Can you see the northern lights in Alta in November?

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

How dark is Alta in November?

Alta averages 16.7 hours of civil night a night in November 2026, from 14 h 57 min on the 1st to 18 h 22 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Alta in November?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Alta's 1 degree cell 81% mean cloud in November, against 80% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

By darkness and moon alone, Nov 5, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Alta. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.

Is November or December better in Alta?

By civil night times the clear share, November scores 3.2 hours at Alta and December 3.3. December comes out ahead.

Alta · November 2026

Northern lights in Alta in November 2026

Answer

November gives Alta 16.7 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.

16.7 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 69.97, 23.27; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

November against the rest of the year

3.8

3.0

2.1

1.1

0.0

1.6

2.0

3.2

3.3

November cloud at Alta averages 81% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, close to its yearly mean of 80%. April is Alta's clearest month at 76%. By civil night times clear sky, November scores 3.2 hours at Alta, 3rd of 12. Tromsø, 169 km away, averages 84%, cloudier by 3 points.

Civil night at Alta starts November at 14 h 57 min and reaches 18 h 22 min by November 30 as the nights lengthen by 3.4 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 11.6 hours on the 15th.

November night by night

November opens toward a new moon on Nov 9, with full moon on Nov 24, in Europe/Oslo dates. Alta gets 256 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 5 (4 h), Nov 6 (4 h), Nov 7 (4 h).

1
49% lit
1.6 h
2
38% lit
5.9 h
3
28% lit
8.3 h
4
19% lit
10.4 h
5
11% lit
12.4 h
6
6% lit
14.6 h
7
2% lit
15.7 h
8
0% lit
15.8 h
9
1% lit
16.0 h
New
10
3% lit
16.1 h
11
7% lit
16.2 h
12
12% lit
16.4 h
13
19% lit
16.5 h
14
27% lit
16.6 h
15
36% lit
16.7 h
16
45% lit
12.7 h
17
55% lit
10.3 h
18
65% lit
8.3 h
19
74% lit
6.4 h
20
83% lit
4.4 h
21
90% lit
2.2 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
75% lit
0.0 h
29
64% lit
4.9 h
30
53% lit
7.3 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 Alta, so storm days matter more: 93 of the 900 November days from 1996 to 2025 (10%) reached Kp 5, 7th of 12 months. Alta sits at 67.2 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 Norway

No month-page town in Norway has more civil night on November 15 than Alta; the national median is 15.1 hours. Coming from October (12.7 hours at Alta), November adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into December (19.4 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on November 15 and November cloud, month-page towns in Norway
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Alta	16.7 h	81%
Tromsø	16.6 h	84%
Harstad	16.4 h	82%
Bodø	16.0 h	83%
Mo i Rana	15.8 h	79%
Levanger	15.3 h	82%
Trondheim	15.2 h	82%
Kristiansund	15.2 h	82%
Stjørdalshalsen	15.2 h	82%
Ålesund	15.1 h	84%
Molde	15.1 h	84%
Lillehammer	14.9 h	77%

Darkness and moon, every night

Alta, 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 57 min	10 h 9 min	1 h 36 min	0 min	49%
Mon Nov 2	15 h 5 min	10 h 16 min	5 h 56 min	0 min	38%
Tue Nov 3	15 h 13 min	10 h 23 min	8 h 16 min	1 h 51 min	28%
Wed Nov 4	15 h 20 min	10 h 30 min	10 h 22 min	3 h 54 min	19%
Thu Nov 5	15 h 28 min	10 h 36 min	12 h 25 min	4 h	11%
Fri Nov 6	15 h 36 min	10 h 43 min	14 h 34 min	4 h	6%
Sat Nov 7	15 h 43 min	10 h 49 min	15 h 43 min	4 h	2%
Sun Nov 8	15 h 51 min	10 h 56 min	15 h 51 min	4 h	0%
Mon Nov 9	15 h 58 min	11 h 2 min	15 h 58 min	4 h	1%
Tue Nov 10	16 h 6 min	11 h 8 min	16 h 6 min	4 h	3%
Wed Nov 11	16 h 13 min	11 h 14 min	16 h 13 min	4 h	7%
Thu Nov 12	16 h 21 min	11 h 20 min	16 h 21 min	4 h	12%
Fri Nov 13	16 h 28 min	11 h 26 min	16 h 28 min	4 h	19%
Sat Nov 14	16 h 36 min	11 h 31 min	16 h 36 min	4 h	27%
Sun Nov 15	16 h 43 min	11 h 37 min	16 h 43 min	4 h	36%
Mon Nov 16	16 h 50 min	11 h 42 min	12 h 44 min	4 h	45%
Tue Nov 17	16 h 57 min	11 h 48 min	10 h 15 min	4 h	55%
Wed Nov 18	17 h 4 min	11 h 53 min	8 h 19 min	2 h 33 min	65%
Thu Nov 19	17 h 11 min	11 h 58 min	6 h 26 min	36 min	74%
Fri Nov 20	17 h 18 min	12 h 3 min	4 h 26 min	0 min	83%
Sat Nov 21	17 h 25 min	12 h 8 min	2 h 10 min	0 min	90%
Sun Nov 22	17 h 32 min	12 h 12 min	0 min	0 min	96%
Mon Nov 23	17 h 39 min	12 h 17 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Tue Nov 24	17 h 45 min	12 h 21 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Wed Nov 25	17 h 52 min	12 h 26 min	0 min	0 min	97%
Thu Nov 26	17 h 58 min	12 h 30 min	0 min	0 min	92%
Fri Nov 27	18 h 4 min	12 h 34 min	0 min	0 min	84%
Sat Nov 28	18 h 10 min	12 h 38 min	0 min	0 min	75%
Sun Nov 29	18 h 16 min	12 h 42 min	4 h 53 min	0 min	64%
Mon Nov 30	18 h 22 min	12 h 45 min	7 h 21 min	0 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 Alta in November?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Alta have civil darkness, and 10% of past November days reached Kp 5.
How dark is Alta in November?: Alta averages 16.7 hours of civil night a night in November 2026, from 14 h 57 min on the 1st to 18 h 22 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Alta in November?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Alta's 1 degree cell 81% mean cloud in November, against 80% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in November 2026 for aurora in Alta?: By darkness and moon alone, Nov 5, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Alta. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is November or December better in Alta?: By civil night times the clear share, November scores 3.2 hours at Alta 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.