Finnmark, NorwayMagnetic latitude 67.4°Population 15,09465 m above sea level
Northern lights in Alta
Alta 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
It is still light here. Darkness starts at 18:53.
Updates every minute while this page is open.
Tonight in one minute
Maybe — worth a look
- Solar activity Strong enough: Kp 2.7 expected, 0 needed here.
- Sky Partly cloudy (72% cloud) — look for gaps.
- Darkness Dark from 18:53 to 05:33.
What to do: Go somewhere dark around 20:00, give your eyes 15 minutes to adjust and look north, low over the horizon.
- Detailed forecast Fri 16 2.7 Possible · Kp 2.7
- Sat 17 1.7 Possible · Kp 1.7
- Sun 18 1.7 Possible · Kp 1.7
- 27-day trend Mon 19 2 Possible · Kp 2
- Tue 20 3 Possible · Kp 3
- Wed 21 4 Possible · Kp 4
- Thu 22 4 Possible · Kp 4
- Fri 23 4 Possible · Kp 4
- Sat 24 3 Possible · Kp 3
- Sun 25 2 Possible · Kp 2
- Mon 26 2 Possible · Kp 2
- Tue 27 2 Possible · Kp 2
- Wed 28 2 Possible · Kp 2
- Thu 29 2 Possible · Kp 2
- Fri 30 5 Possible · Kp 5
- Sat 31 5 Possible · Kp 5
- Sun 1 5 Possible · Kp 5
- Mon 2 3 Possible · Kp 3
- Tue 3 2 Possible · Kp 2
- Wed 4 2 Possible · Kp 2
- Thu 5 3 Possible · Kp 3
- Fri 6 3 Possible · Kp 3
- Sat 7 3 Possible · Kp 3
Saturday 17 October — Possible · Kp 2.7 · best around 00:30 · Forecast cloud: 71%. · 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 15:42 local time
Good chance
Best around 20:00. Forecast max Kp 2.7 (this place needs 0), average cloud 72%.
- Dark enough
- 18:53 – 05:33
- Sunset
- 16:39 · sunrise 07:47
- Moon
- 31%
- 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 (356°)
Clearer skies nearby tonight
Forecast cloud during tonight's darkness: 71% here. The clearest option within 100 km is about 100 km to the south-east, with 8%. Open in OpenStreetMap
MET Norway forecast at 24 points within 100 km, averaged over the dark hours. Check roads and conditions before driving.
Score = activity (NOAA Kp and OVATION) × clear sky (MET Norway) × darkness × moonlight. Methodology
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What you would see from Alta
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 | Overhead and all around | – | – | – |
| 2 | Overhead, and also to the south | – | – | – |
| 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 Alta 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
City sky. City lights hide all but the brightest displays. Plan to leave the urban area.
A noticeably darker area starts about 20 km to the north-west. 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 is open (terrain below 2.8°), 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 Alta
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
September has been the best month (23% of nights), followed by January (19%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 23% | 25% | 5.1 h | 3° / 8°C |
| October | 18% | 18% | 10.3 h | -3° / 1°C |
| November | 19% | 19% | 14.0 h | -8° / -3°C |
| December | 17% | 17% | 15.8 h | -11° / -6°C |
| January | 19% | 19% | 14.9 h | -12° / -7°C |
| February | 17% | 17% | 11.6 h | -12° / -7°C |
| March | 13% | 13% | 7.5 h | -10° / -4°C |
| April | 5% | 19% | – | -6° / -1°C |
Darkness through the year
- No full darkness (Sun 12° below the horizon) from 9 April to 2 September — the sky stays too bright for most auroras.
- Midnight sun from 17 May to 27 July.
- Polar night from 26 November to 15 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 Alta since 1995
Nights when Kp reached 4.7 or more while it was dark here.
