Aurora Borealis in Piteå
Sweden · 65.32°, 21.48° · geomagnetic 63.1° · needs Kp 3
Tonight in Piteå
39%
Peak chance of a visible display tonight, from the same model the Revon app runs. Piteå 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 Piteå
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 Piteå 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 Piteå
109.4 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
Piteå 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12.4 | 10.0 | 6.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.7 | 9.0 | 11.8 | 13.0 |
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 Piteå horizon, so the sky never darkens fully. Plan around the darker half of the year.
Getting clear of the light
Piteå 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.
- 15 km east-south-east → Bortle 5
- 25 km east-south-east → 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 Piteå. 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 Piteå 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
Rovaniemi is close enough to reach and return in a night — 233 km north-east — and needs only Kp 3.
| Piteå | Rovaniemi | |
|---|---|---|
| Kp needed | 3 | 3 |
| Nights per year | 109.4 | 171.4 |
| Geomagnetic latitude | 63.1° | 63.6° |
Confirmed reports from this area
171 verified sightings were logged within 300 km of Piteå 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 Piteå
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 Piteå.
- Ytterstholmen — island3.7 km north
- Bärtnäsfjärden — bay5.5 km north
- Rävagrundet — island5.6 km north
- Håkansöfjärden — bay7.8 km north-north-east
- Hönsklubben — headland8.7 km east
- Falkberget — hill9.5 km north-west
Places from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where to stay
Anywhere on the outskirts of Piteå will do; what matters is being able to step outside and check the sky without a drive first.
- Piteå Stadshotell 0.2 km from the centre
- Hotel Bishops Arms 0.2 km from the centre
- Furunäset Hotell & konferens 2.8 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 Piteå 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 Piteå forecast and pushes an alert when the odds for tonight clear your threshold — no checking, no guessing.
Common questions about the aurora borealis in Piteå
Can you see the aurora borealis from Piteå?
Yes. On the last 10.0 years of NOAA Kp records, Piteå had about 109.4 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 Piteå?
Kp 3. Piteå sits at geomagnetic latitude 63.1°, 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 Piteå?
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 Piteå never gets fully dark, so nothing is visible however strong the storm.
Where can you escape the light pollution near Piteå?
The centre of Piteå reads Bortle 6. The nearest sky at Bortle 4 is about 25 km east-south-east. On a marginal night that drive matters more than the forecast does.
Where is the nearest place to Piteå with reliable aurora borealis?
Rovaniemi, Finland — 233 km north-east. It needs only Kp 3 and averages 171.4 viable nights a year against 109.4 in Piteå.
Nearby towns
Forecasts for places within reach of Piteå.
- 🇸🇪 Luleå - Sweden43 km
- 🇸🇪 Boden - Sweden57 km
- 🇸🇪 Skellefteå - Sweden68 km
- 🇫🇮 Tornio - Finland136 km
- 🇫🇮 Kemi - Finland150 km
- 🇫🇮 Raahe - Finland158 km
- 🇸🇪 Umeå - Sweden175 km
- 🇫🇮 Haukipudas - Finland181 km