Last trip I went to the Aurora City — Tromsø in Norway. This time I tried a new city, also within the Arctic Circle in Norway — Narvik and Harstad. There aren’t many entertainment options here, so there are very few tourists. The main reason people come is to see the Northern Lights. Plus, these two cities are just a two- to three-hour drive from the two famous aurora-viewing spots in Sweden — Abisko and Kiruna.
Inside the Arctic Circle
Narvik’s ski resort and football field
The bridge leading to Harstad inside the Arctic Circle is the main thoroughfare
I stayed for several nights, but due to the weather, it was mostly snowing, and the aurora index (KP) wasn’t high, so I couldn’t see the aurora. I was really disappointed because seeing the aurora was the main reason for this trip.
On the last day, the app predicted an aurora index of KP5-6 (solar storm). I also checked the weather app, and in the end, decided to have dinner at 5 p.m. and head out. Our destination was Kiruna, a two- to three-hour drive from Narvik (the most important apps for aurora hunting are the aurora index and the weather — cloud cover).
There didn’t seem to be any checkpoints between Narvik in Norway and the Swedish border, and it was already around 7 or 8 p.m. There were only a few trucks on the road. It took about two hours to reach Kiruna. Along the way, the weather got better and better, and the cloud cover got thinner the closer we got to Kiruna. At that moment, I was both excited and nervous, hoping to witness a major aurora outburst.
I had pre-found a good spot in Kiruna for aurora viewing online (low light pollution, accessible by car)
Finally, it happened — a solar storm (KP6) (Geomagnetic Storms G2) inside the Arctic Circle
The photos above were taken with a Nikon D750 + 20mm f/1.8. There aren’t many photos because I mainly used it to shoot timelapses.
The actual photography was done with an Olympus E-P5 + Panasonic 7-14mm
The photos were processed in Lightroom :)
As I looked at the auroras, I kept thanking the heavens for giving me nature’s most beautiful gift.
I watched from 10 p.m. until 4 a.m., constantly being surprised. By the time it was over, it was dawn. I was exhausted from pulling an all-nighter, but I couldn’t go back to the hotel to rest, so I left and returned to Norway. There was a severe snowstorm at the Sweden–Norway border, the weather was awful, visibility was reduced to just one or two car lengths, and the roads had to be closed for snowplows to clear them.
Thinking back to the sights of that night, I couldn’t help but start planning my next aurora-chasing trip.