Can you see the northern lights in Anchorage in November?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Anchorage have civil darkness, and 51% of past November days reached Kp 3.

How dark is Anchorage in November?

Anchorage averages 14.9 hours of civil night a night in November 2026, from 13 h 50 min on the 1st to 15 h 48 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Anchorage in November?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Anchorage's 1 degree cell 70% mean cloud in November, against 74% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

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

Is November or December better in Anchorage?

By civil night times the clear share, November scores 4.5 hours at Anchorage and December 4.6. December comes out ahead.

Anchorage · November 2026

Northern lights in Anchorage in November 2026

Answer

November gives Anchorage 14.9 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 3rd darkest of its 12 months, under 70% mean cloud. 51% of November days since 1996 reached Kp 3, enough for the oval edge to reach Anchorage.

14.9 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 61.22, -149.90; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

November against the rest of the year

5.4

4.1

3.9

2.1

0.8

0.0

0.4

1.3

2.1

2.9

4.5

4.6

November cloud at Anchorage averages 70% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 4 points clearer than its yearly mean. March is Anchorage's clearest month at 63%. By civil night times clear sky, November scores 4.5 hours at Anchorage, 3rd of 12. Eagle River, 21 km away, averages the same 70%.

Civil night at Anchorage starts November at 13 h 50 min and reaches 15 h 48 min by November 30 as the nights lengthen by 2.0 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 11.4 hours on the 15th.

November night by night

November opens toward a new moon on Nov 8, with full moon on Nov 24, in America/Anchorage dates. Anchorage gets 234 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
44% lit
5.5 h
2
34% lit
7.3 h
3
24% lit
8.9 h
4
15% lit
10.5 h
5
9% lit
12.1 h
6
4% lit
13.7 h
7
1% lit
14.3 h
8
0% lit
14.4 h
New
9
1% lit
14.5 h
10
4% lit
14.6 h
11
9% lit
14.6 h
12
15% lit
14.7 h
13
22% lit
13.8 h
14
30% lit
12.2 h
15
39% lit
10.7 h
16
49% lit
9.2 h
17
59% lit
7.7 h
18
69% lit
6.2 h
19
78% lit
4.7 h
20
86% lit
3.1 h
21
93% lit
1.4 h
22
98% lit
0.0 h
23
100% lit
0.0 h
24
99% lit
0.0 h
Full
25
95% lit
0.0 h
26
89% lit
0.1 h
27
81% lit
2.1 h
28
71% lit
4.0 h
29
60% lit
5.8 h
30
49% lit
7.5 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

Anchorage needs Kp 3 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 455 of the 900 November days from 1996 to 2025 (51%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 6th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 10%. Anchorage sits at 61.9 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 3.

November across United States

Anchorage ranks 2nd in United States for civil night on November 15, behind Fairbanks at 15.5 hours. Coming from October (12.4 hours at Anchorage), November adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into December (16.3 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on November 15 and November cloud, month-page towns in United States
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Fairbanks	15.5 h	67%
Anchorage	14.9 h	70%
Eagle River	14.9 h	70%
Juneau	14.5 h	79%
Seattle	13.5 h	77%
Fargo	13.5 h	64%
Duluth	13.4 h	69%
Minneapolis	13.3 h	63%
Buffalo	13.2 h	75%
Portland, Maine	13.2 h	61%

Darkness and moon, every night

Anchorage, 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	13 h 50 min	10 h 28 min	5 h 32 min	1 h 20 min	44%
Mon Nov 2	13 h 55 min	10 h 32 min	7 h 17 min	3 h 3 min	34%
Tue Nov 3	14 h	10 h 37 min	8 h 56 min	4 h	24%
Wed Nov 4	14 h 5 min	10 h 41 min	10 h 32 min	4 h	15%
Thu Nov 5	14 h 10 min	10 h 45 min	12 h 7 min	4 h	9%
Fri Nov 6	14 h 14 min	10 h 50 min	13 h 43 min	4 h	4%
Sat Nov 7	14 h 19 min	10 h 54 min	14 h 19 min	4 h	1%
Sun Nov 8	14 h 24 min	10 h 58 min	14 h 24 min	4 h	0%
Mon Nov 9	14 h 28 min	11 h 2 min	14 h 28 min	4 h	1%
Tue Nov 10	14 h 33 min	11 h 6 min	14 h 33 min	4 h	4%
Wed Nov 11	14 h 37 min	11 h 10 min	14 h 37 min	4 h	9%
Thu Nov 12	14 h 42 min	11 h 14 min	14 h 42 min	4 h	15%
Fri Nov 13	14 h 46 min	11 h 18 min	13 h 48 min	4 h	22%
Sat Nov 14	14 h 50 min	11 h 21 min	12 h 13 min	4 h	30%
Sun Nov 15	14 h 55 min	11 h 25 min	10 h 39 min	4 h	39%
Mon Nov 16	14 h 59 min	11 h 29 min	9 h 9 min	2 h 55 min	49%
Tue Nov 17	15 h 3 min	11 h 32 min	7 h 41 min	1 h 25 min	59%
Wed Nov 18	15 h 7 min	11 h 35 min	6 h 13 min	0 min	69%
Thu Nov 19	15 h 11 min	11 h 39 min	4 h 43 min	0 min	78%
Fri Nov 20	15 h 15 min	11 h 42 min	3 h 7 min	0 min	86%
Sat Nov 21	15 h 18 min	11 h 45 min	1 h 23 min	0 min	93%
Sun Nov 22	15 h 22 min	11 h 48 min	0 min	0 min	98%
Mon Nov 23	15 h 26 min	11 h 51 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Tue Nov 24	15 h 29 min	11 h 54 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Wed Nov 25	15 h 32 min	11 h 57 min	0 min	0 min	95%
Thu Nov 26	15 h 36 min	11 h 59 min	7 min	0 min	89%
Fri Nov 27	15 h 39 min	12 h 2 min	2 h 5 min	0 min	81%
Sat Nov 28	15 h 42 min	12 h 5 min	4 h 1 min	0 min	71%
Sun Nov 29	15 h 45 min	12 h 7 min	5 h 49 min	46 min	60%
Mon Nov 30	15 h 48 min	12 h 9 min	7 h 30 min	2 h 25 min	49%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Anchorage in November?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Anchorage have civil darkness, and 51% of past November days reached Kp 3.
How dark is Anchorage in November?: Anchorage averages 14.9 hours of civil night a night in November 2026, from 13 h 50 min on the 1st to 15 h 48 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Anchorage in November?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Anchorage's 1 degree cell 70% mean cloud in November, against 74% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in November 2026 for aurora in Anchorage?: By darkness and moon alone, Nov 3, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Anchorage. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is November or December better in Anchorage?: By civil night times the clear share, November scores 4.5 hours at Anchorage and December 4.6. 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.