# Ona, Sandøy

Ona is a village and an island group located in Ålesund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The tiny island of Ona and the larger island of Husøy are separated by a shallow 15-metre (49 ft) wide waterway. The two islands are collectively referred to as Ona. The islands are located 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) northwest of the island of Sandøya.
On 30 January 2025, the Norwegian County Governor announced his administration had greenlit a local authority swap for the islands of Ona and Sandøy. The islands will leave Ålesund Municipality only four years after the merger of their original municipality Sandøy, and will join the neighbouring municipality Aukra. Local islanders have since argued that the local authorities in Ålesund city (a three-hour drive from the islands) were too far away, expressing their fear of being neglected and marginalised. Culturally the adherance to Aukra dates back to the days when Aukra and its neigbouring islands were part of the same parish. For centuries, the Ona, Sandøy and Aukra communities have had strong economic connections through fishery and are still strongly interrelated up to this day. Ironically, the decision rescinds Paul Knudsen Gaasø's 1860 quest to gain local independence for the islands of Sandøy, Ona, Orten and Harøy from Aukra.
The historic village of Ona covers most of the tiny island of Ona. The highest point on Ona, the Onakalven cliff, is the site of the Ona Lighthouse, which was built in 1867. The lighthouse and the tiny island itself has become a well known tourist spot in Western Norway. It has a ferry connection with the other islands in Sandøy and to the island of Gossa in Aukra Municipality.
The island has a population of about 40, with a gradually diminishing population for the last 50 years. Ona has been populated for centuries because of the proximity to the fishing grounds further out to the Atlantic Ocean, and fishing has traditionally been the only source of income. Lately, several pottery artists have moved to the island.
Ona was featured, along with "Morning Song" by Babe Rainbow, in the Allstate Insurance Company's (U.S.) television commercial in 2020.

## Climate

Ona has an oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb) with cool/mild summers and chilly winters with lots of rainfall.
Climate data for Ona 1991-20 :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 16.0 (60.8) | 13.0 (55.4) | 13.1 (55.6) | 21.0 (69.8) | 21.4 (70.5) | 25.5 (77.9) | 35.1 (95.2) | 26.0 (78.8) | 24.4 (75.9) | 19.8 (67.6) | 18.2 (64.8) | 12.8 (55.0) | 35.1 (95.2) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 5.0 (41.0) | 4.5 (40.1) | 5.3 (41.5) | 7.4 (45.3) | 10.4 (50.7) | 12.9 (55.2) | 15.2 (59.4) | 15.9 (60.6) | 14.0 (57.2) | 10.3 (50.5) | 7.5 (45.5) | 5.7 (42.3) | 9.5 (49.1) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 3.6 (38.5) | 3.1 (37.6) | 3.8 (38.8) | 5.8 (42.4) | 8.4 (47.1) | 11.1 (52.0) | 13.4 (56.1) | 14.2 (57.6) | 12.4 (54.3) | 9.0 (48.2) | 6.2 (43.2) | 4.4 (39.9) | 8.0 (46.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 2.4 (36.3) | 1.9 (35.4) | 2.3 (36.1) | 4.0 (39.2) | 6.4 (43.5) | 9.4 (48.9) | 11.7 (53.1) | 12.5 (54.5) | 10.9 (51.6) | 7.6 (45.7) | 5.0 (41.0) | 3.2 (37.8) | 6.4 (43.5) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −10.0 (14.0) | −8.7 (16.3) | −6.0 (21.2) | −3.5 (25.7) | 0.1 (32.2) | 3.4 (38.1) | 6.8 (44.2) | 7.3 (45.1) | 3.6 (38.5) | −0.4 (31.3) | −5.8 (21.6) | −6.0 (21.2) | −10.0 (14.0) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 117.3 (4.62) | 121.4 (4.78) | 123.4 (4.86) | 69.2 (2.72) | 57.8 (2.28) | 77.9 (3.07) | 65.4 (2.57) | 101.1 (3.98) | 120.9 (4.76) | 150.9 (5.94) | 134.5 (5.30) | 141.4 (5.57) | 1,281.2 (50.44) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 1 mm) | 6.8 | 7.5 | 7.1 | 5.8 | 5.1 | 6.0 | 5.5 | 8.1 | 8.1 | 9.0 | 8.2 | 8.7 | 85.9 |
| Source: infoclimat.fr ||||||||||||||