Northern Lights Forecast for Longyearbyen

Northern Lights in Longyearbyen

Longyearbyen is the main town on Svalbard, at about 78°N on the shore of Adventfjorden. The airport, hotels and tour operators are all here, so almost every aurora trip to the archipelago starts in town.

From the last sunset in October to the sun festival in March

The sun sets for the last time around 26 October and does not rise above the horizon again until mid-February. From about mid-November to the end of January it stays dark even at noon. In late December the sun is still about 12 degrees below the horizon at midday, so all you get is a faint glow to the south.

Most aurora tours run from October to the end of February. You can see the aurora from late September, and nights stay properly dark until early March. After that they get short quickly, and the midnight sun returns around 20 April. The sun reaches the town itself around 8 March, after it clears the surrounding mountains, and locals mark it with a week-long sun festival.

Daytime aurora and why you look south

At night the main aurora oval usually lies south of Svalbard, so the lights often show up over the southern sky instead of straight overhead. They can also be fainter than what you would see further south. In the late morning it is the other way around: Svalbard sits under the daytime part of the oval. Between mid-November and the end of January it is dark enough to see this dayside aurora with the naked eye, usually around 10 a.m. It is often weaker and more diffuse than the night-time aurora, with more red in it.

The Kjell Henriksen Observatory, run by the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), studies the aurora from the Breinosa mountain about 15 km from town. It is a research station and does not take tourist visits.

Adventdalen and the polar bear rule

A strong display is visible from town, but streetlights wash out weaker aurora. Most tours drive east into Adventdalen, the wide valley outside town, or stop on the roads toward Mine 3 and the Global Seed Vault. Tours go by minibus, snowcat, snowmobile, dog sled or on snowshoes.

You can’t just walk off into the dark, though. Polar bears can turn up anywhere on Svalbard, including near Longyearbyen. Anyone going outside the settlement has to carry something to scare off a bear, and the Governor of Svalbard recommends carrying a rifle as well. In practice, visitors go beyond town with a guide who carries one.

Dog sleds, Mine 3 and the Larsbreen ice cave

During the polar night you can go dog sledding from the kennels in Adventdalen, join a short snowmobile tour, or hike up the Larsbreen glacier above town to an ice cave. In town, there are tours of the old coal Mine 3 and the Svalbard Museum. Longer snowmobile trips start in mid-February when the daylight returns. They include the route to the Russian mining settlement of Barentsburg, and you need a driver’s license to drive. Two music festivals fall in the aurora season: Dark Season Blues in late October and Polarjazz in early February.