Aurora Borealis in Kristiansund
Norway · 63.11°, 7.73° · geomagnetic 63.2° · needs Kp 3
Tonight in Kristiansund
39%
Peak chance of a visible display tonight, from the same model the Revon app runs. Kristiansund 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 Kristiansund
Every night to come, scored the same way as tonight. The best of the open week is Sunday 2 Aug at 39%. 4 of the seven reach the Kp 3 that Kristiansund 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
See all 30 nights for Kristiansund
Revon aurora model over the NOAA Kp forecast and 27-day outlook
How often the aurora borealis reaches Kristiansund
116.0 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
Kristiansund 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12.2 | 10.1 | 7.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 5.5 | 9.2 | 11.7 | 12.8 |
Solar declination and hour angle at −18°
Nothing to see from April to August
Through those months the sun never falls more than 18° below the Kristiansund horizon, so the sky never darkens fully. Plan around the darker half of the year.
Getting clear of the light
Kristiansund is small enough that its own lights are a minor problem — the centre reads Bortle 6. Walking to the edge of town is often escape enough.
- 16 km north — around Smøla → Bortle 2
- 16 km north — around Smøla → Bortle 2
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, September and October came out ahead in Kristiansund. 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 Kristiansund 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 Bodø, 557 km north-north-east in Norway.
| Kristiansund | Bodø | |
|---|---|---|
| Kp needed | 3 | 3 |
| Nights per year | 116.0 | 171.4 |
| Geomagnetic latitude | 63.2° | 66.0° |
Confirmed reports from this area
233 verified sightings were logged within 300 km of Kristiansund 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 Kristiansund
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 Kristiansund.
- Stavneset — headland3.2 km west
- Valan — hill3.3 km north-east
- Stavneshaugen — hill3.3 km west
- Ormtunga — headland3.3 km east-north-east
- Nordlandet — island3.9 km east-north-east
- Englan Fyr — lighthouse6.7 km west
Places from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where to stay
Anywhere on the outskirts of Kristiansund will do; what matters is being able to step outside and check the sky without a drive first.
- Comfort Fosna 0.2 km from the centre
- Astoria Hotell 0.2 km from the centre
- Comfort Hotel Skagerak 1.3 km from the centre
- Radisson Sas Caledonien 1.3 km from the centre
- Scandic Kristiansund 0.2 km from the centre
- Rainbow Kristiansund 0.2 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 Kristiansund 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 Kristiansund forecast and pushes an alert when the odds for tonight clear your threshold — no checking, no guessing.
Common questions about the aurora borealis in Kristiansund
Can you see the aurora borealis from Kristiansund?
Yes. On the last 10.0 years of NOAA Kp records, Kristiansund had about 116.0 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 Kristiansund?
Kp 3. Kristiansund sits at geomagnetic latitude 63.2°, 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 Kristiansund?
March, September and October. 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 Kristiansund never gets fully dark, so nothing is visible however strong the storm.
Where can you escape the light pollution near Kristiansund?
The centre of Kristiansund reads Bortle 6. The nearest sky at Bortle 2 is about 16 km north around Smøla. On a marginal night that drive matters more than the forecast does.
Where is the nearest place to Kristiansund with reliable aurora borealis?
Bodø, Norway — 557 km north-north-east. It needs only Kp 3 and averages 171.4 viable nights a year against 116.0 in Kristiansund.
Nearby towns
Forecasts for places within reach of Kristiansund.
- 🇳🇴 Molde - Norway50 km
- 🇳🇴 Ålesund - Norway107 km
- 🇳🇴 Trondheim - Norway138 km
- 🇳🇴 Levanger - Norway191 km
- 🇳🇴 Lillehammer - Norway264 km
- 🇳🇴 Gjøvik - Norway300 km
- 🇳🇴 Hamar - Norway311 km
- 🇳🇴 Bergen - Norway328 km