Aurora Borealis in Troms
Norway · 69.22°, 17.75° · geomagnetic 67.2° · needs Kp 3
Tonight in Troms
13%
Peak chance of a visible display tonight, from the same model the Revon app runs. Troms 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 Troms
Every night to come, scored the same way as tonight. The best of the open week is Friday 7 Aug at 18%. 4 of the seven reach the Kp 3 that Troms 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 Troms
98.9 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
Troms 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12.7 | 9.8 | 5.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 8.6 | 12.0 | 13.4 |
Solar declination and hour angle at −18°
Polar night
For part of the winter the sun does not clear the horizon at all in Troms. 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 Troms horizon, so the sky never darkens fully. Plan around the darker half of the year.
Getting clear of the light
The sky over Troms reads Bortle 6. Getting clear of the built-up area makes a visible difference on a marginal night.
- 10 km west-north-west — around Senja → Bortle 5
- 20 km west — around Senja → 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, October, February and March came out ahead in Troms. 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 Troms viewing season.
- 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
Tromsø is close enough to reach and return in a night — 67 km north-east — and needs only Kp 3.
| Troms | Tromsø | |
|---|---|---|
| Kp needed | 3 | 3 |
| Nights per year | 98.9 | 171.4 |
| Geomagnetic latitude | 67.2° | 67.4° |
Confirmed reports from this area
122 verified sightings were logged within 300 km of Troms 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 Troms
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 Troms.
- Larsekollen — hill3.0 km north-east
- Finnhågen — hill3.2 km north-north-west
- Djupholmoen — moor3.4 km north-west
- Mellomoan — moor3.9 km north-north-west
- Litlevatnet — lake4.0 km north-west
- Rørneset — headland4.3 km east
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 Troms and the sky was dark enough to show it.
| Date | Peak |
|---|---|
| 2026-03-28 | Kp 3.67 |
| 2026-03-27 | Kp 3.33 |
| 2026-03-26 | Kp 3.0 |
| 2026-03-24 | Kp 5.0 |
| 2026-03-23 | Kp 5.0 |
NOAA planetary Kp
Aurora forecasts across Troms
All 2 places in Troms with a forecast page, and the Kp each one needs.
Know when it is worth going outside
Revon watches the Troms forecast and pushes an alert when the odds for tonight clear your threshold — no checking, no guessing.
Common questions about the aurora borealis in Troms
Can you see the aurora borealis from Troms?
Yes. On the last 10.0 years of NOAA Kp records, Troms had about 98.9 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 Troms?
Kp 3. Troms sits at geomagnetic latitude 67.2°, 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 Troms?
October, February and March. 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 Troms never gets fully dark, so nothing is visible however strong the storm.
Where can you escape the light pollution near Troms?
The centre of Troms reads Bortle 6. The nearest sky at Bortle 4 is about 20 km west around Senja. On a marginal night that drive matters more than the forecast does.
Where is the nearest place to Troms with reliable aurora borealis?
Tromsø, Norway — 67 km north-east. It needs only Kp 3 and averages 171.4 viable nights a year against 98.9 in Troms.
Nearby towns
Forecasts for places within reach of Troms.
- 🇳🇴 Tromsø - Norway67 km
- 🇳🇴 Harstad - Norway67 km
- 🇸🇪 Kiruna - Sweden182 km
- 🇳🇴 Alta - Norway229 km
- 🇳🇴 Bodø - Norway257 km
- 🇳🇴 Mo i Rana - Norway357 km
- 🇸🇪 Boden - Sweden413 km
- 🇸🇪 Luleå - Sweden446 km