Can you see the northern lights in Akureyri in November?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Akureyri have civil darkness, and 10% of past November days reached Kp 5.

How dark is Akureyri in November?

Akureyri averages 15.6 hours of civil night a night in November 2026, from 14 h 18 min on the 1st to 16 h 49 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Akureyri in November?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Akureyri's 1 degree cell 81% mean cloud in November, against 82% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in November 2026 for aurora in Akureyri?

By darkness and moon alone, Nov 3, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Akureyri. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.

Is November or December better in Akureyri?

By civil night times the clear share, November scores 3.0 hours at Akureyri and December 3.3. December comes out ahead.

Akureyri · November 2026

Northern lights in Akureyri in November 2026

Answer

November gives Akureyri 15.7 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 3rd darkest of its 12 months, under 81% mean cloud. 10% of November days since 1996 reached storm level, Kp 5.

15.6 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 65.68, -18.09; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

November against the rest of the year

3.0

2.3

1.7

1.1

0.0

0.8

1.5

2.1

3.0

3.3

November cloud at Akureyri averages 81% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, close to its yearly mean of 82%. June is Akureyri's clearest month at 80%. By civil night times clear sky, November scores 3.0 hours at Akureyri, 2nd of 12. Reykjavík, 249 km away, averages 78%, clearer by 3 points.

Civil night at Akureyri starts November at 14 h 18 min and reaches 16 h 49 min by November 30 as the nights lengthen by 2.5 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 11.5 hours on the 15th.

November night by night

November opens toward a new moon on Nov 9, with full moon on Nov 24, in Atlantic/Reykjavik dates. Akureyri gets 244 hours of civil night with the moon below the horizon across the month. The best of them for moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM: Nov 3 (4 h), Nov 4 (4 h), Nov 5 (4 h).

1
48% lit
4.4 h
2
37% lit
6.5 h
3
27% lit
8.4 h
4
18% lit
10.2 h
5
11% lit
12.0 h
6
5% lit
13.8 h
7
2% lit
14.9 h
8
0% lit
15.0 h
9
1% lit
15.1 h
New
10
3% lit
15.2 h
11
7% lit
15.3 h
12
12% lit
15.4 h
13
19% lit
15.5 h
14
27% lit
15.6 h
15
36% lit
12.6 h
16
45% lit
10.7 h
17
55% lit
9.0 h
18
65% lit
7.3 h
19
74% lit
5.7 h
20
83% lit
3.9 h
21
91% lit
2.0 h
22
96% lit
0.0 h
23
99% lit
0.0 h
24
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
25
97% lit
0.0 h
26
92% lit
0.0 h
27
84% lit
0.0 h
28
74% lit
2.9 h
29
64% lit
5.2 h
30
53% lit
7.2 h

Each cell is the night that starts on that date. Hours are civil-dark time with the moon below the horizon; the green rule scales with them. Green outline: new moon. Bone outline: full moon.

Activity in past Novembers

Quiet activity already puts the oval edge over Akureyri, so storm days matter more: 93 of the 900 November days from 1996 to 2025 (10%) reached Kp 5, 7th of 12 months. Akureyri sits at 69.7 degrees geomagnetic, inside SWPC's 60 to 75 degree band, where aurora can be seen on more than half of all nights. No storm is needed: by SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 0.

November across Iceland

No month-page town in Iceland has more civil night on November 15 than Akureyri; the national median is 15.4 hours. Coming from October (12.5 hours at Akureyri), November adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into December (17.5 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on November 15 and November cloud, month-page towns in Iceland
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Akureyri	15.7 h	81%
Reykjavík	15.4 h	78%
Hafnarfjörður	15.3 h	78%
Reykjanesbær	15.3 h	84%

