Kujalleq, GreenlandMagnetic latitude 64.0°Population 3,2240 m above sea level
Northern lights in Qaqortoq
From Qaqortoq the aurora can show up on almost any clear, dark night — low to the north-north-west when activity is quiet, higher and overhead when it picks up. Since 1995 storms of Kp 4.7 or more reached this place during darkness on 869 nights.
Right now
It is still light here. Darkness starts at 20:06.
Updates every minute while this page is open.
Tonight in one minute
Not tonight
- Solar activity Strong enough: Kp 2.7 expected, 0 needed here.
- Sky Overcast (100% cloud).
- Darkness Dark from 20:06 to 07:31. A bright moon (84%) washes out faint displays.
What to do: Not tonight — your next chance is shown just below.
Saturday 24 October — Possible · Kp 2.3 · best around 00:30 · Forecast cloud: 33%. · Reliability: medium
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 09:46 local time
Unlikely
Best around 19:00. Forecast max Kp 2.7 (this place needs 0), average cloud 100%.
- Dark enough
- 20:06 – 07:31
- Sunset
- 18:32 · sunrise 09:05
- Moon
- 84% · ↑ 17:35 · ↓ 05:17
- 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 (342°)
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 | Thu, 20 | Thu, 23 | Fri, 02 | Fri, 05 | Fri, 20 | Fri, 23 | Sat, 02 | Sat, 05 | Sat, 20 | Sat, 23 | Sun, 01 | Sun, 04 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 44% | 32% | 15% | 0% |
| Mid cloud | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 10% | 0% | 48% | 100% | 74% | 46% | 41% | 40% |
| High cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Temperature | -1 °C | -2 °C | -1 °C | -1 °C | -1 °C | -3 °C | -4 °C | -4 °C | -2 °C | -3 °C | -4 °C | -6 °C |
| Feels like | -4 °C | -5 °C | -4 °C | -1 °C | -1 °C | -3 °C | -4 °C | -4 °C | -6 °C | -7 °C | -8 °C | -8 °C |
| Wind | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 1 m/s | 0 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 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 Qaqortoq
The aurora only shows through clear skies, so the weather matters as much as the Kp index. Here is the general forecast for Qaqortoq: temperature, wind and the chance of rain for the coming days.
Planning further ahead? See the hour-by-hour weather forecast for Qaqortoq on Atlas of Seasons.
Seeing it right now?
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Live webcams near Qaqortoq
Check the sky for yourself: public cameras within 300 km. They open on the camera owner's website.
These cameras belong to their owners — we only link to them. Most show little in daylight or under cloud, and some pause in summer.
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What you would see from Qaqortoq
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 | Visible to the north-north-west | 19° | 34° | 278 km |
| 2 | Overhead and all around | – | – | – |
| 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 Qaqortoq Only under the auroral oval: northern Norway, Swedish and Finnish Lapland, Iceland, Alaska, northern Canada.
- Kp 3 Unsettled next 24 h 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) 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
Rural to suburban. Some sky glow from nearby lights. Moderate displays are fine; faint ones are easier a few kilometres out.
A noticeably darker area starts about 5 km to the north. Open in OpenStreetMap
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-north-west is open (terrain below 2.0°), 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 Qaqortoq
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
October has been the best month (61% of nights), followed by March (60%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 49% | 49% | 7.8 h | 0° / 5°C |
| October | 61% | 61% | 10.6 h | -5° / 0°C |
| November | 53% | 53% | 13.0 h | -9° / -4°C |
| December | 48% | 48% | 14.1 h | -12° / -6°C |
| January | 51% | 51% | 13.6 h | -13° / -8°C |
| February | 49% | 49% | 11.6 h | -13° / -7°C |
| March | 60% | 60% | 8.9 h | -12° / -5°C |
| April | 49% | 53% | 5.3 h | -7° / -1°C |
Darkness through the year
- No full darkness (Sun 12° below the horizon) from 8 May to 4 August — the sky stays too bright for most auroras.
- Next new moon 9 November, next full moon 26 October. The darkest skies are in the week around new moon.
Aurora nights in Qaqortoq 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
- 17 April 2026 · Kp 5.0
- 24 March 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
- Qaqortoq Airport (JJU) · 5 km
- Typical low / high in October
- -5° / 0°C
- What to wear
- Below freezing at night: thermal layers, a warm jacket, hat, gloves and winter boots. 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 Qaqortoq?
From Qaqortoq the aurora can show up on almost any clear, dark night — low to the north-north-west when activity is quiet, higher and overhead when it picks up.
Which way should I look for the aurora in Qaqortoq?
Face north-north-west (about 342° from true north). At Kp 0 the lower edge of the aurora sits roughly 19° above the horizon; stronger activity lifts it higher and further across the sky.
What is the best month to see the aurora in Qaqortoq?
Over 2005–2025, October gave the best odds in Qaqortoq (61% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by March (60%).
When is the aurora season in Qaqortoq?
From 8 May to 4 August the sky in Qaqortoq never gets dark enough. Outside that period the aurora can be seen whenever activity and clouds allow.
Is there much light pollution in Qaqortoq?
Some sky glow from nearby lights. Moderate displays are fine; faint ones are easier a few kilometres out. A noticeably darker area starts about 5 km to the north.
When was the aurora last possible in Qaqortoq?
Activity last reached storm level (Kp 5 or more) during darkness in Qaqortoq on 10 October 2026 (Kp 5.7) — 869 such nights since 1995. Here the aurora also appears on many quieter nights.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Qaqortoq share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- Upernaviarsuk 9 km
- Qaqortoq Municipality 9 km
- Eqalugaarsuit 13 km
- Saarloq 20 km
- Kangikasîk 31 km
- Alluitsup Paa 38 km