A winter night with northern lights

When I returned to Tromsø two weeks ago a lot of snow had melted due to a warm and rainy period. Last weekend I took a rainy hike by the coast on the island Kvaløya, where it was free of snow and I saw the first flowering tussilago.

Boat sheds on KvaløyaThe first Tussilago 2026

In the last few days it has become a bit colder and today’s precipitation came as snow, making the street white again, at least for a while.

Snowy weather

At ten o’clock I went onto my balcony to look for Jupiter and the Moon I saw faint northern lights. Should I take a chance and try to take some photos? I grabbed my equipment, winter boots and a down jacket, took the car to the kindergarten, where a path leads to the ski runs and I went to the small pond. Luckily, the aurora was still present though not strong. I put the camera on a tripod and started taking pictures. The sky was slightly purple – was it the Moon, or what caused the colour? I do not know.

Aurora I

The aurora was quite low and weakened and reappeared several times. After half an hour it reappeared again, gained shape and movement – although it was not very bright.

Aurora IIAurora IIIAurora IV

Then it started to rise more and more …

Aurora VAurora VI

… until it reached the zenith, where it slowly flickered back and forth for a while. Since I didn’t take my fisheye lens with me I didn’t take any more photos.

Aurora VII

I had been standing there in the snow by the small pond for about 50 minutes. The down jacket I wore was warm enough but quite short and my legs were really freezing, although it was only around -4 °C. When the aurora weakened I went back to the car and drove home with a plan in mind: when the aurora was still present, I would change to my Canada Goose down parka and pants (the warmest clothes I have) and drive back. Anyhow, when I parked the car in front of the door of my apartment, the aurora was gone.

 

The sunset was too early

Today we had another clear morning with a temperature of -23 °C and not a single cloud. According to SMHI and The Photographer’s Ephemeris sunrise at our place in Obbola was at 07:32 today. While I was still walking on the sea ice to have a better view of the sunrise the sun already appeared – three minutes too early. The reason for this is atmospheric refraction due to an inversion above the ice that bends the light and so “lifts up” objects in the distance.

Sunrise and atmospheric refraction

To the right in the photo: The lighthouse Storbränningen, which I visited two days ago. It is about 4 km away. I could also spot the lighthouse Väktaren – 7 km away – although the distance to the horizon is technically only 4.5 km. I can even still see some construction far, far away on a bearing of 140° but I haven’t worked out what it is. Finland perhaps … ?

Soldagen 2026

Although the sun has been above the horizon in Tromsø since 15 January, it always takes some days until it rises above the mountains south of the island. Today was the “official” soldagen, the “sun day” when the sun returns to Tromsø.

The first photos, however, I took today between 5:00 and 5:30. There was polar light all over the sky but when I reached a good spot it had already weakened. At least I took a photo of the trees covered in hoar frost – the result of a very foggy night two nights earlier.

Frosted treesPolar light above Tromsø

Before lunchtime, I took an hour off and took the bus to Telegrafbukta in the southern part of Tromsøya.  It is a good spot to welcome the sun after two months of absence. When I reached the beach I could already see the sunlit snowy mountains in the north. What a beauty!

Sunlit snowy mountains in the north

I joined some winter swimmers and took a dip in the sea. Water temperature 3.9 °C and sorry—no photos. The sun had vanished behind a mountain but luckily came back and stayed for a while. That’s always a special moment and I was amongst hundreds of other people celebrating this hour of resurgence.

The sun is back ISpectators enjoying the sunSelfie in sunlightThe sun is back II

I look very overdressed with this heavy down parka considering it was only -6 °C, but I like to have it extra warm after a winter bath when waiting for the bus back to work.

With the sun, the days get longer and longer and even shortly before 16:00 the western sky was still glowing in warm colours. Fifteen minutes later I saw another aurora between the frosted trees.

Evening lightPolar light and frosted trees

Unfortunately the last photo is out of focus. When I realised it the aurora had already almost disappeared again. Often you have to be quick to take pictures of the northern lights.

 

 

End of polar night in Tromsø

Now the time of the polar night has ended in Tromsø. The sun rises above the horizon, though not above the mountains yet to be seen in town. This will take some other days.

The end of the polar night 2026

Crisp and clear winter

After ten centimetres of snowfall, the sky cleared during the night and temperatures dropped. I woke up at one o’clock simply to see the full moon with a halo and Jupiter nearby. I resisted the urge to go back to bed and went outside to take a photo. What a beautiful sight, especially in combination with the wintry coast.

Winter halo in Obbola

I also took some photos of the snow and the ice at the coast tonight. Nine hours later the sun managed to climb above the cloud layer that had gathered on the open sea. Time to take a photo of the same scene again.

Full moon over the frozen coastSunrise on the frozen coast I

I guess this is my favourite combination of winter weather: first snowfall and wind, then a clear sky and cold air. I took two other pictures from the same place. You can see the sunlit ice fog on the horizon, which forms when very cold air meets the open sea.

Sunrise on the frozen coast IISunrise on the frozen coast III

At noon my wife Annika and I took a promenade to the beach Vitskärsudden. The sea was still open, but a layer of ice had begun to form along the beach. The small harbour on the other side of the breakwater was covered with ice floes. When the sun is low ice and snow in the shadow often look blue, while in the sun they look orange.

Vitskärsudden – shadowVitskärsudden – the beach starts to freeze-beachVitskärsudden – light

13:52 – fifteen minutes before sunset – the landscape became even more colourful. We were back at our house in Obbola and I took some photos through the windows of the winter garden that were covered with frost. The temperature had dropped to -16 °C.

Through the frozen window IThrough the frozen window II

Now it is 17:37 and I sit writing this blog article. The temperature is now -20.4 °C. When you are outside at minus twenty degrees and inhale through your nose it tickles, because your nose hairs freeze. If you think that is cold, in Gielas in the Swedish mountains -40.7 °C were measured at 10 o’clock.

Tomorrow I will travel back to Tromsø. Then it will be a while before I see the sun again, as the polar night lasts until 15 January. It will also be less cold, but more snowy. At the moment there are 67 cm of snow there. And the great thing: winter has just begun!

 

 

 

1st October

The 1st day of this year’s October delivers! First I got a clear, blue sky on my after-work hike through the autumnal forests on top of Tromsøya. Then I got beautiful Northern lights tonight, I just came in and developed the photos a bit.

What you don’t see here – as usual – is the movements of the Aurora. The live act is still better.

October walk Prestvannet → home IOctober walk Prestvannet → home IIOctober walk Prestvannet → home IIIAurora IAurora II

The first polar lights of the season 2025/26

The photo is lousy, but here it is: a picture of my first polar lights of this season. Taken handheld from the balcony with my mobile phone. You can see part of the roof. But of course – as soon my DSLR camera was attached to the tripod the aurora has already disappeared again.

A bad photo of the aurora tonight