Northern Lights Forecast for Alta

Northern Lights in Alta

Alta is a town of about 16,000 people at the head of the Altafjord in western Finnmark, at 70°N. It calls itself Nordlysbyen, the Northern Lights City, and scientists have studied the aurora around this fjord since the 1830s. It is dry for the coast, with about 440 mm of precipitation a year, well under half of what falls on Tromsø. The airport is about 4 km east of the center, with flights from Oslo and Tromsø.

The Recherche expedition at Bossekop

In 1838 the French Recherche expedition rented rooms at the Bossekop farm, now part of Alta, and spent the winter recording the aurora. They chose the Altafjord over Hammerfest for its clearer skies and less fog, and Louis Bevalet’s drawings of the lights made Bossekop known across Europe. After they left, the scientific society at the English-run copper works in Kåfjord kept up the observations.

Haldde, the observatory mountain above Kåfjord

In 1899 Kristian Birkeland built the first permanent northern lights observatory on the summit of Haldde, about 900 m up. Research moved to Tromsø in 1926, German forces burned the buildings in 1944, and the station has since been restored. The old observatory building serves as an unstaffed DNT cabin with six beds, open all year, with a bust of Birkeland at the top.

The 9 km marked trail starts in Kåfjord, 18 km west of Alta on the E6, and Visit Alta lists it as a summer and autumn hike of about six hours. In Sámi the name means sacred mountain.

Komsatoppen and the plateau to the south

For a view over the town and the Altafjord, Komsatoppen is a short hike to a top about 200 m up, at the edge of town. For darker sky, local aurora watchers go either out to the coast or south onto Finnmarksvidda, the open plateau the E45 climbs onto on its way to Kautokeino.

Alta Museum and the Hjemmeluft rock carvings

About 6,000 rock carvings up to 7,000 years old line the Altafjord, on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1985. The main site, at Hjemmeluft about 5 km west of the center, has more than 3,000 figures on 85 panels. From October or November until April or May they are under snow, and the outdoor area closes for winter. Alta Museum, at the site, has exhibitions on aurora research and Sámi culture.

The Northern Lights Cathedral

The parish church in the center of Alta, consecrated in 2013, was designed by Schmidt Hammer Lassen with Link Arkitektur. Its walls are clad in titanium sheets around a spiral that rises to the bell tower, and the interior art is by Peter Brandes.

Finnmarksløpet in March

Each March the Finnmarksløpet sled dog race starts and finishes in Alta. The open class runs about 1,200 km across Finnmark to Kirkenes and back, and the limited class about 600 km, mostly on Finnmarksvidda.