Daylight scorecard 2027 for four Iceland towns

Daylight on the 1st and 15th of each month of 2027 for Reykjavík, Akureyri, Egilsstaðir and Ísafjörður, computed with NOAA's equations, and the months each ledger fits.

The north loses the winter faster and wins the summer bigger: on 15 December 2027 Reykjavík has 4 h 13 min of daylight, Akureyri 3 h 12 min, Ísafjörður 2 h 52 min; on 15 June Reykjavík has 21 h 02 min and at Ísafjörður the formula says the sun does not set. In spring and autumn the four towns are within a quarter of an hour of each other, which is why the earlier post used Reykjavík alone. This one gives all four, and then the months each ledger fits.

The table

Computed with the NOAA solar equations for a zenith of 90.833° (sunrise and sunset, refraction included), for Reykjavík 64.15° N 21.94° W, Akureyri 65.68° N 18.13° W, Egilsstaðir 65.27° N 14.39° W and Ísafjörður 66.07° N 23.12° W. Iceland keeps UTC all year. Hours and minutes of daylight, 2027.

2027	Reykjavík	Akureyri	Egilsstaðir	Ísafjörður
1 Jan	4 h 23	3 h 26	3 h 43	3 h 07
15 Jan	5 h 24	4 h 42	4 h 54	4 h 30
1 Feb	7 h 05	6 h 40	6 h 47	6 h 33
15 Feb	8 h 37	8 h 20	8 h 25	8 h 16
1 Mar	10 h 09	10 h 00	10 h 03	9 h 58
15 Mar	11 h 40	11 h 39	11 h 39	11 h 38
1 Apr	13 h 31	13 h 38	13 h 36	13 h 40
15 Apr	15 h 04	15 h 17	15 h 14	15 h 21
1 May	16 h 50	17 h 14	17 h 07	17 h 21
15 May	18 h 23	19 h 01	18 h 49	19 h 12
1 Jun	20 h 06	21 h 14	20 h 52	21 h 38
15 Jun	21 h 02	23 h 02	22 h 14	no sunset
1 Jul	20 h 51	22 h 34	21 h 56	no sunset
15 Jul	19 h 45	20 h 44	20 h 26	21 h 04
1 Aug	17 h 59	18 h 33	18 h 23	18 h 43
15 Aug	16 h 27	16 h 49	16 h 43	16 h 55
1 Sep	14 h 36	14 h 47	14 h 44	14 h 50
15 Sep	13 h 05	13 h 10	13 h 08	13 h 11
1 Oct	11 h 22	11 h 19	11 h 20	11 h 18
15 Oct	9 h 52	9 h 42	9 h 45	9 h 39
1 Nov	8 h 02	7 h 42	7 h 48	7 h 37
15 Nov	6 h 33	6 h 03	6 h 11	5 h 54
1 Dec	5 h 03	4 h 17	4 h 30	4 h 03
15 Dec	4 h 13	3 h 12	3 h 31	2 h 52

Two readings. Ísafjörður is south of the Arctic Circle, but with refraction and the sun's own width the NOAA formula finds the upper edge of the disc above a flat horizon all night from 12 June to 1 July 2027; the town sits under mountains, so what you see is a long twilight, not a sun. And Egilsstaðir, 7.5° of longitude east of Reykjavík, has the same length of day as the others on any date but its clock times are about half an hour earlier: sunset there on 15 November 2027 is 15:48, in Reykjavík 16:29.

The rule, per ledger

The earlier post set the 330 km rule for the Ring Road. The general form: hours of daylight needed = (longest day's km ÷ 80) + 3.5 hours, the 3.5 being a fuel stop, a meal, the stops that are the point of the day and a margin at each end. A month fits when both the 1st and the 15th in the relevant town clear it. Each ledger's road window still applies on top; light is the necessary condition, not the sufficient one.

Ledger	longest day	needs	town	months that fit by light
Ring Road 7 days	325 km, Akureyri–Borgarnes	7 h 34	Akureyri	15 Feb – 1 Nov
Ring Road 10 days	325 km, same day	7 h 34	Akureyri	15 Feb – 1 Nov
South Coast and Golden Circle 5 days	330 km, Vík–Jökulsárlón–Klaustur	7 h 38	Reykjavík	15 Feb – 1 Nov
Westfjords loop 6 days	230 km + 2 h 10 ferry	8 h 33	Ísafjörður	1 Mar – 15 Oct
North and Diamond Circle 5 days	150 km, Mývatn–Húsavík	5 h 23	Akureyri	1 Feb – 15 Nov
Highlands 4x4 5 days	320 km at 415 min, Askja	10 h 25	Akureyri	15 Mar – 1 Oct

The Highlands row is the one where light is irrelevant: F88, F905 and F910 open in late June or July and close in September, so the ledger fits July and August and nothing else. The Westfjords row is nearly as tight, because Route 612 to Látrabjarg and Dynjandisheiði are not winter-serviced. The North loop is the forgiving one, with a 150 km longest day that fits from the first of February, and the one to choose for a short-day month. The rule does not count twilight, which at these latitudes is long and useful for driving but not for seeing anything; the season planner on this site carries the same caution month by month.

Sources

NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory, solar calculator equations: https://gml.noaa.gov/grad/solcalc/calcdetails.html
Computed here on 1 November 2026 for the four towns above, 1st and 15th of each month of 2027, with the site's daylight routine (lib/daylight.ts), zenith 90.833°.
Daylight on the 15th: the 330 km rule, this site: /blog/daylight-on-the-15th-330-km-rule
The six Iceland ledgers on this site, checked 1 November 2026: /journeys/iceland-ring-road-7-days, /journeys/iceland-ring-road-10-days-snaefellsnes, /journeys/iceland-south-coast-golden-circle-5-days, /journeys/iceland-westfjords-loop-6-days, /journeys/iceland-north-diamond-circle-5-days, /journeys/iceland-highlands-4x4-5-days

Daylight scorecard 2027 for four Iceland towns

#The table

#The rule, per ledger

#Sources

The ledgers this post refers to

The table

The rule, per ledger

Sources