Troms, NorwayMagnetic latitude 67.5°Population 2,4601 m above sea level
Northern lights in Skjervøy
Skjervøy 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.
Magnetometer at Kilpisjärvi (109 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
Not tonight
- Solar activity Strong enough: Kp 2.3 expected, 0 needed here.
- Sky Overcast (87% cloud).
- Darkness Dark from 18:53 to 05:50.
What to do: Not tonight — your next chance is shown just below.
Wednesday 21 October — Good chance · Kp 3.7 · best around 00:30 · Forecast cloud: 43%. · 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 16:48 local time
Possible
Best around 20:00. Forecast max Kp 2.3 (this place needs 0), average cloud 87%.
- Dark enough
- 18:53 – 05:50
- Sunset
- 16:39 · sunrise 08:06
- Moon
- 50%
- 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°)
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 | Sun, 18 | Sun, 21 | Mon, 00 | Mon, 03 | Mon, 06 | Mon, 20 | Mon, 23 | Tue, 02 | Tue, 05 | Tue, 19 | Tue, 22 | Wed, 01 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low cloud | 57% | 26% | 2% | 7% | 49% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 5% | 0% | 0% |
| Mid cloud | 11% | 1% | 24% | 53% | 89% | 51% | 79% | 100% | 81% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| High cloud | 0% | 4% | 25% | 52% | 87% | 23% | 9% | 0% | 0% | 6% | 0% | 0% |
| Temperature | 8 °C | 8 °C | 8 °C | 8 °C | 8 °C | 10 °C | 10 °C | 10 °C | 10 °C | 9 °C | 9 °C | 8 °C |
| Feels like | 3 °C | 5 °C | 5 °C | 6 °C | 5 °C | 10 °C | 10 °C | 10 °C | 10 °C | 8 °C | 8 °C | 7 °C |
| Wind | 9 m/s | 6 m/s | 4 m/s | 3 m/s | 5 m/s | 23 m/s | 23 m/s | 22 m/s | 19 m/s | 2 m/s | 1 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
Seeing it right now?
Tell others in Troms. Reports from real visitors move a place up the live ranking.
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Live webcams near Skjervøy
Check the sky for yourself: public cameras within 300 km. They open on the camera owner's website.
- Skjervøy harbour (opens in a new tab) Scenic
- Rotsund northern lights cam (opens in a new tab) Scenic
- Skibotn all-sky camera (opens in a new tab) All-sky
- Skibotn colour all-sky camera (BACC #5) (opens in a new tab) All-sky
- Tromsø (Ramfjordmoen) all-sky camera (opens in a new tab) All-sky
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 Skjervøy
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 next 24 h eye in Skjervøy 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) 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
Bright suburban sky. Strong sky glow washes out faint aurora. Head out of town for anything but a bright display.
A noticeably darker area starts about 20 km to the east-south-east. 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 terrain rises to about 6° above the horizon towards the north. That hides low aurora: here you need about Kp 0 instead of Kp 0. A hilltop, shore or open field with a clear view to the north helps.
From elevation data (AWS Terrain Tiles) along seven lines of sight up to 30 km.
Best months to see the aurora in Skjervøy
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 | 5° / 9°C |
| October | 18% | 18% | 10.3 h | 0° / 3°C |
| November | 18% | 18% | 14.0 h | -4° / 0°C |
| December | 18% | 18% | 15.8 h | -6° / -2°C |
| January | 19% | 19% | 14.9 h | -8° / -4°C |
| February | 17% | 17% | 11.6 h | -8° / -4°C |
| March | 13% | 13% | 7.5 h | -6° / -2°C |
| April | 5% | 19% | – | -3° / 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 Skjervøy 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
- 22 March 2026 · Kp 6.7
- 20 March 2026 · Kp 7.0
- 13 March 2026 · Kp 6.0
- 3 March 2026 · Kp 5.0
- 22 February 2026 · Kp 5.3
Practical information
- Nearest airport
- Sørkjosen Airport (SOJ) · 27 km
Tromsø Airport (TOS) · 88 km - Typical low / high in September
- 5° / 9°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 Skjervøy?
Skjervøy 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 Skjervøy?
Around Skjervøy 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 Skjervøy?
Over 2005–2025, September gave the best odds in Skjervøy (23% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by January (19%).
When is the aurora season in Skjervøy?
From 9 April to 2 September the sky in Skjervøy never gets dark enough. Outside that period the aurora can be seen whenever activity and clouds allow.
Is there much light pollution in Skjervøy?
Strong sky glow washes out faint aurora. Head out of town for anything but a bright display. A noticeably darker area starts about 20 km to the east-south-east.
When was the aurora last possible in Skjervøy?
Activity last reached storm level (Kp 5 or more) during darkness in Skjervøy on 10 October 2026 (Kp 7.0) — 732 such nights since 1995. Here the aurora also appears on many quieter nights.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Skjervøy share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- Finneidet 1 km
- Engenes 4 km
- Simavåg 5 km
- Taskeby 6 km
- Nyelva 6 km
- Kobbepollen 6 km
- Nikkeby 7 km
- Langnes 8 km
- Lauksundskaret 9 km
- Haukøynes 10 km
- Hamneidet 11 km
- Elven 11 km
- Skomakareidet 11 km
- Meiland 12 km
- Maursund 12 km
- Hamnnes 12 km
- Grunnfjorden 12 km
- Mattisnes 12 km
- Ytre Eide 13 km
- Vorterøyskagen 13 km
- Storelva 13 km
- Jekthamna 13 km
- Arnøyhamn 13 km
- Solstrand 13 km
- Stakenes 13 km
- Lauksletta 14 km
- Hellnes 14 km
- Haugnes 15 km
- Langfjorden 16 km
- Klauvnes 16 km
- Arildseng 18 km
- Akkarfjord 18 km
- Storvika 19 km
- Oksfjordhamn 19 km
- Akkarvik 19 km
- Sandelva 19 km
- Lillevika 19 km
- Spitnes 21 km
- Geitvika 21 km
- Seglvik 22 km