Can you see the northern lights in Cochrane in November?

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

How dark is Cochrane in November?

Cochrane averages 13.8 hours of civil night a night in November 2026, from 13 h 5 min on the 1st to 14 h 22 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Cochrane in November?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Cochrane's 1 degree cell 71% mean cloud in November, against 67% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

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

Is November or December better in Cochrane?

By civil night times the clear share, November scores 4.0 hours at Cochrane and December 4.7. December comes out ahead.

Cochrane · November 2026

Northern lights in Cochrane in November 2026

Answer

November gives Cochrane 13.8 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 3rd darkest of its 12 months, under 71% mean cloud. 10% of November days since 1996 reached Kp 5, enough for the oval edge to reach Cochrane.

13.8 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 51.18, -114.47; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

November against the rest of the year

4.3

3.9

3.1

2.5

2.1

1.7

2.8

3.6

3.9

4.0

4.7

November cloud at Cochrane averages 71% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 4 points cloudier than its yearly mean. July is Cochrane's clearest month at 56%. By civil night times clear sky, November scores 4.0 hours at Cochrane, 3rd of 12. Calgary, 31 km away, averages the same 71%.

Civil night at Cochrane starts November at 13 h 5 min and reaches 14 h 22 min by November 30 as the nights lengthen by 1.3 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 11.2 hours on the 15th.

November night by night

November opens toward a new moon on Nov 9, with full moon on Nov 24, in America/Edmonton dates. Cochrane gets 216 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 2 (4 h), Nov 3 (4 h), Nov 4 (4 h).

1
46% lit
5.8 h
2
35% lit
7.2 h
3
25% lit
8.6 h
4
16% lit
9.9 h
5
9% lit
11.2 h
6
4% lit
12.5 h
7
1% lit
13.4 h
8
0% lit
13.4 h
9
1% lit
13.5 h
New
10
4% lit
13.6 h
11
8% lit
13.5 h
12
14% lit
12.6 h
13
21% lit
11.6 h
14
29% lit
10.4 h
15
38% lit
9.3 h
16
48% lit
8.1 h
17
58% lit
6.9 h
18
67% lit
5.7 h
19
77% lit
4.4 h
20
85% lit
3.1 h
21
92% lit
1.7 h
22
97% lit
0.2 h
23
100% lit
0.0 h
24
99% lit
0.0 h
Full
25
96% lit
0.0 h
26
90% lit
1.1 h
27
82% lit
2.6 h
28
72% lit
4.1 h
29
61% lit
5.5 h
30
50% lit
6.9 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

Cochrane needs Kp 5 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 93 of the 900 November days from 1996 to 2025 (10%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 7th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 10%. Cochrane sits at 57.6 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 5, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less.

November across Canada

Cochrane ranks 11th in Canada for civil night on November 15, behind Yellowknife at 15.1 hours. Coming from October (12.1 hours at Cochrane), November adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into December (14.7 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on November 15 and November cloud, month-page towns in Canada
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Yellowknife	15.1 h	75%
Whitehorse	14.8 h	74%
Fort McMurray	14.3 h	77%
Fort St. John	14.3 h	73%
Grande Prairie	14.2 h	75%
Edmonton	14.0 h	76%
Prince Albert	14.0 h	77%
Lloydminster	14.0 h	74%
Saskatoon	13.9 h	73%
Red Deer	13.9 h	76%
Cochrane	13.8 h	71%
Calgary	13.8 h	71%

Darkness and moon, every night

Cochrane, 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 5 min	10 h 30 min	5 h 47 min	2 h 37 min	46%
Mon Nov 2	13 h 8 min	10 h 33 min	7 h 12 min	4 h	35%
Tue Nov 3	13 h 12 min	10 h 36 min	8 h 34 min	4 h	25%
Wed Nov 4	13 h 15 min	10 h 39 min	9 h 53 min	4 h	16%
Thu Nov 5	13 h 18 min	10 h 42 min	11 h 11 min	4 h	9%
Fri Nov 6	13 h 21 min	10 h 45 min	12 h 29 min	4 h	4%
Sat Nov 7	13 h 24 min	10 h 48 min	13 h 24 min	4 h	1%
Sun Nov 8	13 h 27 min	10 h 50 min	13 h 27 min	4 h	0%
Mon Nov 9	13 h 30 min	10 h 53 min	13 h 30 min	4 h	1%
Tue Nov 10	13 h 33 min	10 h 56 min	13 h 33 min	4 h	4%
Wed Nov 11	13 h 36 min	10 h 59 min	13 h 28 min	4 h	8%
Thu Nov 12	13 h 39 min	11 h 1 min	12 h 36 min	4 h	14%
Fri Nov 13	13 h 42 min	11 h 4 min	11 h 34 min	4 h	21%
Sat Nov 14	13 h 45 min	11 h 6 min	10 h 26 min	4 h	29%
Sun Nov 15	13 h 47 min	11 h 9 min	9 h 15 min	2 h 58 min	38%
Mon Nov 16	13 h 50 min	11 h 11 min	8 h 3 min	1 h 45 min	48%
Tue Nov 17	13 h 53 min	11 h 13 min	6 h 52 min	32 min	58%
Wed Nov 18	13 h 55 min	11 h 16 min	5 h 39 min	0 min	67%
Thu Nov 19	13 h 58 min	11 h 18 min	4 h 24 min	0 min	77%
Fri Nov 20	14 h	11 h 20 min	3 h 5 min	0 min	85%
Sat Nov 21	14 h 3 min	11 h 22 min	1 h 41 min	0 min	92%
Sun Nov 22	14 h 5 min	11 h 24 min	13 min	0 min	97%
Mon Nov 23	14 h 7 min	11 h 26 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Tue Nov 24	14 h 10 min	11 h 28 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Wed Nov 25	14 h 12 min	11 h 30 min	0 min	0 min	96%
Thu Nov 26	14 h 14 min	11 h 32 min	1 h 6 min	0 min	90%
Fri Nov 27	14 h 16 min	11 h 34 min	2 h 34 min	0 min	82%
Sat Nov 28	14 h 18 min	11 h 35 min	4 h 4 min	21 min	72%
Sun Nov 29	14 h 20 min	11 h 37 min	5 h 31 min	1 h 47 min	61%
Mon Nov 30	14 h 22 min	11 h 39 min	6 h 53 min	3 h 9 min	50%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Cochrane in November?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Cochrane have civil darkness, and 10% of past November days reached Kp 5.
How dark is Cochrane in November?: Cochrane averages 13.8 hours of civil night a night in November 2026, from 13 h 5 min on the 1st to 14 h 22 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Cochrane in November?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Cochrane's 1 degree cell 71% mean cloud in November, against 67% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in November 2026 for aurora in Cochrane?: By darkness and moon alone, Nov 2, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Cochrane. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is November or December better in Cochrane?: By civil night times the clear share, November scores 4.0 hours at Cochrane and December 4.7. 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.