Best month to see the northern lights in Kangerlussuaq

Month-by-month viewing quality

Why these months?

Two things decide your odds in Kangerlussuaq: darkness and activity. You need real darkness — so the bright midnight-sun months are out no matter how strong the aurora is. On top of that, geomagnetic storms run statistically stronger around the spring and autumn equinoxes (the Russell–McPherron effect), which is why September and October and November and March tend to edge out the dead of winter. Kangerlussuaq's season runs september to april.

Kangerlussuaq sits at the head of a long fjord, 100 miles inland from the Greenland coast and right beside the ice sheet. It became Greenland's international airport precisely because its inland position gives it far more settled, cloud-free weather than the coast — which is also what makes it one of the best aurora sites anywhere. Its geomagnetic latitude is extremely high.

Where to stand in Kangerlussuaq

The ice-sheet road east of the settlement, or simply the far side of the airstrip. Dry Arctic air and a flat tundra horizon do the rest.

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