needed here.
- Sky Mostly clear (4% cloud).
- Darkness Dark from 20:54 to 08:05. A bright moon (71%) washes out faint displays.
What to do: Go somewhere dark around 05:00, give your eyes 15 minutes to adjust and look north-north-west, low over the horizon.
Wednesday 21 October — Good chance · Kp 4.7 · best around 00:30 · Forecast cloud: 4%. · 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 21:48 local time
Excellent chance
Best around 05:00. Forecast max Kp 4.7 (this place needs 0), average cloud 4%.
- Dark enough
- 20:54 – 08:05
- Sunset
- 18:15 · sunrise 10:46
- Moon
- 71% · ↑ 20:18 · ↓ 01:05
- 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-north-west (336°)
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 | Tue, 21 | Wed, 00 | Wed, 03 | Wed, 06 | Wed, 20 | Wed, 23 | Thu, 02 | Thu, 05 | Thu, 08 | Thu, 22 | Fri, 01 | Fri, 04 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Mid cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 13% | 32% | 57% | 76% | 72% | 3% | 0% | 0% |
| High cloud | 6% | 13% | 23% | 27% | 24% | 21% | 11% | 2% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Temperature | -16 °C | -16 °C | -17 °C | -18 °C | -17 °C | -18 °C | -18 °C | -18 °C | -18 °C | -18 °C | -19 °C | -19 °C |
| Feels like | -21 °C | -22 °C | -23 °C | -23 °C | -23 °C | -23 °C | -23 °C | -23 °C | -23 °C | -23 °C | -24 °C | -24 °C |
| Wind | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 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 Upernavik
The aurora only shows through clear skies, so the weather matters as much as the Kp index. Here is the general forecast for Upernavik: temperature, wind and the chance of rain for the coming days.
Planning further ahead? See the hour-by-hour weather forecast for Upernavik on Atlas of Seasons.
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What you would see from Upernavik
Facing north-north-west. Bands show where the aurora sits at two activity levels.
| Kp | What you see | Lower edge | Ray tops | Distance to the aurora |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Overhead, and also to the south-south-east | – | – | – |
| 2 | Overhead, and also to the south-south-east | – | – | – |
| 3 | Overhead, and also to the south-south-east | – | – | – |
| 4 | Overhead, and also to the south-south-east | – | – | – |
| 5 | Overhead, and also to the south-south-east | – | – | – |
| 6 | Overhead, and also to the south-south-east | – | – | – |
| 7 | Overhead, and also to the south-south-east | – | – | – |
| 8 | Overhead, and also to the south-south-east | – | – | – |
| 9 | Overhead, and also to the south-south-east | – | – | – |
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 Upernavik 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
Pristine dark sky. Almost no artificial light: faint aurora and the Milky Way are easy to see.
Estimate from NASA VIIRS night-light data (sky-glow model within 50 km). Check access and private land before you go.
Hills and mountains
Terrain is not modelled for this place.
From elevation data (AWS Terrain Tiles) along seven lines of sight up to 30 km.
Best months to see the aurora in Upernavik
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
March has been the best month (72% of nights), followed by February (68%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 31% | 44% | 2.8 h | 0° / 2°C |
| October | 50% | 50% | 10.1 h | -4° / -2°C |
| November | 54% | 54% | 14.5 h | -9° / -6°C |
| December | 57% | 57% | 16.8 h | -13° / -10°C |
| January | 64% | 64% | 15.6 h | -20° / -15°C |
| February | 68% | 68% | 11.6 h | -22° / -17°C |
| March | 72% | 74% | 6.5 h | -21° / -16°C |
| April | 0% | 61% | – | -15° / -10°C |
Darkness through the year
- No full darkness (Sun 12° below the horizon) from 1 April to 10 September — the sky stays too bright for most auroras.
- Midnight sun from 5 May to 7 August.
- Polar night from 13 November to 28 January: 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 Upernavik since 1995
Nights when Kp reached 4.7 or more while it was dark here.
Most recent strong nights
- 10 October 2026 · Kp 5.7
- 4 October 2026 · Kp 5.0
- 22 March 2026 · Kp 5.0
- 20 March 2026 · Kp 7.0
- 13 March 2026 · Kp 6.0
- 3 March 2026 · Kp 5.0
- 22 February 2026 · Kp 5.3
- 21 February 2026 · Kp 5.3
Practical information
- Nearest airport
- Upernavik Airport (JUV) · 1 km
- Typical low / high in March
- -21° / -16°C
- What to wear
- Extreme cold: insulated boots, down jacket, two layers of wool, face protection, chemical hand warmers. Full clothing guide
- Emergency number
- 112
- Winter driving
- There are no roads connecting towns in Greenland (only within and around settlements, plus a few tracks to sheep farms in South Greenland), so aurora trips are on foot, by tour vehicle, snowmobile or dog sled from town; no national road-conditions service applies.
- Access to land
- There is no privately owned land in Greenland and the backcountry is unrestricted, so you may roam and camp freely as long as you keep away from houses; exceptions are protected areas (e.g. Taseralik in Ilulissat) and Northeast Greenland National Park, which requires a permit from the Greenland Government.
- Weather service
- DMI (Danish Meteorological Institute) – Greenland
Questions and answers
What Kp do you need to see the aurora in Upernavik?
Upernavik 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 Upernavik?
Around Upernavik the aurora is often right overhead. Start by facing north-north-west, but look up and all around — in strong storms it can fill the whole sky and even appear behind you.
What is the best month to see the aurora in Upernavik?
Over 2005–2025, March gave the best odds in Upernavik (72% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by February (68%).
When is the aurora season in Upernavik?
From 1 April to 10 September the sky in Upernavik never gets dark enough. Outside that period the aurora can be seen whenever activity and clouds allow.
Is there much light pollution in Upernavik?
Almost no artificial light: faint aurora and the Milky Way are easy to see.
When was the aurora last possible in Upernavik?
Activity last reached storm level (Kp 5 or more) during darkness in Upernavik on 10 October 2026 (Kp 5.7) — 688 such nights since 1995. Here the aurora also appears on many quieter nights.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Upernavik share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- Aappilattoq 21 km
- Tussaaq 29 km