Aurora Borealis in North Ostrobothnia

Finland · 65.21°, 26.12° · geomagnetic 62.3° · needs Kp 5

Tonight in North Ostrobothnia

40%

Peak chance of a visible display tonight, from the same model the Revon app runs. North Ostrobothnia needs Kp 5, and tonight the forecast peaks at Kp 5.7. That is on the threshold rather than over it, so cloud and moonlight will decide the night.

Tonight Sun 02 Aug
40%
18
20
22
00
02
04
06
Tomorrow Mon 3 Aug
26%
Hour-by-hour for this night is in the app
Tuesday Tue 4 Aug
4%
Hour-by-hour for this night is in the app

Unlock every hour in the app

Updated 2026-08-02 20:20 UTC

The next 30 nights in North Ostrobothnia

Every night to come, scored the same way as tonight. The best of the open week is Sunday 2 Aug at 40%. One of the seven reaches the Kp 5 that North Ostrobothnia needs: Sunday 2 Aug, 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.

Moderate aurora activity tonight around 1 AM. Similar conditions expected on August 19th.

Sun 2
40%
Kp 5.7
Mon 3
26%
Kp 3.3
Tue 4
4%
Kp 2.0
Wed 5
35%
Kp 3.0
Thu 6
28%
Kp 3.0
Fri 7
28%
Kp 2.0
Sat 8
10%
Kp 2.0

Nights 8–30 unlock in the Revon app

See all 30 nights for North Ostrobothnia

Revon aurora model over the NOAA Kp forecast and 27-day outlook

How often the aurora borealis reaches North Ostrobothnia

17.5 nights a year, averaged across 10.0 years of records

Storm levelNights / year
Kp 483.4
Kp 528.7
Kp 69.3
Kp 73.2
Kp 81.2

NOAA planetary Kp, 2016-04-02 to 2026-03-30

Worth watching through the dark half of the year

Kp 5 is a moderate storm — not an everyday event, but common enough that a patient observer in North Ostrobothnia sees the aurora borealis most winters.

Hours of true darkness, month by month

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
12.410.16.70.00.00.00.00.04.79.111.813.0

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 North Ostrobothnia horizon, so the sky never darkens fully. Plan around the darker half of the year.

Getting clear of the light

With 266,563 people around you, the sky over central North Ostrobothnia is Bortle 3. The glow hides anything but the brightest display, so the drive out matters more here than the forecast does.

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, March and October came out ahead in North Ostrobothnia. 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 North Ostrobothnia viewing season.

Where it is close to a certainty

Rovaniemi is close enough to reach and return in a night — 145 km north — and needs only Kp 3.

North OstrobothniaRovaniemi
Kp needed53
Nights per year17.5 171.4
Geomagnetic latitude62.3° 63.6°

See the Rovaniemi forecast

Confirmed reports from this area

173 verified sightings were logged within 300 km of North Ostrobothnia 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 North Ostrobothnia

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 North Ostrobothnia.

Places from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)

The last nights it was visible here

Nights in the last decade when the storm was strong enough for North Ostrobothnia and the sky was dark enough to show it.

DatePeak
2026-03-24Kp 5.0
2026-03-23Kp 5.0
2026-03-22Kp 6.67
2026-03-21Kp 6.0
2026-03-20Kp 7.0

NOAA planetary Kp

Aurora forecasts across North Ostrobothnia

All 4 places in North Ostrobothnia with a forecast page, and the Kp each one needs.

Know when it is worth going outside

Revon watches the North Ostrobothnia forecast and pushes an alert when the odds for tonight clear your threshold — no checking, no guessing.

Get aurora alerts on iPhone

Common questions about the aurora borealis in North Ostrobothnia

Can you see the aurora borealis from North Ostrobothnia?

Yes. On the last 10.0 years of NOAA Kp records, North Ostrobothnia had about 17.5 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 North Ostrobothnia?

Kp 5. North Ostrobothnia sits at geomagnetic latitude 62.3°, and the auroral oval only reaches that far from the pole once activity hits Kp 5. Storms that size occur about 28.7 nights a year.

When is the best time of year to see the aurora borealis in North Ostrobothnia?

September, March 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 North Ostrobothnia never gets fully dark, so nothing is visible however strong the storm.

Where can you escape the light pollution near North Ostrobothnia?

The centre of North Ostrobothnia reads Bortle 3. The nearest sky at Bortle 3 is about 7 km north-west around Oulu. On a marginal night that drive matters more than the forecast does.

Where is the nearest place to North Ostrobothnia with reliable aurora borealis?

Rovaniemi, Finland — 145 km north. It needs only Kp 3 and averages 171.4 viable nights a year against 17.5 in North Ostrobothnia.

Nearby towns

Forecasts for places within reach of North Ostrobothnia.