Queenstown / Southland vs Lofoten Islands
Two places, side by side, in the same language every spot page uses: the Kp each needs, tonight's live verdict, twelve months of real cloud cover, the season, and how often the sky has reached each threshold this past year.
Queenstown / Southland is clearer in 5 of 7 dark months; Lofoten Islands needs a smaller storm — Kp 1+ against Kp 5+.
Clearest dark months: Jan, Feb, Mar.
Clearest dark months: Mar, Sep, Oct.
Clear sky = 100 − mean cloud cover; outlined months are each place's three clearest dark months; faint months have no night with an hour of astronomical darkness. ERA5 reanalysis, 2015–2024 monthly mean — climatology, not a forecast; a regional ~25 km grid, local microclimates are not captured. Darkness & moon calendar → Best month, all spots →
Kp is a global index — the thresholds are each spot's own, from its geomagnetic latitude; a book spot borrows its parent watch point's geomagnetic fields and climatology row. Tonight's verdict is NOAA Kp + Open-Meteo cloud + the moon, the same call every spot page makes. Best month, all spots → Plan the trip →