Aurora Borealis in Vihti
Finland · 60.42°, 24.32° · geomagnetic 58.0° · needs Kp 5
Tonight in Vihti
38%
Peak chance of a visible display tonight, from the same model the Revon app runs. Vihti 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.
Updated 2026-08-02 20:20 UTC
The next 30 nights in Vihti
Every night to come, scored the same way as tonight. The best of the open week is Sunday 2 Aug at 38%. One of the seven reaches the Kp 5 that Vihti 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.
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 Vihti
20.6 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
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 Vihti sees the aurora borealis most winters.
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 | 2.8 | 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 Vihti horizon, so the sky never darkens fully. Plan around the darker half of the year.
Getting clear of the light
Vihti is small enough that its own lights are a minor problem — the centre reads Bortle 5. Walking to the edge of town is often escape enough.
- 10 km north-north-west → Bortle 5
- 81 km south-south-west — around Raseborg → 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, March and October came out ahead in Vihti. 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 Vihti 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, 680 km north in Finland.
| Vihti | Rovaniemi | |
|---|---|---|
| Kp needed | 5 | 3 |
| Nights per year | 20.6 | 171.4 |
| Geomagnetic latitude | 58.0° | 63.6° |
Confirmed reports from this area
40 verified sightings were logged within 300 km of Vihti 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 Vihti
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 Vihti.
- Hyypiänmäki — hill3.2 km north-east
- Kuoppamäki — hill3.5 km north
- Averia — lake5.0 km north-north-east
- Kupparlampi — lake5.4 km west
- Puttisaari — island5.9 km north-west
- Levoinnokka — headland8.4 km north-east
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. For a day when the cloud sits low, Vihdin Museo, Högforsin Työläismuseo and Högforsin Masuuni 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)
The last nights it was visible here
Nights in the last decade when the storm was strong enough for Vihti and the sky was dark enough to show it.
| Date | Peak |
|---|---|
| 2026-03-24 | Kp 5.0 |
| 2026-03-23 | Kp 5.0 |
| 2026-03-22 | Kp 6.67 |
| 2026-03-21 | Kp 6.0 |
| 2026-03-20 | Kp 7.0 |
NOAA planetary Kp
Know when it is worth going outside
Revon watches the Vihti forecast and pushes an alert when the odds for tonight clear your threshold — no checking, no guessing.
Common questions about the aurora borealis in Vihti
Can you see the aurora borealis from Vihti?
Yes. On the last 10.0 years of NOAA Kp records, Vihti had about 20.6 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 Vihti?
Kp 5. Vihti sits at geomagnetic latitude 58.0°, 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 Vihti?
September, March and October. 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 Vihti never gets fully dark, so nothing is visible however strong the storm.
Where can you escape the light pollution near Vihti?
The centre of Vihti reads Bortle 5. The nearest sky at Bortle 4 is about 81 km south-south-west around Raseborg. On a marginal night that drive matters more than the forecast does.
Where is the nearest place to Vihti with reliable aurora borealis?
Rovaniemi, Finland — 680 km north. It needs only Kp 3 and averages 171.4 viable nights a year against 20.6 in Vihti.
Nearby towns
Forecasts for places within reach of Vihti.