Aurora Borealis in East Helsinki
Finland · 60.21°, 25.08° · geomagnetic 57.7° · needs Kp 7
Tonight in East Helsinki
38%
Peak chance of a visible display tonight, from the same model the Revon app runs. East Helsinki needs Kp 7 to see anything at all, and tonight the forecast peaks at Kp 5.7. Short of the threshold, which is what most nights look like here.
Updated 2026-08-02 20:20 UTC
The next 30 nights in East Helsinki
Every night to come, scored the same way as tonight. The best of the open week is Sunday 2 Aug at 38%. Not one of the seven reaches the Kp 7 that East Helsinki needs, which is normal rather than unlucky — it averages 2.3 viable nights a year. 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
See all 30 nights for East Helsinki
Revon aurora model over the NOAA Kp forecast and 27-day outlook
How often the aurora borealis reaches East Helsinki
2.3 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
Wait for an alert; do not book a week
At Kp 7, East Helsinki needs a severe geomagnetic storm before anything shows above the northern horizon. Storms that size arrive a handful of times per solar cycle and announce themselves a day or two ahead. Watching for one beats picking dates and hoping.
Hours of true darkness, month by month
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12.1 | 10.2 | 7.6 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 6.2 | 9.4 | 11.6 | 12.6 |
Solar declination and hour angle at −18°
Nothing to see from May to August
Through those months the sun never falls more than 18° below the East Helsinki horizon, so the sky never darkens fully. Plan around the darker half of the year.
Getting clear of the light
With 170,557 people around you, the sky over central East Helsinki is Bortle 8. The glow hides anything but the brightest display, so the drive out matters more here than the forecast does.
- 33 km south-east — around Porvoo → Bortle 5
- 44 km east-south-east — around Porvoo → 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, September, November and March came out ahead in East Helsinki. 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 East Helsinki 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 Rovaniemi, 700 km north in Finland.
| East Helsinki | Rovaniemi | |
|---|---|---|
| Kp needed | 7 | 3 |
| Nights per year | 2.3 | 171.4 |
| Geomagnetic latitude | 57.7° | 63.6° |
Confirmed reports from this area
40 verified sightings were logged within 300 km of East Helsinki 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 East Helsinki
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 East Helsinki.
- Spikberget — hill3.2 km north-north-east
- Råbacka — hill3.8 km north-north-east
- Bastö — island4.3 km west-north-west
- Ruohokarinniemi — headland4.4 km west
- Pornaistenniemi — cape5.2 km west
- Savelanpuisto — park5.6 km west-north-west
Places from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
What to do with the daylight
Aurora watching is a night job, and in winter that leaves a short, bright day to fill. East Helsinki keeps its fortified past above ground, at Sibbesborg, Suomenlinna and Pasilan linkkitorni, and for a day when the cloud sits low, Viikin Latokartano, Tekniikanmuseo and Nissbackan Kartano 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 GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where to stay
Staying central in East Helsinki is fine for everything except the aurora itself — you will still need to drive out. If seeing it matters more than convenience, base yourself on the edge of town facing your dark spot.
- Park Kapyla 7.3 km from the centre
- Sokos Vantaa Airport 9.1 km from the centre
- Sokos 9.2 km from the centre
- Original Sokos Vantaa 9.2 km from the centre
- Rantasipi Airport Congress Center 9.7 km from the centre
- Best Western Plus Hotel Haaga 9.8 km from the centre
Places from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0) — confirm before booking
The last nights it was visible here
Nights in the last decade when the storm was strong enough for East Helsinki and the sky was dark enough to show it.
| Date | Peak |
|---|---|
| 2026-03-20 | Kp 7.0 |
| 2026-01-20 | Kp 7.67 |
| 2026-01-19 | Kp 8.67 |
| 2025-11-12 | Kp 7.33 |
| 2025-11-11 | Kp 8.67 |
NOAA planetary Kp
Know when it is worth going outside
Revon watches the East Helsinki forecast and pushes an alert when the odds for tonight clear your threshold — no checking, no guessing.
Common questions about the aurora borealis in East Helsinki
Can you see the aurora borealis from East Helsinki?
Yes. On the last 10.0 years of NOAA Kp records, East Helsinki had about 2.3 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 East Helsinki?
Kp 7. East Helsinki sits at geomagnetic latitude 57.7°, and the auroral oval only reaches that far from the pole once activity hits Kp 7. Storms that size occur about 3.2 nights a year.
When is the best time of year to see the aurora borealis in East Helsinki?
September, November and March. Those months scored highest once both conditions are counted together: geomagnetic activity and enough hours of real darkness. From May to August the sky over East Helsinki never gets fully dark, so nothing is visible however strong the storm.
Where can you escape the light pollution near East Helsinki?
The centre of East Helsinki reads Bortle 8. The nearest sky at Bortle 4 is about 44 km east-south-east around Porvoo. On a marginal night that drive matters more than the forecast does.
Where is the nearest place to East Helsinki with reliable aurora borealis?
Rovaniemi, Finland — 700 km north. It needs only Kp 3 and averages 171.4 viable nights a year against 2.3 in East Helsinki.
Nearby towns
Forecasts for places within reach of East Helsinki.