Iowa City · November 2026
Northern lights in Iowa City in November 2026
Answer
November against the rest of the year
November cloud at Iowa City averages 60% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 2 points cloudier than its yearly mean. September is Iowa City's clearest month at 43%. By civil night times clear sky, November scores 5.2 hours at Iowa City, 3rd of 12. Minneapolis, 395 km away, averages 63%, cloudier by 3 points.
Civil night at Iowa City starts November at 12 h 36 min and reaches 13 h 29 min by November 30 as the nights lengthen by 0.9 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 10.9 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/Chicago dates. Iowa City gets 206 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 4 (4 h), Nov 5 (4 h), Nov 6 (4 h).
- 1
46% lit
5.9 h
- 2
35% lit
7.2 h
- 3
25% lit
8.3 h
- 4
16% lit
9.5 h
- 5
9% lit
10.6 h
- 6
4% lit
11.8 h
- 7
1% lit
12.8 h
- 8
0% lit
12.8 h
- 9
1% lit
12.9 h
- 10
4% lit
12.9 h
- 11
8% lit
12.3 h
- 12
14% lit
11.4 h
- 13
21% lit
10.5 h
- 14
29% lit
9.5 h
- 15
38% lit
8.4 h
- 16
48% lit
7.4 h
- 17
58% lit
6.3 h
- 18
67% lit
5.3 h
- 19
77% lit
4.2 h
- 20
85% lit
3.0 h
- 21
92% lit
1.8 h
- 22
97% lit
0.5 h
- 23
100% lit
0.0 h
- 24
99% lit
0.0 h
- 25
96% lit
0.2 h
- 26
90% lit
1.4 h
- 27
82% lit
2.8 h
- 28
72% lit
4.1 h
- 29
61% lit
5.3 h
- 30
50% lit
6.5 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
Iowa City needs Kp 8 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 8 of the 900 November days from 1996 to 2025 (1%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, one of the three most active months for that level; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 10%. Iowa City sits at 50.3 degrees geomagnetic. The lowest NOAA storm level whose typical viewing latitude reaches it is G3 (Kp = 7). By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead only at Kp 8.
November across United States
Iowa City ranks 11th in United States for civil night on November 15, behind Fairbanks at 15.5 hours. Coming from October (11.9 hours at Iowa City), November adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into December (13.7 hours on the 15th).
| 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% |
| Iowa City | 13.1 h | 60% |
Darkness and moon, every night
| Night | Civil | Astronomical | Moon-free dark | Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM | Moon lit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun Nov 1 | 12 h 36 min | 10 h 26 min | 5 h 55 min | 1 h 28 min | 46% |
| Mon Nov 2 | 12 h 38 min | 10 h 28 min | 7 h 10 min | 2 h 41 min | 35% |
| Tue Nov 3 | 12 h 40 min | 10 h 30 min | 8 h 21 min | 3 h 51 min | 25% |
| Wed Nov 4 | 12 h 43 min | 10 h 32 min | 9 h 30 min | 4 h | 16% |
| Thu Nov 5 | 12 h 45 min | 10 h 34 min | 10 h 38 min | 4 h | 9% |
| Fri Nov 6 | 12 h 47 min | 10 h 36 min | 11 h 46 min | 4 h | 4% |
| Sat Nov 7 | 12 h 49 min | 10 h 38 min | 12 h 49 min | 4 h | 1% |
| Sun Nov 8 | 12 h 51 min | 10 h 40 min | 12 h 51 min | 4 h | 0% |
| Mon Nov 9 | 12 h 54 min | 10 h 42 min | 12 h 54 min | 4 h | 1% |
| Tue Nov 10 | 12 h 56 min | 10 h 44 min | 12 h 56 min | 4 h | 4% |
| Wed Nov 11 | 12 h 58 min | 10 h 46 min | 12 h 17 min | 4 h | 8% |
| Thu Nov 12 | 13 h | 10 h 48 min | 11 h 26 min | 4 h | 14% |
| Fri Nov 13 | 13 h 2 min | 10 h 49 min | 10 h 29 min | 4 h | 21% |
| Sat Nov 14 | 13 h 4 min | 10 h 51 min | 9 h 28 min | 4 h | 29% |
| Sun Nov 15 | 13 h 6 min | 10 h 53 min | 8 h 26 min | 4 h | 38% |
| Mon Nov 16 | 13 h 7 min | 10 h 54 min | 7 h 23 min | 2 h 58 min | 48% |
| Tue Nov 17 | 13 h 9 min | 10 h 56 min | 6 h 20 min | 1 h 54 min | 58% |
| Wed Nov 18 | 13 h 11 min | 10 h 58 min | 5 h 16 min | 49 min | 67% |
| Thu Nov 19 | 13 h 13 min | 10 h 59 min | 4 h 10 min | 0 min | 77% |
| Fri Nov 20 | 13 h 15 min | 11 h 1 min | 3 h 1 min | 0 min | 85% |
| Sat Nov 21 | 13 h 16 min | 11 h 2 min | 1 h 48 min | 0 min | 92% |
| Sun Nov 22 | 13 h 18 min | 11 h 4 min | 31 min | 0 min | 97% |
| Mon Nov 23 | 13 h 19 min | 11 h 5 min | 0 min | 0 min | 100% |
| Tue Nov 24 | 13 h 21 min | 11 h 7 min | 0 min | 0 min | 99% |
| Wed Nov 25 | 13 h 23 min | 11 h 8 min | 14 min | 0 min | 96% |
| Thu Nov 26 | 13 h 24 min | 11 h 9 min | 1 h 26 min | 0 min | 90% |
| Fri Nov 27 | 13 h 25 min | 11 h 10 min | 2 h 45 min | 0 min | 82% |
| Sat Nov 28 | 13 h 27 min | 11 h 12 min | 4 h 4 min | 0 min | 72% |
| Sun Nov 29 | 13 h 28 min | 11 h 13 min | 5 h 20 min | 31 min | 61% |
| Mon Nov 30 | 13 h 29 min | 11 h 14 min | 6 h 32 min | 1 h 43 min | 50% |
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Iowa City in November?
- On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Iowa City have civil darkness, and 1% of past November days reached Kp 8.
- How dark is Iowa City in November?
- Iowa City averages 13.1 hours of civil night a night in November 2026, from 12 h 36 min on the 1st to 13 h 29 min on the last night.
- How cloudy is Iowa City in November?
- NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Iowa City's 1 degree cell 60% mean cloud in November, against 58% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
- What is the best night in November 2026 for aurora in Iowa City?
- By darkness and moon alone, Nov 4, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Iowa City. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
- Is November or December better in Iowa City?
- By civil night times the clear share, November scores 5.2 hours at Iowa City and December 4.4. 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.