Can you see the northern lights in Fairbanks in October?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Fairbanks have civil darkness, and 12% of past October days reached Kp 5.

How dark is Fairbanks in October?

Fairbanks averages 12.6 hours of civil night a night in October 2026, from 11 h on the 1st to 14 h 8 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Fairbanks in October?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Fairbanks's 1 degree cell 77% mean cloud in October, against 66% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

By darkness and moon alone, Oct 5, 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 October or November better in Fairbanks?

By civil night times the clear share, October scores 2.9 hours at Fairbanks and November 5.1. November comes out ahead.

Fairbanks · October 2026

Northern lights in Fairbanks in October 2026

Answer

October gives Fairbanks 12.5 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 5th darkest of its 12 months, under 77% mean cloud. 12% of October days since 1996 reached storm level, Kp 5.

12.6 h

civil night, average night

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

October 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

October cloud at Fairbanks averages 77% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 11 points cloudier than its yearly mean. March is Fairbanks's clearest month at 51%. By civil night times clear sky, October scores 2.9 hours at Fairbanks, 6th of 12. Eagle River, 402 km away, averages the same 77%.

Civil night at Fairbanks starts October at 11 h and reaches 14 h 8 min by October 31 as the nights lengthen by 3.1 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 8.7 hours on the 15th.

October night by night

October opens toward a new moon on Oct 10, with full moon on Oct 25, in America/Anchorage dates. Fairbanks gets 186 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: Oct 5 (4 h), Oct 6 (4 h), Oct 7 (4 h).

1
64% lit
0.0 h
2
53% lit
0.0 h
3
41% lit
1.1 h
4
30% lit
4.0 h
5
21% lit
6.1 h
6
12% lit
8.1 h
7
6% lit
9.9 h
8
2% lit
11.7 h
9
0% lit
11.9 h
10
1% lit
12.0 h
New
11
3% lit
12.1 h
12
7% lit
12.2 h
13
13% lit
12.3 h
14
21% lit
12.4 h
15
29% lit
12.5 h
16
38% lit
12.6 h
17
47% lit
12.7 h
18
56% lit
9.7 h
19
66% lit
7.8 h
20
75% lit
6.1 h
21
83% lit
4.4 h
22
90% lit
2.8 h
23
96% lit
1.0 h
24
99% lit
0.0 h
25
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
26
98% lit
0.0 h
27
93% lit
0.0 h
28
86% lit
0.0 h
29
77% lit
0.0 h
30
67% lit
0.0 h
31
56% lit
3.0 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 Octobers

Quiet activity already puts the oval edge over Fairbanks, so storm days matter more: 116 of the 930 October days from 1996 to 2025 (12%) reached Kp 5, one of the three most active months for that level. 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.

October across United States

No month-page town in United States has more civil night on October 15 than Fairbanks; the national median is 12.0 hours. Coming from September (9.2 hours at Fairbanks), October adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into November (15.5 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on October 15 and October cloud, month-page towns in United States
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Fairbanks	12.5 h	77%
Anchorage	12.4 h	77%
Eagle River	12.4 h	77%
Juneau	12.3 h	81%
Seattle	12.0 h	68%
Minneapolis	12.0 h	59%
Duluth	12.0 h	64%
Fargo	12.0 h	60%
Buffalo	11.9 h	70%
Portland, Maine	11.9 h	59%

Darkness and moon, every night

Fairbanks, October 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
Thu Oct 1	11 h	6 h 58 min	0 min	0 min	64%
Fri Oct 2	11 h 7 min	7 h 7 min	0 min	0 min	53%
Sat Oct 3	11 h 13 min	7 h 15 min	1 h 7 min	0 min	41%
Sun Oct 4	11 h 20 min	7 h 22 min	3 h 57 min	1 h 57 min	30%
Mon Oct 5	11 h 26 min	7 h 30 min	6 h 8 min	4 h	21%
Tue Oct 6	11 h 33 min	7 h 38 min	8 h 6 min	4 h	12%
Wed Oct 7	11 h 39 min	7 h 45 min	9 h 56 min	4 h	6%
Thu Oct 8	11 h 46 min	7 h 53 min	11 h 43 min	4 h	2%
Fri Oct 9	11 h 52 min	8 h	11 h 52 min	4 h	0%
Sat Oct 10	11 h 59 min	8 h 7 min	11 h 59 min	4 h	1%
Sun Oct 11	12 h 5 min	8 h 14 min	12 h 5 min	4 h	3%
Mon Oct 12	12 h 11 min	8 h 21 min	12 h 11 min	4 h	7%
Tue Oct 13	12 h 18 min	8 h 28 min	12 h 18 min	4 h	13%
Wed Oct 14	12 h 24 min	8 h 35 min	12 h 24 min	4 h	21%
Thu Oct 15	12 h 30 min	8 h 42 min	12 h 30 min	4 h	29%
Fri Oct 16	12 h 37 min	8 h 48 min	12 h 37 min	4 h	38%
Sat Oct 17	12 h 43 min	8 h 55 min	12 h 43 min	4 h	47%
Sun Oct 18	12 h 49 min	9 h 1 min	9 h 43 min	3 h 42 min	56%
Mon Oct 19	12 h 56 min	9 h 8 min	7 h 48 min	1 h 43 min	66%
Tue Oct 20	13 h 2 min	9 h 14 min	6 h 4 min	0 min	75%
Wed Oct 21	13 h 8 min	9 h 20 min	4 h 24 min	0 min	83%
Thu Oct 22	13 h 14 min	9 h 26 min	2 h 45 min	0 min	90%
Fri Oct 23	13 h 20 min	9 h 32 min	1 h 2 min	0 min	96%
Sat Oct 24	13 h 26 min	9 h 38 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Sun Oct 25	13 h 32 min	9 h 44 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Mon Oct 26	13 h 38 min	9 h 50 min	0 min	0 min	98%
Tue Oct 27	13 h 44 min	9 h 56 min	0 min	0 min	93%
Wed Oct 28	13 h 50 min	10 h 2 min	0 min	0 min	86%
Thu Oct 29	13 h 56 min	10 h 7 min	0 min	0 min	77%
Fri Oct 30	14 h 2 min	10 h 13 min	0 min	0 min	67%
Sat Oct 31	14 h 8 min	10 h 18 min	3 h	0 min	56%

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 October?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Fairbanks have civil darkness, and 12% of past October days reached Kp 5.
How dark is Fairbanks in October?: Fairbanks averages 12.6 hours of civil night a night in October 2026, from 11 h on the 1st to 14 h 8 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Fairbanks in October?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Fairbanks's 1 degree cell 77% mean cloud in October, against 66% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in October 2026 for aurora in Fairbanks?: By darkness and moon alone, Oct 5, 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 October or November better in Fairbanks?: By civil night times the clear share, October scores 2.9 hours at Fairbanks and November 5.1. November 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.