Aurora Borealis in Bodø
Norway · 67.28°, 14.38° · geomagnetic 66.0° · needs Kp 3
Tonight in Bodø
32%
Peak chance of a visible display tonight, from the same model the Revon app runs. Bodø needs Kp 3 before anything clears the northern horizon, and tonight the forecast peaks at Kp 5.7 — comfortably over the line.
Updated 2026-08-02 20:20 UTC
The next 30 nights in Bodø
Every night to come, scored the same way as tonight. The best of the open week is Sunday 2 Aug at 32%. 4 of the seven reach the Kp 3 that Bodø needs, topping out at Kp 5.7. The 23 nights past the seven-day window move with the 27-day solar rotation and are updated daily in the app.
Nights 8–30 unlock in the Revon app
Revon aurora model over the NOAA Kp forecast and 27-day outlook
How often the aurora borealis reaches Bodø
103.5 nights a year, averaged across 10.0 years of records
| Storm level | Nights / year |
|---|---|
| Kp 4 | 83.4 |
| Kp 5 | 28.7 |
| Kp 6 | 9.3 |
| Kp 7 | 3.2 |
| Kp 8 | 1.2 |
NOAA planetary Kp, 2016-04-02 to 2026-03-30
You are inside the auroral oval
Bodø sits far enough northern that quiet conditions are enough. What limits you here is cloud and moonlight, not geomagnetic activity.
Hours of true darkness, month by month
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12.5 | 9.9 | 6.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.7 | 8.8 | 11.9 | 13.2 |
Solar declination and hour angle at −18°
Polar night
For part of the winter the sun does not clear the horizon at all in Bodø. Darkness is continuous rather than nightly, so the aurora borealis can appear in what the clock calls afternoon.
Nothing to see from April to August
Through those months the sun never falls more than 18° below the Bodø horizon, so the sky never darkens fully. Plan around the darker half of the year.
Getting clear of the light
The sky over Bodø reads Bortle 6. Getting clear of the built-up area makes a visible difference on a marginal night.
- 6 km south-west → Bortle 5
- 17 km west-south-west → Bortle 4
Falchi 2016 World Atlas (DOI: 10.5880/GFZ.1.4.2016.001)
The months that actually deliver
Counting only nights that were both stormy enough and dark enough, March, October and February came out ahead in Bodø. That is storm season and darkness overlapping — the equinoxes tend to be geomagnetically active, and the nights are already long by then.
Darkest nights of the coming year
A bright moon washes out a weak display as effectively as street lighting. These new moons fall inside the Bodø viewing season.
- 11 Sep 2026
- 11 Oct 2026
- 09 Nov 2026
- 09 Dec 2026
- 07 Jan 2027
- 06 Feb 2027
- 08 Mar 2027
Where it is close to a certainty
If you would rather plan a trip than wait for a storm, the nearest place with genuinely frequent aurora is Kiruna, 256 km east-north-east in Sweden.
| Bodø | Kiruna | |
|---|---|---|
| Kp needed | 3 | 3 |
| Nights per year | 103.5 | 171.4 |
| Geomagnetic latitude | 66.0° | 65.6° |
Confirmed reports from this area
70 verified sightings were logged within 300 km of Bodø between 2015-01-01 and 2016-12-31. Rare is not the same as impossible.
Aurorasaurus verified positive reports
Where the horizon opens up near Bodø
The display sits low on the northern horizon, so what beats a better forecast is open ground facing that way. Height gets you above the town glow; water gives you an unbroken skyline. These are within a short drive of Bodø.
- Rønvikfjellet — hill3.1 km north-east
- Hellran — hill3.4 km east-north-east
- Varpodden — headland3.5 km north-north-east
- Skivikodden — headland3.9 km north-east
- Munnarvollen — moor5.5 km east
- Keiservarden — mountain5.7 km north-east
Places from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Places to watch from
Named viewpoints and reserves near Bodø that sit outside the worst of the light. Each puts the northern horizon over open ground instead of over rooftops.
- Bestefarvarden 3.1 km
- Keiservarden 5.7 km
- Saltstraumen 11.8 km
- Seinesodden naturreservat 8.2 km
- Straumøya naturreservat 8.2 km
Places from OpenStreetMap contributors
What to do with the daylight
Aurora watching is a night job, and in winter that leaves a short, bright day to fill. Bodø keeps its fortified past above ground, at Saltstraumen, Nyholmen skandse and Antenna #WWII, and for a day when the cloud sits low, Salmon Center Bodø, Jektefartsmuseet and Bodøsjøen friluftsmuseum are indoors and near by.
Keep the daylight loose: the sky decides the evening, and the forecast can turn within a few hours.
Places from OpenStreetMap contributors
Where to stay
Anywhere on the outskirts of Bodø will do; what matters is being able to step outside and check the sky without a drive first.
- Comfort Hotel Bodø 0.1 km from the centre
- Thon Hotel Nordlys 0.2 km from the centre
- Clarion Collection Hotel Grand Bodø 0.2 km from the centre
- Bodø Hotell 0.2 km from the centre
- Scandic Bodø 0.4 km from the centre
- Quality Hotel Ramsalt 0.6 km from the centre
Places from OpenStreetMap contributors — confirm before booking
The last nights it was visible here
Nights in the last decade when the storm was strong enough for Bodø and the sky was dark enough to show it.
| Date | Peak |
|---|---|
| 2026-03-30 | Kp 3.0 |
| 2026-03-29 | Kp 3.33 |
| 2026-03-28 | Kp 3.67 |
| 2026-03-27 | Kp 3.33 |
| 2026-03-26 | Kp 3.0 |
NOAA planetary Kp
Know when it is worth going outside
Revon watches the Bodø forecast and pushes an alert when the odds for tonight clear your threshold — no checking, no guessing.
Common questions about the aurora borealis in Bodø
Can you see the aurora borealis from Bodø?
Yes. On the last 10.0 years of NOAA Kp records, Bodø had about 103.5 nights a year when the storm was strong enough and the sky dark enough at the same time.
What Kp index do you need to see the aurora borealis in Bodø?
Kp 3. Bodø sits at geomagnetic latitude 66.0°, and the auroral oval only reaches that far from the pole once activity hits Kp 3.
When is the best time of year to see the aurora borealis in Bodø?
March, October and February. Those months scored highest once both conditions are counted together: geomagnetic activity and enough hours of real darkness. From April to August the sky over Bodø never gets fully dark, so nothing is visible however strong the storm.
Where can you escape the light pollution near Bodø?
The centre of Bodø reads Bortle 6. The nearest sky at Bortle 4 is about 17 km west-south-west. On a marginal night that drive matters more than the forecast does.
Where is the nearest place to Bodø with reliable aurora borealis?
Kiruna, Sweden — 256 km east-north-east. It needs only Kp 3 and averages 171.4 viable nights a year against 103.5 in Bodø.
Nearby towns
Forecasts for places within reach of Bodø.
- 🇳🇴 Mo i Rana - Norway108 km
- 🇳🇴 Harstad - Norway191 km
- 🇸🇪 Kiruna - Sweden256 km
- 🇳🇴 Tromsø - Norway323 km
- 🇸🇪 Boden - Sweden362 km
- 🇸🇪 Piteå - Sweden385 km
- 🇸🇪 Luleå - Sweden394 km
- 🇸🇪 Skellefteå - Sweden409 km