What is the best time to see the northern lights in Rovaniemi?
The northern lights season in Rovaniemi and Finnish stretches from late August all the way through mid-April. But not all months are created equal. Some offer pitch black skies and incredible aurora displays, while others usually come with a seemingly never ending wall of cloud cover.
Here’s a month by month breakdown of what to expect and when your chances of seeing the aurora borealis in Rovaniemi and Finnish Lapland are the best.
@rather.chilly @aleksimonaghan
August
The northern lights season starts during the middle of August when there’s just enough darkness during the night which allows the northern lights to shine through. The days slowly start to get shorter and shorter from here, leaving more and more time for that northern lights magic to show itself.
You’ll only have brief windows of time during the night to see aurora, but there’s always the potential to have a great show.
September
September is one of the best months for seeing the northern lights because it is an equinox period. This means that the earth is favourably tilted towards the sun which makes it easier for the solar wind to interact with gases on earth and result in northern lights shows.
The added bonus to this is that the temperatures in Lapland are likely not freezing yet, meaning the lakes aren’t frozen. If you’re by a lake during an intense northern lights show, you’ll be able to get stunning pictures with the aurora and the reflection of the aurora in the lake.
October
October is still a pretty damn decent month for aurora hunting. You can get absolutely stunning nights of aurora since it is still near the equinox period, but you also have a slightly higher chance of running into clouds. The temperatures start to drop below freezing more consistently now, and snow might start making an appearance. It's a solid month for aurora if you're prepared to be flexible and chase clear skies when they appear. Just be aware that weather conditions can change quickly and unpredictably
November
This is the start of the long, dark winter. The nights are finally long enough for prime aurora hunting, but November is also one of the cloudiest months of the year in Finnish Lapland. You might spend the entire month under a thick blanket of clouds if you’re unlucky. That said, if you do get a clear night, the viewing conditions are perfect with almost total darkness and often surprisingly strong solar activity. Just don't rely on luck, use weather tools like Windy.com to actively find gaps in the clouds.
December
The polar night kicks in. That means the sun doesn’t rise at all in the northern parts of Lapland, and in places like Rovaniemi, you’ll only get a few hours of twilight per day. It’s cold, it’s dark, and it’s peak season for tourism in Lapland.
On the bright side, since it’s incredibly dark this means that you can see aurora in Rovaniemi at 7am when you wake up or as early as 4pm! The further north you go during December, the longer the night lasts as well. With so many hours of darkness, you have all the time in the world to see aurora.
The unlucky reality is that it’s usually a brutally cloudy month. Many tourists come during this time and leave disappointed because they didn’t stay long enough or didn’t move to clearer areas. If you're visiting in December, make sure you’re flexible and don’t give up when the area around your hotel is cloudy, there can be places within driving distance where skies are clearer.
January
January continues the darkness but often brings clearer skies compared to December. The temperatures drop hard, this is the time of year where it can hit -30°C or colder. Dress like your life depends on it, because it kind of does. These freezing nights can also come with incredibly strong aurora activity if you’re lucky. If you’re properly prepared for the cold, this can be one of the most rewarding months of the season.
February
The deep freeze continues, but the chances are that the skies are getting clearer and there’s going to be some great northern lights shows that will make you forget that you can’t feel your toes. This is also the month where most of Lapland looks like the postcard winter wonderland with snow covered trees, frozen lakes, and total silence in the wilderness. This month is ideal for photos with those dreamy Lapland winter landscapes.
March
March is one of the best months for aurora hunting, and one of the most underrated. It's the second equinox period, which means another favourable window for aurora activity thanks to how the Earth is tilted towards the sun. Nights are also still long enough, and you start to get clearer skies again. Add in the fact that the temperatures are slightly more forgiving than earlier months and it’s usually less busy in Lapland, you’ve got a winning formula for the best month title.
April
April wraps up the aurora season. There’s still a chance to catch them until around the 10th–15th of the month, especially early in April when nights are still dark for a decent stretch. But after that, it becomes harder as the midnight sun slowly starts creeping back in. Snow is still around, but it’s melting fast. You’ll likely only see aurora in the early part of the night, and only if the skies are clear and solar conditions are strong.
So, when is the best time to see the aurora borealis in Rovaniemi?
If a title had to be given for the best month to see aurora, it’s going to be September, October or March. These months usually have the strongest aurora activity since it is heightened by the equinox effect. It just depends on if you’d like to get those amazing aurora reflection photos in September and October or have the magical winter landscapes that Lapland offers as the background to your aurora photos in March.
There is no perfect science to this: sometimes the biggest show of the year will be in December, sometimes there’ll be an endless wall of cloud blocking any chance of seeing the northern lights in March. As long as you’re in Lapland between mid August to mid April, you have a good chance of seeing mother nature’s greatest show.
