When Does it Snow in Tromsø?: Best Months for a Winter Wonderland

When you think about winter in Norway, you’re probably dreaming of Tromsø in the snow: a beautiful wintry fairytale of a city, situated right on the fjord, streets dusted in soft powder and shining despite the dark skies from the Christmas lights-lined streets.

While Tromsø can undoubtedly be a snowy fairy tale, it doesn’t always snow in Tromsø all winter long. While the city is famously north of the Arctic Circle — the so-called ‘Paris of the North’ is not guaranteed to snow all year round, or even all winter round. 

But if it is indeed an Arctic city, why is that? Well, a large part of the reason why Tromsø isn’t as cold and wintry as you might expect is that it’s impacted by the jet stream, which moderates climates stretching from Iceland and alllll the way up north to Svalbard, as far as you can fly on a commercial plane.

As a result, these coastal Nordic climates have a less intense winter than you might think, as the air moderates the temperatures quite significantly. But don’t worry — it still definitely snows in Tromsø.

But due to these relatively higher temperatures than the rest of Norway, it doesn’t always snow in Tromso until later in the season… at least predictably so, in a way that will ‘stick’.

While the first snow may fall relatively early in the season, even as soon as September sometimes, what matters most for winter travelers to Tromsø is not the first snowfall but rather the continued accumulation of snow, or in other words, the total snowpack.

If there’s not enough snowpack, many wintry activities like snowmobiling, snowshoeing, dog sledding, and reindeer sledding cannot operate; some may have to change how they run the tours (for example, using autumn dog sleds that use wheels for the sledges or having just a reindeer farm visit rather than a sleigh ride).

As you can probably see, it’s critical to time your winter visit to Tromsø with a good chance of sufficient snowfall. But when exactly is the best time to visit Tromsø if you want plenty of snow for winter sports and activities?

Let’s look at the numbers first, but then let me break them down further based on my personal experience visiting Tromsø in winter two times, first in 2020 and again in 2024.

Tromsø Snow by the Numbers

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of the post, here’s a super-quick overview of how much snow to expect in Tromsø in each month (note: all winter snowfall information was sourced here).

• October: 9 cm (4 in)
• November: 22 cm (9 in)
• December: 33 cm (13 in)
• January: 41 cm (16 in)
• February: 40 cm (16 in)
• March: 26 cm (10 in)
• April: 14 cm (6 in)

However, it’s not so simple as bigger number = better time to visit Tromsø for the snow. Snowpack matters a lot, and visiting at the beginning of the month vs. the end of the month can also make a difference when you are talking about overall snow accumulation.

Keep reading to find out when I think the best time to visit Tromsø in all its snowy glory is — and what other things you may have to weigh, such as the seasonality of particular activities like whale watching, aurora chasing, and more.

The Best Time for Snow in Tromsø: January and February

If you want the best chance of plenty of snow in Tromso, you’ll aim for the period between the middle of January and the middle of February, though honestly, any time during those months should be okay.

By mid-January, you should almost certainly have quite a fair amount of snow accumulated, and barring any unusual weather patterns, all the snow-based land activities should be running as usual.

When deciding whether to come to Tromso in January or February, I would base it on two factors. Number one: Do you want to go whale watching for orcas and humpback whales? If yes, pick early to mid-January. 

The whales leave the fjords outside of Skjervoy, about a 3-hour boat ride from Tromso, by the end of January. There are no boat tours in February; you would have to go up north to Alta to try to whale watch in February, and even then, the whales may have left the Alta fjords too.

Number two: How important is seeing the sun to you on your trip to Tromsø? The sun rises above the horizon on January 15th, and it’ll still take a few more days to rise above the mountains surrounding Tromso and let you see the sun for the first time.

If you visit in February, you’ll definitely be able to get a much-needed dose of sunshine (and a lovely infusion of vitamin D… which, trust me, hits differently in the Arctic). 

Personally, I’ve visited in February twice: once for a week in the first week of February 2020 and then again for nearly a month in February 2024.

In my experience, I vastly preferred my time around the middle and end of the month of February because I’m basically a plant who photosynthesizes… but your mileage may vary. Some people really like the polar night experience; I feel like a zombie.

Second Best Time for Snow in Tromsø: March and Early April

There has been a lot of snowfall in Tromsø so far by March and April. However, the main question becomes: will it stick? And worse for the wildlife who depends on the grasses beneath the snow, will the snow refreeze after melting, creating a dangerous sheet of ice for animals and humans alike?

This isn’t just theoretical. I had an acquaintance plan a mid-March trip to Tromsø where, unfortunately, she could not do the planned activities like dog sledding because the snow had melted and refrozen.

What’s the problem here? This made a super-dangerous ice sheet that the dogs could not safely run on, at least until more fresh powder had fallen to create a safe layer of snow for dogs to run on top of. It was a real bummer for her, as that was one of the main activities she planned for her trip to Tromsø.

In another anecdote, my friend recently visited Tromsø at the very end of March. While some snow was falling, much of the snow around had already turned to slush.

While some tours were still running, this wasn’t necessarily the best snow conditions for snow activities like snowshoeing and dog-sledding, which are a lot more fun with ‘crispy’, powdery snow.

But all hope is not lost at this time of year! In the areas immediately outside Tromsø, like the Tamok Valley, it’s even better for snowy activities because these parts of the inner Troms region are much colder than the temperate coastal part.

For example, while the city of Tromsø typically rises above freezing several times by April, you can still visit the Ice Domes in Tamok Valley every year up until approximately the first week of April. 

The 2024-2025 season dates have yet to be announced, but last year, the Tromsø Ice Domes were open from December 20 to April 9. Normally, the Tromsø Ice Domes open on December 10, but it opened later this past year due to warmer-than-usual December temperatures in 2023 (which is why December is lower down the list than March/early April in my opinion!). 

Also, please note that many activities, such as dog-sledding, end by the middle of April and that aurora tours usually end by the first week of April because the sun starts to set too late for them to run effectively. 

Third Best Time for Snow in Tromsø: Late November and December

Honestly, this is not the best time to experience snow in Tromsø… though it is great for whale watching and seeing the aurora. In fact, seeing the aurora is often at odds with the snow, because you need clear, cloudless skies to see the aurora.

When it comes to snowfall, you may get lucky and have some snow, but until you reach December or even mid to late December, there’s a chance it won’t be enough for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, and dog sledding. 

My favorite dog-sled tour, this self-driving dog-sled adventure, starts running tours again in mid-November. However, note that these tours may be canceled, or you may run on an autumn dog sled if there’s not enough snow on the ground early in the season.

From friends who have lived in Tromsø, I’ve heard that some years, there haven’t even been any significant snowfall accumulations until Christmas! 

This is a risk you run, but the later in December you travel, the better off you are when it comes to having enough snow for winter activities.

Just remember that the week around Christmas is the busiest time of year for travel in Tromsø, so be sure to book all activities ahead of time. Even in August as I write this post, I’m seeing that this week is completely sold out for a lot of popular activities like dog sledding!

Allison Green

Allison Green is a former teacher who has been travel blogging since 2016. She has a Masters in Teaching and a B.A. in English and Creative Writing. Her blog posts merge her background as an educator with her experience traveling to 70+ countries to encourage ethical, meaningful travel. She has been a speaker at the World Travel Writers Conference and her writing, photography, and podcasting work has appeared in National Geographic, CNN Arabic, CBC Canada, and Forbes, amongst others. Now a full-time traveler, she has lived in Prague, Sofia, New York City, and the San Francisco Bay Area.