Due to Norway’s high latitude (Oslo 60º – Tromsø 69.5°), there are large seasonal variations in daylight. From late May to late July, the sun never completely descends beneath the horizon in areas north of the Arctic Circle (66.5°). Norway is called the “Land of the Midnight Sun” as you may remember. The rest of the country experiences up to 20 hours of daylight per day (19 hours in Oslo). Conversely, from late November to late January, the sun never rises above the horizon in the north, and daylight hours are very short in the rest of the country (5 hours in Oslo).
So how do these seasonal variations effect us here in the North? Well, Norwegians know how to make the most of these long summer days, meeting friends and sitting outdoors in the garden until late in the evening. There will always be time for sleeping in the winter time you know 
. Recently we had one of those precious evenings visiting a very good friend of mine, Gunnar Braathen and his charming wife. This photo is taken at 9:40PM and as you can see, it’s still daylight (click all pics to bigify & enjoy!):
Gunnar is a colleague from the Norwegian Computer Society, a SEO (Search Engine Optimization) guru and in recent years, a body builder. His goal is to be a World Champion at 65 so please click to visit his blog to see his muscles play! It would be nice of you to leave a comment and say that Renny sent you.
You may wonder how else the seasonal change effects us. The average temp in Oslo in July is 20C (68F) and in January -5C (21F). In the summer the schools are closed for a full 8 weeks and out of the standard Norwegian 5 weeks vacation, we use 3-4 weeks in the summer. Other than that, I thought very little about the difference before my wife DianeCA came to live with me – moving from upstate NY. She came in August and every night when we went to bed – to sleep
– she mentioned it was still daylight. It never occurred to me that this was a problem as I never had trouble sleeping in the summer time.I am much more aware of this phenomenon now that I am a blogger, thanks to all my friends around in Blogsphere. All your wonderful comments showing interest, asking questions and comparing our parts of the world has really opened my eyes to see there are different ways of living. The climate and seasons have an impact in our way of living. It has encouraged me to take photos to show the difference. Here are some more from this evening taken with my Nokia mobile phone around 22:15PM:
The sun set around 22:45PM but it’s still dusk one hour more.
Of course long summer days make us crazy for the beach too. Tanning, swimming, cliff diving and even skinny dipping are all part of the beach life, as you can read in my post: From frozen Paradise to hot summer beaches in Oslo Norway.
So don’t waste the long summer evenings, jump right in – and leave me a comment!
July 9th, 2009 at 1:07 am
It’s nice to see that somewhere there is summer and some sun. This is the worst, wettest summer we have had in many years!
I would need blinders at night as I love to sleep in very dark rooms. So when I come in the summer, I will bring my blinders with me.
Reply
July 9th, 2009 at 1:25 am
[...] See the original post: Long Summer Days in Oslo Norway [...]
July 9th, 2009 at 1:42 am
“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur
.
of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time.” He!He!He! .Have fun
Reply
July 9th, 2009 at 2:19 am
[...] Due to Norway’s high latitude (Oslo 60º – Tromsø 69.5°), there are large seasonal variations in daylight. From late May to late July, the sun never completely descends beneath the horizon in areas north of the Arctic Circle (66.5°) See original here: Long Summer Days in Oslo Norway [...]
July 9th, 2009 at 2:28 am
I read it on facebook – your friend is so impressive but it is a day like today when I get sad knowing you have 5 wks vacation, 3 of which are in the summer…
Reply
July 9th, 2009 at 4:00 am
Wow! Looks like an awesome place to spend time with friends!
Reply
July 9th, 2009 at 5:28 am
Wow, the light is amazing considering how late it is!
I remember when we were in Patagonia, sunset was like 2:00 am… and it was never truly dark. I was lost!
Reply
July 9th, 2009 at 8:13 am
Thanks to Renny and Diane for sharing that wonderful summer evening with us,
Reply
July 9th, 2009 at 9:50 am
[...] Due to Norway’s high latitude (Oslo 60º – Tromsø 69.5°), there are large seasonal variations in daylight. From late May to late July, the sun never completely descends beneath the horizon in areas north of the Arctic Circle (66.5°). Norway is called the “ Land of the Midnight Sun ” as you may remember More here: Long Summer Days in Oslo Norway [...]
July 9th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
[...] This post was Twitted by visiteurope [...]
July 9th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
Wow. 9:40 PM! I miss those summer nights. Here in Buffalo, it is still pretty sunny after 8:00 PM but around 9:40, things are getting dark. I miss experiencing those long summer days: I was excited when I was in Denmark last summer in the middle of July and the sun was still up in what I consider nighttime time-wise.
Reply
July 9th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
Yes, I see more here. Beautiful…
Reply
July 9th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Thanks Renny!! My name ist Maria.
Its a pleasure to read your blog. Whenever I tell you but I fell closer to Norway .
One big hug
Maria from Ibiza Spain
Reply
July 9th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
I recognized your friend on the picture, the body building champion before I read you. Anaïs and particulary Kalle her finnish boyfriend spoke to me about the dark winter.