Darkness and moon, every night

Akureyri, November 2026: each night from local noon to the next noon
Night	Civil	Astronomical	Moon-free dark	Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM	Moon lit
Sun Nov 1	14 h 18 min	10 h 20 min	4 h 22 min	9 min	48%
Mon Nov 2	14 h 24 min	10 h 26 min	6 h 30 min	2 h 14 min	37%
Tue Nov 3	14 h 30 min	10 h 31 min	8 h 25 min	4 h	27%
Wed Nov 4	14 h 36 min	10 h 37 min	10 h 13 min	4 h	18%
Thu Nov 5	14 h 42 min	10 h 42 min	12 h	4 h	11%
Fri Nov 6	14 h 48 min	10 h 47 min	13 h 49 min	4 h	5%
Sat Nov 7	14 h 54 min	10 h 53 min	14 h 54 min	4 h	2%
Sun Nov 8	15 h	10 h 58 min	15 h	4 h	0%
Mon Nov 9	15 h 5 min	11 h 3 min	15 h 5 min	4 h	1%
Tue Nov 10	15 h 11 min	11 h 7 min	15 h 11 min	4 h	3%
Wed Nov 11	15 h 17 min	11 h 12 min	15 h 17 min	4 h	7%
Thu Nov 12	15 h 22 min	11 h 17 min	15 h 22 min	4 h	12%
Fri Nov 13	15 h 28 min	11 h 22 min	15 h 28 min	4 h	19%
Sat Nov 14	15 h 33 min	11 h 26 min	15 h 33 min	4 h	27%
Sun Nov 15	15 h 39 min	11 h 31 min	12 h 35 min	4 h	36%
Mon Nov 16	15 h 44 min	11 h 35 min	10 h 41 min	3 h 50 min	45%
Tue Nov 17	15 h 49 min	11 h 39 min	8 h 58 min	2 h 5 min	55%
Wed Nov 18	15 h 55 min	11 h 43 min	7 h 19 min	23 min	65%
Thu Nov 19	16 h	11 h 48 min	5 h 39 min	0 min	74%
Fri Nov 20	16 h 5 min	11 h 52 min	3 h 55 min	0 min	83%
Sat Nov 21	16 h 9 min	11 h 55 min	1 h 59 min	0 min	91%
Sun Nov 22	16 h 14 min	11 h 59 min	0 min	0 min	96%
Mon Nov 23	16 h 19 min	12 h 3 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Tue Nov 24	16 h 24 min	12 h 6 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Wed Nov 25	16 h 28 min	12 h 10 min	0 min	0 min	97%
Thu Nov 26	16 h 32 min	12 h 13 min	0 min	0 min	92%
Fri Nov 27	16 h 37 min	12 h 16 min	0 min	0 min	84%
Sat Nov 28	16 h 41 min	12 h 19 min	2 h 56 min	0 min	74%
Sun Nov 29	16 h 45 min	12 h 22 min	5 h 12 min	0 min	64%
Mon Nov 30	16 h 49 min	12 h 25 min	7 h 10 min	1 h 48 min	53%

Moon lit: SunCalc illuminated fraction at the middle of the 10 PM to 2 AM window.

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Akureyri in November?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Akureyri have civil darkness, and 10% of past November days reached Kp 5.
How dark is Akureyri in November?: Akureyri averages 15.6 hours of civil night a night in November 2026, from 14 h 18 min on the 1st to 16 h 49 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Akureyri in November?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Akureyri's 1 degree cell 81% mean cloud in November, against 82% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in November 2026 for aurora in Akureyri?: By darkness and moon alone, Nov 3, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Akureyri. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is November or December better in Akureyri?: By civil night times the clear share, November scores 3.0 hours at Akureyri and December 3.3. December comes out ahead.

Sources and verification

SunCalchttps://github.com/mourner/suncalc
NASA POWER climatologyhttps://power.larc.nasa.gov/docs/services/api/temporal/climatology/
GFZ Potsdam Kp indexhttps://kp.gfz.de/en/data
NOAA SWPC, Tips on viewing the aurorahttps://www.spaceweather.gov/content/tips-viewing-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.