Trøndelag, NorwayMagnetic latitude 61.5°Population 13,06020 m above sea level
Northern lights in Steinkjer
From Steinkjer the aurora can show up on almost any clear, dark night — low to the north 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 817 nights.
Right now
It is still light here. Darkness starts at 19:31.
Latest measured half-hour activity worldwide: Hp30 0.7.
Updates every minute while this page is open. Ground data: GFZ Potsdam Hp30 index (CC BY 4.0).
Tonight in one minute
Not tonight
- Solar activity Strong enough: Kp 2.7 expected, 0.3 needed here.
- Sky Overcast (86% cloud).
- Darkness Dark from 19:31 to 06:28.
What to do: Not tonight — your next chance is shown just below.
- Detailed forecast Sat 17 2.7 Possible · Kp 2.7
- Sun 18 1.7 Good chance · Kp 1.7
- Mon 19 2 Good chance · Kp 2
- 27-day trend Tue 20 3 Good chance · 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
Monday 19 October — Good chance · Kp 1.7 · best around 00:30 · Forecast cloud: 56%. · 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 12:57 local time
Possible
Best around 20:00. Forecast max Kp 2.7 (this place needs 0.3), average cloud 86%.
- Dark enough
- 19:31 – 06:28
- Sunset
- 17:47 · sunrise 08:12
- Moon
- 39% · ↑ 17:38
- Kp neededKp index: a 0–9 measure of geomagnetic activity. The higher it is, the further from the poles the aurora reaches.
- Kp 0.3
- Kp for photos
- In photos: from Kp 0 (a red glow low in the north).
- 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 | Sat, 19 | Sat, 22 | Sun, 01 | Sun, 04 | Sun, 19 | Sun, 22 | Mon, 01 | Mon, 04 | Mon, 19 | Mon, 22 | Tue, 01 | Tue, 04 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low cloud | 44% | 64% | 45% | 55% | 13% | 1% | 4% | 5% | 2% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Mid cloud | 52% | 49% | 1% | 3% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| High cloud | 2% | 55% | 89% | 67% | 0% | 0% | 31% | 96% | 48% | 11% | 0% | 0% |
| Temperature | 7 °C | 6 °C | 6 °C | 5 °C | 5 °C | 4 °C | 3 °C | 4 °C | 5 °C | 1 °C | 0 °C | 1 °C |
| Feels like | 5 °C | 3 °C | 4 °C | 2 °C | 3 °C | 1 °C | 0 °C | 1 °C | 3 °C | -1 °C | -3 °C | -2 °C |
| Wind | 2 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 1 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 0 m/s |
| Visibility | 24 km | 7.9 km | 22 km | 1.1 km | 50 km | 50 km | 50 km | 50 km | 50 km | 50 km | 50 km | 50 km |
Cloud layers and weather: Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0).
Score = activity (NOAA Kp and OVATION) × clear sky (MET Norway) × darkness × moonlight. Methodology
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What you would see from Steinkjer
Facing north. Bands show where the aurora sits at two activity levels.
| Kp | What you see | Lower edge | Ray tops | Distance to the aurora |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Visible to the north | 16° | 29° | 334 km |
| 2 | Visible to the north | 43° | 60° | 111 km |
| 3 | Overhead and all around | – | – | – |
| 4 | Overhead and all around | – | – | – |
| 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 Steinkjer camera in Steinkjer 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
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 5 km to the south. 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 4° above the horizon towards the north. That hides low aurora: here you need about Kp 0.3 instead of Kp 0.3. 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 Steinkjer
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
September has been the best month (25% of nights), followed by November (20%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 25% | 28% | 7.1 h | 7° / 13°C |
| October | 19% | 20% | 10.5 h | 3° / 7°C |
| November | 20% | 21% | 13.3 h | -2° / 2°C |
| December | 18% | 19% | 14.6 h | -5° / -1°C |
| January | 16% | 17% | 14.0 h | -6° / -2°C |
| February | 13% | 14% | 11.5 h | -6° / -1°C |
| March | 17% | 18% | 8.6 h | -4° / 2°C |
| April | 17% | 26% | 3.8 h | 0° / 6°C |
Darkness through the year
- No full darkness (Sun 12° below the horizon) from 26 April to 16 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 Steinkjer 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
Practical information
- Nearest airport
- Trondheim Airport, Værnes (TRD) · 68 km
- Typical low / high in September
- 7° / 13°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 Steinkjer?
From Steinkjer the aurora can show up on almost any clear, dark night — low to the north when activity is quiet, higher and overhead when it picks up.
Which way should I look for the aurora in Steinkjer?
Face north (about 356° from true north). At Kp 0.3 the lower edge of the aurora sits roughly 16° above the horizon; stronger activity lifts it higher and further across the sky.
What is the best month to see the aurora in Steinkjer?
Over 2005–2025, September gave the best odds in Steinkjer (25% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by November (20%).
When is the aurora season in Steinkjer?
From 26 April to 16 August the sky in Steinkjer never gets dark enough. Outside that period the aurora can be seen whenever activity and clouds allow.
Is there much light pollution in Steinkjer?
Strong sky glow washes out faint aurora. Head out of town for anything but a bright display. A noticeably darker area starts about 5 km to the south.
When was the aurora last possible in Steinkjer?
Activity last reached storm level (Kp 5 or more) during darkness in Steinkjer on 10 October 2026 (Kp 7.0) — 817 such nights since 1995. Here the aurora also appears on many quieter nights.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Steinkjer share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- Svenskbyen 0 km
- Nordsidhaugen 1 km
- Sørsidleiret 1 km
- Nordsidleiret 1 km
- Sannan 1 km
- Tranabakken 1 km
- Håkkadalen 1 km
- Trana 2 km
- Kvam 2 km
- Sørlia 2 km
- Vive 3 km
- Ovrein 4 km
- Byafossen 4 km
- Frøset 5 km
- Nord-Bruem 5 km
- Rygg 6 km
- Hamaren 6 km
- Asphaugen 6 km
- Kringla 6 km
- Fossem 7 km
- Skarpnes 8 km
- Bernvågen 8 km
- Skjevik 9 km
- Såsegg 9 km
- Røysing 9 km
- Røsegg 9 km
- Henning 9 km
- Elnan 9 km
- Mære 9 km
- Sundan 10 km
- Skjelvåg 10 km
- Følling 10 km
- Eli 10 km
- Vikan 11 km
- Sparbu 11 km
- Sem 11 km
- Velbe 12 km
- Støa 12 km
- Sotberg 12 km
- Retlo 12 km