Is October a good month for aurora?

It has long nights at every Glow town and follows the September equinox. The table gives civil night on the 1st, 15th and last day for each town.

Which town has the longest nights in October?

Tromsø, with 12 h 40 min of civil night on October 15, 2026, of the 10 Glow towns.

When is the full moon in October 2026?

On October 26, 2026 (UTC date). Local dates can differ by a day.

Does October have an equinox or solstice?

No. The nearest are in September and December.

How many Glow towns are dark in October?

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

Aurora by month · 2026

Northern lights in October

Answer

October brings long nights to the far north while the equinox effect fades. On October 15, 2026, Tromsø has the most civil night of the 10 Glow towns at 12 h 40 min, and Buffalo the least at 11 h 55 min. The median is 12.2 hours.

Best destinations in October

Across Glow's 168 month-page towns, Minneapolis scores highest for October at 4.9 clear-dark hours: 12.0 hours of civil night on the 15th with 59% mean cloud. The median town scores 2.8. 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 October, by civil night times clear share
Town	Country	Civil night	Cloud	Score
Minneapolis	United States	12.0 h	59%	4.9 h
Portland, Maine	United States	11.9 h	59%	4.9 h
Fargo	United States	12.0 h	60%	4.8 h
Regina	Canada	12.1 h	63%	4.5 h
Duluth	United States	12.0 h	64%	4.3 h
Saskatoon	Canada	12.1 h	65%	4.2 h
Lethbridge	Canada	12.1 h	65%	4.2 h
Lloydminster	Canada	12.2 h	66%	4.1 h
Winnipeg	Canada	12.1 h	66%	4.1 h
Kelowna	Canada	12.1 h	67%	4.0 h
Edmonton	Canada	12.2 h	68%	3.9 h
Odense	Denmark	12.2 h	68%	3.9 h
Calgary	Canada	12.1 h	68%	3.9 h
Kamloops	Canada	12.1 h	68%	3.9 h
Seattle	United States	12.0 h	68%	3.8 h
Cork	Ireland	12.1 h	69%	3.8 h
Red Deer	Canada	12.1 h	69%	3.8 h
Trois-Rivières	Canada	12.0 h	69%	3.7 h
Prince Albert	Canada	12.2 h	70%	3.7 h
Nuuk	Greenland	12.5 h	71%	3.6 h

All 168 towns in October

October 2026 at 10 towns

Civil night on the 1st, 15th and last night of October 2026, with astronomical night and moon-free darkness on the 15th
Town	Oct 1	Oct 15	Last night	Astronomical, 15th	Moon-free, 15th
Tromsø	10 h 45 min	12 h 40 min	14 h 46 min	7 h 57 min	12 h 40 min
Fairbanks	11 h	12 h 30 min	14 h 8 min	8 h 42 min	12 h 30 min
Reykjavik	10 h 59 min	12 h 27 min	14 h 1 min	8 h 44 min	12 h 27 min
Yellowknife	11 h 3 min	12 h 25 min	13 h 52 min	8 h 55 min	12 h 25 min
Anchorage	11 h 5 min	12 h 23 min	13 h 46 min	9 h 1 min	12 h 23 min
Seattle	11 h 15 min	12 h 1 min	12 h 50 min	9 h 38 min	10 h 11 min
Duluth	11 h 15 min	12 h	12 h 48 min	9 h 39 min	10 h 10 min
Minneapolis	11 h 15 min	11 h 58 min	12 h 42 min	9 h 42 min	9 h 59 min
Portland, Maine	11 h 15 min	11 h 56 min	12 h 39 min	9 h 43 min	9 h 54 min
Buffalo	11 h 16 min	11 h 55 min	12 h 37 min	9 h 44 min	9 h 49 min

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

What October means for aurora

By October the far-north towns have 12 or more hours of civil night mid-month, and the lower 48 around 12 as well. The September equinox is past, so SWPC's equinox tendency weakens as the month goes on. October trades a little storm tendency for more dark hours than September.

Tromsø changes fastest across October: 10 h 45 min of civil night on the 1st and 14 h 46 min on the last night, a gain of 4.0 hours.

The moon in October 2026

In UTC dates, the new moon falls on Oct 10 and the full moon on Oct 26. 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 October for any coordinates, and the moon guide explains how Glow counts moon-free darkness.

Questions

Is October a good month for aurora?: It has long nights at every Glow town and follows the September equinox. The table gives civil night on the 1st, 15th and last day for each town.
Which town has the longest nights in October?: Tromsø, with 12 h 40 min of civil night on October 15, 2026, of the 10 Glow towns.
When is the full moon in October 2026?: On October 26, 2026 (UTC date). Local dates can differ by a day.
Does October have an equinox or solstice?: No. The nearest are in September and December.
How many Glow towns are dark in October?: 10 of 10 have civil night on October 15, 2026.

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.