Is November good for the northern lights?

For darkness, yes: the far-north towns have about 15 hours or more of civil night mid-month. It sits between the equinoxes, so it lacks SWPC's equinox tendency.

Which town has the longest nights in November?

Tromsø, with 16 h 37 min of civil night on November 15, 2026, of the 10 Glow towns.

When is the full moon in November 2026?

On November 24, 2026 (UTC date). Local dates can differ by a day.

Does November have an equinox or solstice?

No. The nearest are in September and December.

How many Glow towns are dark in November?

10 of 10 have civil night on November 15, 2026.

Northern lights in November: darkness by town

Best destinations in November

Across Glow's 168 month-page towns, Talnakh scores highest for November at 6.6 clear-dark hours: 16.6 hours of civil night on the 15th with 60% mean cloud. The median town scores 3.0. The score multiplies civil night by the clear share of NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 cloud average; it compares places, it does not forecast.

Top 20 month-page towns for November, by civil night times clear share
Town	Country	Civil night	Cloud	Score
Talnakh	Russia	16.6 h	60%	6.6 h
Norilsk	Russia	16.5 h	60%	6.6 h
Kayyerkan	Russia	16.5 h	62%	6.3 h
Dudinka	Russia	16.5 h	62%	6.3 h
Longyearbyen	Svalbard and Jan Mayen	24.0 h	76%	5.8 h
Portland, Maine	United States	13.2 h	61%	5.1 h
Fairbanks	United States	15.5 h	67%	5.1 h
Minneapolis	United States	13.3 h	63%	4.9 h
Fargo	United States	13.5 h	64%	4.9 h
Anchorage	United States	14.9 h	70%	4.5 h
Eagle River	United States	14.9 h	70%	4.5 h
Anadyr	Russia	15.4 h	71%	4.5 h
Cork	Ireland	13.8 h	69%	4.3 h
Lethbridge	Canada	13.7 h	69%	4.2 h
Vorkuta	Russia	16.0 h	74%	4.2 h
Duluth	United States	13.4 h	69%	4.2 h
Winnipeg	Canada	13.7 h	70%	4.1 h
Boden	Sweden	15.7 h	74%	4.1 h
Piteå	Sweden	15.6 h	74%	4.1 h
Vorgashor	Russia	16.1 h	75%	4.0 h

All 168 towns in November

November 2026 at 10 towns

Civil night on the 1st, 15th and last night of November 2026, with astronomical night and moon-free darkness on the 15th
Town	Nov 1	Nov 15	Last night	Astronomical, 15th	Moon-free, 15th
Tromsø	14 h 54 min	16 h 37 min	18 h 13 min	11 h 36 min	16 h 37 min
Fairbanks	14 h 14 min	15 h 31 min	16 h 36 min	11 h 31 min	11 h 35 min
Reykjavik	14 h 7 min	15 h 21 min	16 h 25 min	11 h 28 min	12 h
Yellowknife	13 h 57 min	15 h 5 min	16 h 3 min	11 h 27 min	11 h 6 min
Anchorage	13 h 50 min	14 h 55 min	15 h 48 min	11 h 25 min	10 h 39 min
Seattle	12 h 53 min	13 h 30 min	14 h	11 h 3 min	8 h 51 min
Duluth	12 h 50 min	13 h 26 min	13 h 55 min	11 h 1 min	8 h 52 min
Minneapolis	12 h 45 min	13 h 19 min	13 h 46 min	10 h 58 min	8 h 42 min
Portland, Maine	12 h 41 min	13 h 13 min	13 h 39 min	10 h 56 min	8 h 39 min
Buffalo	12 h 39 min	13 h 10 min	13 h 35 min	10 h 55 min	8 h 34 min

Civil night: sun at or below -6 degrees; astronomical: -18. Each town links to its full month page with every night.

What November means for aurora

In November Tromsø's nights stretch toward polar night, and Fairbanks and Reykjavik pass 15 hours of civil night mid-month. The lower 48 towns sit around 13 hours. The month is far from both equinoxes, so darkness is the main thing it offers.

Tromsø changes fastest across November: 14 h 54 min of civil night on the 1st and 18 h 13 min on the last night, a gain of 3.3 hours.

The moon in November 2026

In UTC dates, the new moon falls on Nov 9 and the full moon on Nov 24. Local dates can differ by a day; each town's month page uses its own time zone.

SWPC says a full moon diminishes the apparent brightness of the aurora. Nights near the new moon give the darkest background. The moon planner shows every night of November for any coordinates, and the moon guide explains how Glow counts moon-free darkness.

Questions

Is November good for the northern lights?: For darkness, yes: the far-north towns have about 15 hours or more of civil night mid-month. It sits between the equinoxes, so it lacks SWPC's equinox tendency.
Which town has the longest nights in November?: Tromsø, with 16 h 37 min of civil night on November 15, 2026, of the 10 Glow towns.
When is the full moon in November 2026?: On November 24, 2026 (UTC date). Local dates can differ by a day.
Does November have an equinox or solstice?: No. The nearest are in September and December.
How many Glow towns are dark in November?: 10 of 10 have civil night on November 15, 2026.

Other months

Towns in November

Guides

Sources and verification

SunCalchttps://github.com/mourner/suncalc
NOAA SWPC, Tips on viewing the aurorahttps://www.spaceweather.gov/content/tips-viewing-aurora
NOAA SWPC, Aurorahttps://www.swpc.noaa.gov/phenomena/aurora

Quoted figures last checked against their sources on 2026-09-30; next review 2026-12-31. Computed figures come from SunCalc and the IGRF-14 dipole as described in the methodology. Every quote is listed in the sources ledger.