Pierre wants to go there and fishing http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5oT8dhMMtss/SZrjVzVGmdI/AAAAAAAAAnU/yzSvX0ETxsM/s1600-h/DSCN5769.JPG
Reply
July 9th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
Your place looks beautiful. It’s beginning to be a bit cold summer in Bergen which I really like so much. I think it was a bit warmer in Oslo when Odd and I were there.
Reply
July 9th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
daylight at night! how interesting is that! thx for sharing…
Reply
July 10th, 2009 at 12:52 am
Hey Renny!!!
I have read about the unique seasons in Norway, and other locations in Northern hemispheres, but would LOVE to witness a prolonged sunset in person. Must be quite incredible.
Thanks for stopping by on my first day back blogging !!!!
SpeedyCat
Reply
July 10th, 2009 at 5:27 am
I’d like to invite you to play The Queen’s Meme every Tuesday with Mimi Queen of Memes.
The fun begins next week on July 14, 2009.
The Queen’s Meme
I hope you will join us!
Mimi Lenox
Reply
July 10th, 2009 at 5:28 am
I learn sooo much from this blog. Wonderful shots.
Reply
July 10th, 2009 at 10:50 am
I published a “twilght rose” shot at about 23.00. A blogfriend in Israel answered that “it would be a very dark rose”…
Reply
July 10th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
beautiful garden.. beautiful weather,, what could you ask for? i also didn’t pay much attention to weather till i started living here in Germany and missed the sun
and the warm climate.. now i really feel happy when the sun is out…
Reply
July 10th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
I think we need all this light in the summer since we got such lack of light in the winters. It’s gorgeous in the summer. I love it and have no problems more than usual to sleep either. Though this rain, damp and wind we have had recently makes my back and joints worse, so I get less sleep because of ache. Finally today we got sun again, but it’s very cold winds. I hope it will improve SOON. I’m having my hope on France in august… *sigh*
Reply
July 10th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
How lovely to be having long days! I wish I have 48 hours a day.
I have been swarmed with work and don’t have much time left for surfing.
I want to visit you and Diane in Norway!
Reply
July 11th, 2009 at 1:19 am
Hi!
I’m from Brazil and my dreams is to know Norway. This country is very beautiful…
Reply
July 11th, 2009 at 3:42 am
I learnt about “The Land of the Midnight Sun” at school and the whole concept has fascinated me since then. We’re reasonably close to the equator without being denoted as “Tropical”, but rather “subtropical”. Which means that our days are a bit longer in the summer, but not as much as more Northern or Southern (i.e New Zealand) countries. It is something I want to experience…and I will one day!
Reply
July 11th, 2009 at 6:13 am
looks like an awesome place…….even i wish to spend my time with friends n family in such places!!!
Reply
July 11th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
I find it so interesting, the variation there is in daylight hours. Like you, I’ve been made more aware of it through blogging. We did learn of the Land of the Midnight Sun at school, but it’s still startling to see you sitting outside with the sun well above the horizon at 9:40. We could be outside at that time in England, but it would be very dusky. If we were in our house in France, the lights would be on.
Reply
July 11th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
68 degrees is not very warm…! LOL! Well, not be our standards here in California. I find it amazing that it stays light so late during the summer months—And I’m not sure I could take so little daylight in the Winter….It must have taken some getting used to for Diane….!
BTW: Clicking on your pictures really doesn’t make them any bigger—it just goes to Flucker where the size is almost the same for certain pictures….Before Flicker…your pictures got REALLY Big!
Reply
RennyBA Reply:
July 11th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
No, but mostly the warmest you get in Norway
Point taken Naomi. You see Flickr have been my fave photo site (part of my Social Media strategy), and if you click ‘All Sizes’, you’ll get it as big as you like.
Reply
July 12th, 2009 at 8:10 am
Goodness! With that much sunlight and a long daytime, I guess you need to find things to do.
Reply
July 12th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
Beautiful pictures, I like the long days we have when we’re in daylight savings; but even with that it’s dark around 9 pm. I think I would find it difficult sleeping when it’s so light.
I’m visiting blogs this am from my new SB widget. Always nice to meet new people/bloggers.
Sandy
Reply
July 12th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Just about to pop from your page elsewhere when I spotted something I wanted to ask you about. You have nice small buttons, example SB…the one on my page is considerably larger, but I didn’t see the nice small one as an option on SB. I am new there, perhaps you can direct me?
Thanks
Reply
RennyBA Reply:
July 12th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
I’ve sent you a note about it – hope it works
Reply
July 21st, 2009 at 7:26 am
hi,why do people stare at other people carrying around umbrellas on hot summer days? at least those people are in the shade and not getting sunburned!
Reply
July 23rd, 2009 at 9:58 am
WOW! Snow and Sun in the same place! What happen in Northern Italy where I live is that in 2 hrs. you can go from snowwy Dolomites to the sunny Adriatic sea but you never see the snow on the beach!
Reply
July 25th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
Wow Renny! The pics are amazing! I have always wanted to see Norway and how the sun is always (or most of the time!) up during the summer months. Lovely… I can’t believe those snaps were taken at around 11 p.m.!!! Beautiful!
Reply
February 18th, 2010 at 7:21 pm
M6kWAy I am always excited to visit this blog in the evenings.Please churning hold the contents. It is very entertaining.
Reply