Can you see the northern lights in Kiruna in November?

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

How dark is Kiruna in November?

Kiruna averages 16.1 hours of civil night a night in November 2026, from 14 h 36 min on the 1st to 17 h 30 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Kiruna in November?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Kiruna's 1 degree cell 76% mean cloud in November, against 75% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

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

Is November or December better in Kiruna?

By civil night times the clear share, November scores 3.9 hours at Kiruna and December 3.7. November comes out ahead.

Kiruna · November 2026

Northern lights in Kiruna in November 2026

Answer

November gives Kiruna 16.1 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 3rd darkest of its 12 months, under 76% mean cloud. 10% of November days since 1996 reached storm level, Kp 5.

16.1 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 67.86, 20.23; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

November against the rest of the year

4.1

3.6

3.3

1.7

0.0

0.8

2.1

2.6

3.9

3.7

November cloud at Kiruna averages 76% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, close to its yearly mean of 75%. March is Kiruna's clearest month at 68%. By civil night times clear sky, November scores 3.9 hours at Kiruna, 2nd of 12. Harstad, 184 km away, averages 82%, cloudier by 6 points.

Civil night at Kiruna starts November at 14 h 36 min and reaches 17 h 30 min by November 30 as the nights lengthen by 2.9 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 11.6 hours on the 15th.

November night by night

November opens toward a new moon on Nov 9, with full moon on Nov 24, in Europe/Stockholm dates. Kiruna gets 250 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
49% lit
3.6 h
2
38% lit
6.2 h
3
28% lit
8.3 h
4
19% lit
10.2 h
5
11% lit
12.1 h
6
6% lit
14.1 h
7
2% lit
15.3 h
8
0% lit
15.4 h
9
1% lit
15.5 h
New
10
3% lit
15.6 h
11
7% lit
15.7 h
12
12% lit
15.8 h
13
19% lit
15.9 h
14
27% lit
16.0 h
15
36% lit
14.6 h
16
45% lit
11.6 h
17
55% lit
9.6 h
18
65% lit
7.8 h
19
74% lit
6.1 h
20
83% lit
4.3 h
21
90% lit
2.2 h
22
96% lit
0.0 h
23
99% lit
0.0 h
24
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
25
97% lit
0.0 h
26
92% lit
0.0 h
27
84% lit
0.0 h
28
75% lit
2.1 h
29
64% lit
5.0 h
30
53% lit
7.2 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 Kiruna, so storm days matter more: 93 of the 900 November days from 1996 to 2025 (10%) reached Kp 5, 7th of 12 months. Kiruna 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 Sweden

No month-page town in Sweden has more civil night on November 15 than Kiruna; the national median is 15.0 hours. Coming from October (12.6 hours at Kiruna), November adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into December (18.3 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on November 15 and November cloud, month-page towns in Sweden
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Kiruna	16.1 h	76%
Boden	15.7 h	74%
Luleå	15.6 h	79%
Piteå	15.6 h	74%
Skellefteå	15.5 h	76%
Umeå	15.3 h	82%
Östersund	15.2 h	79%
Örnsköldsvik	15.2 h	75%
Sundsvall	15.1 h	75%
Härnösand	15.1 h	75%
Hudiksvall	15.0 h	76%
Uppsala	14.7 h	80%

Darkness and moon, every night

Kiruna, 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 36 min	10 h 15 min	3 h 39 min	0 min	49%
Mon Nov 2	14 h 43 min	10 h 21 min	6 h 9 min	11 min	38%
Tue Nov 3	14 h 49 min	10 h 28 min	8 h 15 min	2 h 14 min	28%
Wed Nov 4	14 h 56 min	10 h 34 min	10 h 12 min	4 h	19%
Thu Nov 5	15 h 3 min	10 h 40 min	12 h 6 min	4 h	11%
Fri Nov 6	15 h 10 min	10 h 45 min	14 h 3 min	4 h	6%
Sat Nov 7	15 h 16 min	10 h 51 min	15 h 16 min	4 h	2%
Sun Nov 8	15 h 23 min	10 h 57 min	15 h 23 min	4 h	0%
Mon Nov 9	15 h 29 min	11 h 2 min	15 h 29 min	4 h	1%
Tue Nov 10	15 h 36 min	11 h 8 min	15 h 36 min	4 h	3%
Wed Nov 11	15 h 42 min	11 h 13 min	15 h 42 min	4 h	7%
Thu Nov 12	15 h 49 min	11 h 18 min	15 h 49 min	4 h	12%
Fri Nov 13	15 h 55 min	11 h 24 min	15 h 55 min	4 h	19%
Sat Nov 14	16 h 1 min	11 h 29 min	16 h 1 min	4 h	27%
Sun Nov 15	16 h 7 min	11 h 34 min	14 h 36 min	4 h	36%
Mon Nov 16	16 h 14 min	11 h 38 min	11 h 34 min	4 h	45%
Tue Nov 17	16 h 20 min	11 h 43 min	9 h 38 min	4 h	55%
Wed Nov 18	16 h 26 min	11 h 48 min	7 h 51 min	2 h 13 min	65%
Thu Nov 19	16 h 32 min	11 h 52 min	6 h 6 min	24 min	74%
Fri Nov 20	16 h 37 min	11 h 57 min	4 h 15 min	0 min	83%
Sat Nov 21	16 h 43 min	12 h 1 min	2 h 11 min	0 min	90%
Sun Nov 22	16 h 49 min	12 h 5 min	0 min	0 min	96%
Mon Nov 23	16 h 54 min	12 h 9 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Tue Nov 24	17 h	12 h 13 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Wed Nov 25	17 h 5 min	12 h 17 min	0 min	0 min	97%
Thu Nov 26	17 h 10 min	12 h 21 min	0 min	0 min	92%
Fri Nov 27	17 h 15 min	12 h 25 min	0 min	0 min	84%
Sat Nov 28	17 h 20 min	12 h 28 min	2 h 7 min	0 min	75%
Sun Nov 29	17 h 25 min	12 h 31 min	4 h 57 min	0 min	64%
Mon Nov 30	17 h 30 min	12 h 35 min	7 h 9 min	0 min	53%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Kiruna in November?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Kiruna have civil darkness, and 10% of past November days reached Kp 5.
How dark is Kiruna in November?: Kiruna averages 16.1 hours of civil night a night in November 2026, from 14 h 36 min on the 1st to 17 h 30 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Kiruna in November?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Kiruna's 1 degree cell 76% mean cloud in November, against 75% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in November 2026 for aurora in Kiruna?: By darkness and moon alone, Nov 4, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Kiruna. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is November or December better in Kiruna?: By civil night times the clear share, November scores 3.9 hours at Kiruna and December 3.7. 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.