galaxosCan you see the northern lights in Ísafjörður? Yes, on most clear, dark nights. Ísafjörður sits under the band where aurora usually appears, so it doesn't need a solar storm. The best months are October to March, when the nights are darkest.
Aurora is likely tonight, if the clouds break
Activity and darkness line up, but cloud comes and goes, 52% on average over the dark hours. The clearest spell is around 00:00 to 03:00.
As of 00:28 Ísafjörður time. Updated every 15 minutes.
There is no minimum this far north: displays get bright and active from about Kp 4. Tonight's forecast is unavailable, so this is the latest reading. Latest reading Kp 1.3 (21:00–00:00 UTC).
Kp is a 0 to 9 scale of how stirred up Earth's magnetic field is. The higher it goes, the further from the poles aurora reaches. More about Kp
Cloud comes and goes through the dark hours. The clearest spell is around 00:00 to 03:00. Right now it's 0%.
The number is the average over tonight's dark hours; the verdict is judged hour by hour, so one clear evening does not hide an overcast midnight. Even a strong aurora is invisible through solid cloud.
Dark until 08:08. Aurora is usually best around midnight.
Dark enough means the sun is well below the horizon, which is later than sunset. At high latitudes in summer it never gets there.
Ísafjörður is inside the ring where aurora appears tonight, so it can show up anywhere in the sky, not only low in the north. It comes and goes through the night, sometimes as a single band, so with clear, dark skies keep watching the whole sky.
Aurora appears in a ring around Earth's magnetic pole. The higher the Kp, the wider the ring grows. Inside it, aurora can show anywhere in the sky; outside it, you would see it low toward the north, if at all.
A guide, not a guarantee: aurora can beat the forecast or fall short of it, so don't plan a trip on this alone.
Kp is forecast to reach 4 on 1 of the next 3 nights, when displays here get bright.
| Day | From | Kp | Sky here |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 16 | 00:00 | 3.3 | Night |
| Mon 16 | 03:00 | 2.0 | Night |
| Mon 16 | 06:00 | 2.0 | Daylight |
| Mon 16 | 09:00 | 3.0 | Daylight |
| Mon 16 | 12:00 | 3.0 | Daylight |
| Mon 16 | 15:00 | 3.3 | Daylight |
| Mon 16 | 18:00 | 3.3 | Daylight |
| Mon 16 | 21:00 | 3.3 | Night |
| Tue 17 | 00:00 | 3.7 | Night |
| Tue 17 | 03:00 | 4.7 | Night |
| Tue 17 | 06:00 | 3.7 | Daylight |
| Tue 17 | 09:00 | 3.7 | Daylight |
| Tue 17 | 12:00 | 3.3 | Daylight |
| Tue 17 | 15:00 | 3.3 | Daylight |
| Tue 17 | 18:00 | 2.7 | Daylight |
| Tue 17 | 21:00 | 2.0 | Night |
| Wed 18 | 00:00 | 2.7 | Night |
One email on the nights displays over Ísafjörður get bright and active. Nothing else.
Ísafjörður is well placed for the northern lights, and on a clear dark night they can appear almost anywhere in the Westfjords. The town is hemmed in by steep mountains, which narrow the sky and bring fast-changing weather. Outside town there is very little light at all.
Go from late September to early April, and check road and weather conditions before driving, since mountain roads here often close in storms.
From May to August the sky over Ísafjörður never gets fully dark, so aurora season runs October to March, with about 14 hours of real darkness a night.
What is Kp? A number from 0 to 9 for how stormy space weather is. Most nights are 1 to 3. At 5 or more it's a storm, and the northern lights spread much further south. More about Kp
74of the last 365 nights
Kp reached 4 or more during the night hours in Ísafjörður on 74 of the last 365 nights, the level at which displays here get brighter and more active. The strongest night was January 19, 2026, when Kp reached 8.7. This counts activity, not sightings: cloud, moonlight and light summer nights decide how many of those nights anything could be seen.
| Month | Nights |
|---|---|
| Nov | 4 of 16 |
| Dec | 8 of 31 |
| Jan | 14 of 31 |
| Feb | 10 of 28 |
| Mar | 9 of 31 |
| Apr | 6 of 30 |
| May | 2 of 31 |
| Jun | 4 of 30 |
| Jul | 2 of 31 |
| Aug | 5 of 31 |
| Sep | 3 of 30 |
| Oct | 6 of 31 |
| Nov | 1 of 14 |
Kp index and forecast from NOAA SWPC. Cloud cover and sun times from Open-Meteo. Kp history from GFZ Potsdam (CC BY 4.0). Magnetic latitude is AACGM-v2, epoch 2026.