Most recent strong nights
- 10 October 2026 · Kp 7.0
- 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
Where to watch near Alta
-
Northern Lights Cathedral
A landmark church in the town centre, good as a foreground for urban aurora photos. · about 1 km · Open in OpenStreetMap
-
Komsa
A hill right next to the town, reached on foot, giving a view over Altafjorden. · about 2 km · Open in OpenStreetMap
-
Kåfjord
A fjord-side village west of Alta below the Haldde mountain, home of the historic aurora observatory. · about 14 km · Open in OpenStreetMap
-
Sorrisniva
An inland spot in the Alta River valley, away from town lights. · about 18 km · Open in OpenStreetMap
-
Gargia
A mountain lodge area up the valley with dark, open skies. · about 26 km · Open in OpenStreetMap
Local knowledge
- Alta calls itself Nordlysbyen ('The Northern Lights City'), and the world's first permanent northern lights observatory was built nearby at the end of the 1800s.
- The Northern Lights Cathedral, completed in 2013, has a 47 m titanium-clad spire and a northern lights exhibition in its basement.
- Alta is fairly dry (about 440 mm of precipitation a year) and inland valleys such as the Alta River valley are often clearer than the outer coast; January–February average about −8°C.
- Alta Airport has direct flights to Oslo (under 2 hours) and Tromsø (35 minutes).
- The Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel up the Alta River valley is rebuilt from ice and snow every winter.
Strong winds can occur, and inland temperatures drop sharply on clear nights, so dress for severe cold.
Watch for reindeer on the roads and stop only in safe pull-outs.
Practical information
- Nearest airport
- Alta Airport (ALF) · 4 km
- Typical low / high in September
- 3° / 8°C
- What to wear
- Cool nights: layers, a windproof jacket, hat and gloves for standing still outside. Full clothing guide
- Emergency number
- 112 (police), 113 (ambulance), 110 (fire)
- Winter driving
- Winter tyres need at least 3 mm of tread from 1 November to the first Sunday after Easter Monday (16 October to 30 April in Nordland, Troms and Finnmark). Studded tyres are allowed in the same periods and outside them when conditions require. Road conditions are on Statens vegvesen's traffic information service (vegvesen.no/trafikk). Road conditions
- Access to land
- Allemannsretten gives free access to uncultivated land (utmark) such as forest, mountain and shoreline; cultivated land and yards (innmark) need the owner's consent. Overnight stays, including tents, motorhomes and vans, must be more than 150 m from an inhabited house or cabin, and you may stay at most two nights in one spot without permission.
- Official space-weather service
- Norwegian Centre for Space Weather (NOSWE), Tromsø Geophysical Observatory, UiT
- Weather service
- Norwegian Meteorological Institute (Yr)
Questions and answers
What Kp do you need to see the aurora in Alta?
Alta 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 Alta?
Around Alta the aurora is often right overhead. Start by facing north, 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 Alta?
Over 2005–2025, September gave the best odds in Alta (23% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by January (19%).
When is the aurora season in Alta?
From 9 April to 2 September the sky in Alta never gets dark enough. Outside that period the aurora can be seen whenever activity and clouds allow.
Is there much light pollution in Alta?
City lights hide all but the brightest displays. Plan to leave the urban area. A noticeably darker area starts about 20 km to the north-west.
When was the aurora last possible in Alta?
Activity last reached storm level (Kp 5 or more) during darkness in Alta on 10 October 2026 (Kp 7.0) — 734 such nights since 1995. Here the aurora also appears on many quieter nights.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Alta share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- Bossekop 1 km
- Alta 1 km
- Elvestrand 2 km
- Bukta 2 km
- Stenseng 2 km
- Energjerdet 3 km
- Gakori 3 km
- Apanes 3 km
- Pahtakorva 3 km
- Nedre Aronnes 3 km
- Holmen 3 km
- Raipas 3 km
- Elvebakken 4 km
- Kronstad 4 km
- Raipasin-tausta 4 km
- Øvre Alta 5 km
- Småland 6 km
- Sagen 6 km
- Ruoššaluokta 7 km
- Rognskog 7 km
- Sand 7 km
- Turelv 8 km
- Skillemo 8 km
- Kvenvik 8 km
- Pelkiouta 8 km
- Transfarelv 8 km
- Kåfjord 10 km
- Gammelheim 10 km
- Eiby 10 km
- Bjørnstad 10 km
- Kråknes 10 km
- Melsvik 11 km
- Mella 11 km
- Vasskogen 12 km
- Rafsbotn 12 km
- Sørelvdalen 12 km
- Talvik 15 km
- Blåberget 15 km
- Kløyva 15 km
- Laukvik 15 km