Can you see the northern lights in Kirkland in November?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Kirkland have civil darkness, and 2% of past November days reached Kp 7.

How dark is Kirkland in November?

Kirkland averages 13.5 hours of civil night a night in November 2026, from 12 h 53 min on the 1st to 14 h on the last night.

How cloudy is Kirkland in November?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Kirkland's 1 degree cell 77% mean cloud in November, against 68% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

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

Is November or December better in Kirkland?

By civil night times the clear share, November scores 3.1 hours at Kirkland and December 3.0. November comes out ahead.

Kirkland · November 2026

Northern lights in Kirkland in November 2026

Answer

November gives Kirkland 13.5 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 3rd darkest of its 12 months, under 77% mean cloud. 2% of November days since 1996 reached Kp 7, enough for the oval edge to reach Kirkland.

13.5 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 47.68, -122.21; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

November against the rest of the year

2.8

3.3

2.3

2.1

3.7

4.4

4.8

3.8

3.1

3.0

November cloud at Kirkland averages 77% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 9 points cloudier than its yearly mean. July is Kirkland's clearest month at 47%. By civil night times clear sky, November scores 3.1 hours at Kirkland, 6th of 12. Seattle, 12 km away, averages the same 77%.

Civil night at Kirkland starts November at 12 h 53 min and reaches 14 h by November 30 as the nights lengthen by 1.1 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 11.1 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/Los_Angeles dates. Kirkland gets 212 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
45% lit
5.9 h
2
34% lit
7.3 h
3
24% lit
8.5 h
4
16% lit
9.8 h
5
9% lit
11.0 h
6
4% lit
12.3 h
7
1% lit
13.2 h
8
0% lit
13.2 h
New
9
1% lit
13.3 h
10
4% lit
13.3 h
11
9% lit
12.9 h
12
15% lit
12.1 h
13
22% lit
11.1 h
14
30% lit
10.0 h
15
39% lit
8.9 h
16
49% lit
7.7 h
17
58% lit
6.6 h
18
68% lit
5.4 h
19
77% lit
4.3 h
20
86% lit
3.0 h
21
93% lit
1.7 h
22
97% lit
0.3 h
23
100% lit
0.0 h
24
99% lit
0.0 h
Full
25
96% lit
0.1 h
26
89% lit
1.3 h
27
81% lit
2.7 h
28
71% lit
4.1 h
29
60% lit
5.5 h
30
49% lit
6.8 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

Kirkland needs Kp 7 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 16 of the 900 November days from 1996 to 2025 (2%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 4th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 10%. Kirkland sits at 53.1 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 7.

November across United States

Kirkland ranks 5th in United States for civil night on November 15, behind Fairbanks at 15.5 hours. Coming from October (12.0 hours at Kirkland), November adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into December (14.3 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%
Kirkland	13.5 h	77%
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

Kirkland, 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	12 h 53 min	10 h 29 min	5 h 55 min	1 h 21 min	45%
Mon Nov 2	12 h 56 min	10 h 32 min	7 h 15 min	2 h 40 min	34%
Tue Nov 3	12 h 59 min	10 h 34 min	8 h 32 min	3 h 55 min	24%
Wed Nov 4	13 h 2 min	10 h 37 min	9 h 47 min	4 h	16%
Thu Nov 5	13 h 5 min	10 h 40 min	11 h 1 min	4 h	9%
Fri Nov 6	13 h 7 min	10 h 42 min	12 h 15 min	4 h	4%
Sat Nov 7	13 h 10 min	10 h 45 min	13 h 10 min	4 h	1%
Sun Nov 8	13 h 13 min	10 h 47 min	13 h 13 min	4 h	0%
Mon Nov 9	13 h 16 min	10 h 49 min	13 h 16 min	4 h	1%
Tue Nov 10	13 h 18 min	10 h 52 min	13 h 18 min	4 h	4%
Wed Nov 11	13 h 21 min	10 h 54 min	12 h 56 min	4 h	9%
Thu Nov 12	13 h 23 min	10 h 56 min	12 h 4 min	4 h	15%
Fri Nov 13	13 h 26 min	10 h 59 min	11 h 4 min	4 h	22%
Sat Nov 14	13 h 28 min	11 h 1 min	9 h 59 min	4 h	30%
Sun Nov 15	13 h 31 min	11 h 3 min	8 h 52 min	4 h	39%
Mon Nov 16	13 h 33 min	11 h 5 min	7 h 44 min	3 h 3 min	49%
Tue Nov 17	13 h 35 min	11 h 7 min	6 h 36 min	1 h 54 min	58%
Wed Nov 18	13 h 37 min	11 h 9 min	5 h 26 min	43 min	68%
Thu Nov 19	13 h 40 min	11 h 11 min	4 h 15 min	0 min	77%
Fri Nov 20	13 h 42 min	11 h 13 min	3 h	0 min	86%
Sat Nov 21	13 h 44 min	11 h 15 min	1 h 41 min	0 min	93%
Sun Nov 22	13 h 46 min	11 h 17 min	17 min	0 min	97%
Mon Nov 23	13 h 48 min	11 h 18 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Tue Nov 24	13 h 50 min	11 h 20 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Wed Nov 25	13 h 52 min	11 h 22 min	5 min	0 min	96%
Thu Nov 26	13 h 54 min	11 h 23 min	1 h 19 min	0 min	89%
Fri Nov 27	13 h 55 min	11 h 25 min	2 h 43 min	0 min	81%
Sat Nov 28	13 h 57 min	11 h 26 min	4 h 8 min	0 min	71%
Sun Nov 29	13 h 59 min	11 h 28 min	5 h 30 min	28 min	60%
Mon Nov 30	14 h	11 h 29 min	6 h 48 min	1 h 46 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 Kirkland in November?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Kirkland have civil darkness, and 2% of past November days reached Kp 7.
How dark is Kirkland in November?: Kirkland averages 13.5 hours of civil night a night in November 2026, from 12 h 53 min on the 1st to 14 h on the last night.
How cloudy is Kirkland in November?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Kirkland's 1 degree cell 77% mean cloud in November, against 68% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in November 2026 for aurora in Kirkland?: By darkness and moon alone, Nov 4, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Kirkland. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is November or December better in Kirkland?: By civil night times the clear share, November scores 3.1 hours at Kirkland and December 3.0. 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.