Can you see the northern lights in Fairbanks in November?

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

How dark is Fairbanks in November?

Fairbanks averages 15.5 hours of civil night a night in November 2026, from 14 h 14 min on the 1st to 16 h 36 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Fairbanks in November?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Fairbanks's 1 degree cell 67% mean cloud in November, against 66% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

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

Is November or December better in Fairbanks?

By civil night times the clear share, November scores 5.1 hours at Fairbanks and December 7.1. December comes out ahead.

Fairbanks · November 2026

Northern lights in Fairbanks in November 2026

Answer

November gives Fairbanks 15.5 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 3rd darkest of its 12 months, under 67% mean cloud. 10% of November days since 1996 reached storm level, Kp 5.

15.5 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 64.84, -147.72; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

November against the rest of the year

7.3

5.5

5.1

2.7

0.0

1.3

2.6

2.9

5.1

7.1

November cloud at Fairbanks averages 67% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, close to its yearly mean of 66%. March is Fairbanks's clearest month at 51%. By civil night times clear sky, November scores 5.1 hours at Fairbanks, 4th of 12. Eagle River, 402 km away, averages 70%, cloudier by 3 points.

Civil night at Fairbanks starts November at 14 h 14 min and reaches 16 h 36 min by November 30 as the nights lengthen by 2.4 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 11.5 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. Fairbanks gets 243 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
5.3 h
2
34% lit
7.2 h
3
24% lit
9.0 h
4
15% lit
10.8 h
5
9% lit
12.5 h
6
4% lit
14.3 h
7
1% lit
14.8 h
8
0% lit
14.9 h
New
9
1% lit
15.0 h
10
4% lit
15.1 h
11
9% lit
15.2 h
12
15% lit
15.3 h
13
22% lit
15.3 h
14
30% lit
13.6 h
15
39% lit
11.6 h
16
49% lit
9.8 h
17
59% lit
8.2 h
18
69% lit
6.6 h
19
78% lit
5.0 h
20
86% lit
3.2 h
21
93% lit
1.3 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
0.0 h
27
81% lit
1.4 h
28
71% lit
3.9 h
29
60% lit
5.9 h
30
49% lit
7.8 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 Fairbanks, so storm days matter more: 93 of the 900 November days from 1996 to 2025 (10%) reached Kp 5, 7th of 12 months. Fairbanks sits at 65.7 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 1.

November across United States

No month-page town in United States has more civil night on November 15 than Fairbanks; the national median is 13.5 hours. Coming from October (12.5 hours at Fairbanks), November adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into December (17.2 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

Fairbanks, 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 14 min	10 h 24 min	5 h 15 min	43 min	44%
Mon Nov 2	14 h 20 min	10 h 29 min	7 h 13 min	2 h 39 min	34%
Tue Nov 3	14 h 25 min	10 h 34 min	9 h 2 min	4 h	24%
Wed Nov 4	14 h 31 min	10 h 39 min	10 h 47 min	4 h	15%
Thu Nov 5	14 h 37 min	10 h 45 min	12 h 32 min	4 h	9%
Fri Nov 6	14 h 42 min	10 h 50 min	14 h 20 min	4 h	4%
Sat Nov 7	14 h 48 min	10 h 54 min	14 h 48 min	4 h	1%
Sun Nov 8	14 h 54 min	10 h 59 min	14 h 54 min	4 h	0%
Mon Nov 9	14 h 59 min	11 h 4 min	14 h 59 min	4 h	1%
Tue Nov 10	15 h 4 min	11 h 9 min	15 h 4 min	4 h	4%
Wed Nov 11	15 h 10 min	11 h 13 min	15 h 10 min	4 h	9%
Thu Nov 12	15 h 15 min	11 h 18 min	15 h 15 min	4 h	15%
Fri Nov 13	15 h 20 min	11 h 22 min	15 h 20 min	4 h	22%
Sat Nov 14	15 h 26 min	11 h 27 min	13 h 36 min	4 h	30%
Sun Nov 15	15 h 31 min	11 h 31 min	11 h 35 min	4 h	39%
Mon Nov 16	15 h 36 min	11 h 35 min	9 h 51 min	3 h 27 min	49%
Tue Nov 17	15 h 41 min	11 h 39 min	8 h 13 min	1 h 46 min	59%
Wed Nov 18	15 h 46 min	11 h 43 min	6 h 37 min	7 min	69%
Thu Nov 19	15 h 50 min	11 h 47 min	4 h 58 min	0 min	78%
Fri Nov 20	15 h 55 min	11 h 51 min	3 h 13 min	0 min	86%
Sat Nov 21	16 h	11 h 54 min	1 h 17 min	0 min	93%
Sun Nov 22	16 h 4 min	11 h 58 min	0 min	0 min	98%
Mon Nov 23	16 h 9 min	12 h 1 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Tue Nov 24	16 h 13 min	12 h 5 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Wed Nov 25	16 h 17 min	12 h 8 min	0 min	0 min	95%
Thu Nov 26	16 h 21 min	12 h 11 min	0 min	0 min	89%
Fri Nov 27	16 h 25 min	12 h 14 min	1 h 25 min	0 min	81%
Sat Nov 28	16 h 29 min	12 h 17 min	3 h 51 min	0 min	71%
Sun Nov 29	16 h 33 min	12 h 20 min	5 h 54 min	18 min	60%
Mon Nov 30	16 h 36 min	12 h 23 min	7 h 46 min	2 h 8 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 Fairbanks in November?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Fairbanks have civil darkness, and 10% of past November days reached Kp 5.
How dark is Fairbanks in November?: Fairbanks averages 15.5 hours of civil night a night in November 2026, from 14 h 14 min on the 1st to 16 h 36 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Fairbanks in November?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Fairbanks's 1 degree cell 67% mean cloud in November, against 66% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in November 2026 for aurora in Fairbanks?: By darkness and moon alone, Nov 3, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Fairbanks. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is November or December better in Fairbanks?: By civil night times the clear share, November scores 5.1 hours at Fairbanks and December 7.1. 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.