Värmland County, SwedenMagnetic latitude 56.4°Population 61,49258 m above sea level
Northern lights in Karlstad
From Karlstad the aurora is visible on most active nights — first low to the north, from about Kp 3.
Right now
Quiet right now (Kp 0.0).
Latest measured half-hour activity worldwide: Hp30 0.3.
Updates every minute while this page is open. Ground data: GFZ Potsdam Hp30 index (CC BY 4.0).
Tonight in one minute
Only in photos, if at all
- Solar activity Enough for a camera: Kp 2.3 expected, 1.3 needed for photos, 3 for the eye.
- Sky Partly cloudy (52% cloud) — look for gaps.
- Darkness Dark from 19:16 to 06:26.
What to do: Point a phone in night mode north (3–10 s exposure). A red or green glow often shows on the screen before you can see it.
Saturday 24 October — Possible · Kp 4 · best around 00:00 · Forecast cloud: 81%. · Reliability: low (rough trend)
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 01:48 local time
Possible
Best around 03:00. Forecast max Kp 2.3 (this place needs 3), average cloud 52%.
- Dark enough
- 19:16 – 06:26
- Sunset
- 17:47 · sunrise 07:55
- Moon
- 53% · ↑ 16:28 · ↓ 22:08
- Kp neededKp index: a 0–9 measure of geomagnetic activity. The higher it is, the further from the poles the aurora reaches.
- Kp 3
- Kp for photos
- In photos: from Kp 1.3 (a red glow low in the north).
- Look towards
- north (358°)
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 | Mon, 01 | Mon, 04 | Mon, 19 | Mon, 22 | Tue, 01 | Tue, 04 | Tue, 19 | Tue, 22 | Wed, 01 | Wed, 04 | Wed, 19 | Wed, 22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 18% | 41% | 69% | 68% | 81% | 85% |
| Mid cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 12% | 14% | 11% | 17% | 61% | 70% |
| High cloud | 11% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 5% | 15% | 12% | 88% | 100% |
| Temperature | 4 °C | 3 °C | 5 °C | 4 °C | 4 °C | 3 °C | 6 °C | 6 °C | 7 °C | 7 °C | 9 °C | 9 °C |
| Feels like | 4 °C | 3 °C | 4 °C | 4 °C | 4 °C | 3 °C | 3 °C | 3 °C | 4 °C | 5 °C | 7 °C | 7 °C |
| Wind | 0 m/s | 0 m/s | 2 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 3 m/s | 4 m/s | 4 m/s | 4 m/s | 5 m/s | 4 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 Karlstad
The aurora only shows through clear skies, so the weather matters as much as the Kp index. Here is the general forecast for Karlstad: temperature, wind and the chance of rain for the coming days.
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What you would see from Karlstad
Facing north. Bands show where the aurora sits at two activity levels.
| Kp | What you see | Lower edge | Ray tops | Distance to the aurora |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 6° | 13° | 678 km |
| 3 | Visible to the north | 11° | 21° | 456 km |
| 4 | Visible to the north | 23° | 39° | 234 km |
| 5 | Visible to the north | 84° | 87° | 11 km |
| 6 | Overhead and all around | – | – | – |
| 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 camera in Karlstad Only under the auroral oval: northern Norway, Swedish and Finnish Lapland, Iceland, Alaska, northern Canada.
- Kp 3 Unsettled eye in Karlstad 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 north-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 horizon towards the north is open (terrain below 0.5°), 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 Karlstad
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
September has been the best month (16% of nights), followed by April (13%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 16% | 46% | 7.9 h | 11° / 16°C |
| October | 11% | 34% | 10.6 h | 6° / 9°C |
| November | 10% | 29% | 12.9 h | 1° / 4°C |
| December | 9% | 25% | 14.1 h | -5° / -1°C |
| January | 7% | 22% | 13.4 h | -7° / -2°C |
| February | 10% | 23% | 11.5 h | -6° / -1°C |
| March | 13% | 28% | 9.1 h | -2° / 3°C |
| April | 13% | 42% | 5.6 h | 4° / 10°C |
Darkness through the year
- No full darkness (Sun 12° below the horizon) from 12 May to 31 July — 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 Karlstad 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
- 15 May 2026 · Kp 6.0
- 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
Practical information
- Nearest airport
- Karlstad Airport (KSD) · 12 km
- Typical low / high in September
- 11° / 16°C
- What to wear
- Cool nights: layers, a windproof jacket, hat and gloves for standing still outside. Full clothing guide
- Emergency number
- 112
- Winter driving
- From 1 December to 31 March, cars must use winter tyres (Alpine-marked or studded) with at least 3 mm of tread whenever winter road conditions apply. Studded tyres are allowed from 1 October to 15 April, and at other times when winter conditions apply or are expected. Trafikverket runs the road traffic information service. Road conditions
- Access to land
- Allemansrätten lets anyone walk and stay temporarily on others' land, including pitching a tent for a night or two, provided you don't disturb and don't destroy. It does not cover gardens next to homes, crops or grazing land, or motorised off-road driving. National parks and nature reserves can have stricter rules.
- Official space-weather service
- Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF), Kiruna: all-sky camera and IRF Aurora Alert app
- Weather service
- SMHI (Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute)
Questions and answers
What Kp do you need to see the aurora in Karlstad?
From Karlstad the aurora is visible on most active nights — first low to the north, from about Kp 3.
Which way should I look for the aurora in Karlstad?
Face north (about 358° from true north). At Kp 3 the lower edge of the aurora sits roughly 11° above the horizon; stronger activity lifts it higher and further across the sky.
What is the best month to see the aurora in Karlstad?
Over 2005–2025, September gave the best odds in Karlstad (16% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by April (13%).
When is the aurora season in Karlstad?
From 12 May to 31 July the sky in Karlstad never gets dark enough. Outside that period the aurora can be seen whenever activity and clouds allow.
Is there much light pollution in Karlstad?
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 north-east.
When was the aurora last possible in Karlstad?
Activity last reached storm level (Kp 5 or more) during darkness in Karlstad on 10 October 2026 (Kp 7.0) — 902 such nights since 1995. Here the aurora also appears on many quieter nights.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Karlstad share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- Karlstad socken 0 km
- Karlstads domkyrkoförs. 0 km
- Herrhagen 1 km
- Våxnäs 2 km
- Bergholmen 2 km
- Västerstrand 2 km
- Norrstrand 2 km
- Rud 3 km
- Råtorp 3 km
- Nolgård 3 km
- Färjestad 3 km
- Örsholmen 3 km
- Kroppkärr 4 km
- Tye 5 km
- Edsgatan 6 km
- Önnerudstorp 7 km
- Önnerud 7 km
- Långnäs 7 km
- Höja 7 km
- Ulvsby 10 km
- Vallargärdet 12 km
- Karlstads Kommun 12 km
- Alster-Nyedsbygden 12 km
- Brandsbol 13 km
- Alster socken 13 km
- Sandnäs 18 km