Can you see the northern lights in Lillehammer in October?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Lillehammer have civil darkness, and 54% of past October days reached Kp 3.

How dark is Lillehammer in October?

Lillehammer averages 12.4 hours of civil night a night in October 2026, from 11 h 3 min on the 1st to 13 h 43 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Lillehammer in October?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Lillehammer's 1 degree cell 77% mean cloud in October, against 75% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

By darkness and moon alone, Oct 6, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Lillehammer. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.

Is October or November better in Lillehammer?

By civil night times the clear share, October scores 2.8 hours at Lillehammer and November 3.4. November comes out ahead.

Lillehammer · October 2026

Northern lights in Lillehammer in October 2026

Answer

October gives Lillehammer 12.3 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 5th darkest of its 12 months, under 77% mean cloud. 54% of October days since 1996 reached Kp 3, enough for the oval edge to reach Lillehammer.

12.4 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 61.12, 10.47; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

October against the rest of the year

3.6

3.2

2.3

1.0

0.0

0.5

1.6

2.5

2.8

3.4

4.0

October cloud at Lillehammer averages 77% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 2 points cloudier than its yearly mean. March is Lillehammer's clearest month at 70%. By civil night times clear sky, October scores 2.8 hours at Lillehammer, 6th of 12. Gjøvik, 38 km away, averages 74%, clearer by 3 points.

Civil night at Lillehammer starts October at 11 h 3 min and reaches 13 h 43 min by October 31 as the nights lengthen by 2.7 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 9.0 hours on the 15th.

October night by night

October opens toward a new moon on Oct 10, with full moon on Oct 26, in Europe/Oslo dates. Lillehammer gets 185 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 6 (4 h), Oct 7 (4 h), Oct 8 (4 h).

1
69% lit
0.0 h
2
57% lit
0.2 h
3
46% lit
1.9 h
4
35% lit
3.9 h
5
25% lit
5.8 h
6
16% lit
7.5 h
7
8% lit
9.3 h
8
3% lit
10.9 h
9
1% lit
11.8 h
10
0% lit
11.9 h
New
11
2% lit
12.0 h
12
5% lit
12.1 h
13
11% lit
12.2 h
14
17% lit
12.3 h
15
25% lit
12.3 h
16
34% lit
12.4 h
17
43% lit
11.0 h
18
52% lit
9.4 h
19
62% lit
7.8 h
20
71% lit
6.3 h
21
80% lit
4.8 h
22
87% lit
3.3 h
23
94% lit
1.8 h
24
98% lit
0.1 h
25
100% lit
0.0 h
26
99% lit
0.0 h
Full
27
95% lit
0.0 h
28
89% lit
0.0 h
29
81% lit
0.0 h
30
71% lit
0.9 h
31
60% lit
2.8 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 Octobers

Lillehammer needs Kp 3 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 503 of the 930 October days from 1996 to 2025 (54%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 4th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 12%. Lillehammer sits at 60.9 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 3.

October across Norway

Lillehammer ranks 12th in Norway for civil night on October 15, behind Tromsø at 12.7 hours. Coming from September (9.5 hours at Lillehammer), October adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into November (14.9 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on October 15 and October cloud, month-page towns in Norway
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Tromsø	12.7 h	83%
Alta	12.7 h	84%
Bodø	12.6 h	81%
Harstad	12.6 h	80%
Mo i Rana	12.5 h	83%
Trondheim	12.4 h	80%
Ålesund	12.4 h	82%
Kristiansund	12.4 h	78%
Molde	12.4 h	82%
Levanger	12.4 h	80%
Stjørdalshalsen	12.4 h	80%
Lillehammer	12.3 h	77%

Darkness and moon, every night

Lillehammer, 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 3 min	7 h 34 min	0 min	0 min	69%
Fri Oct 2	11 h 9 min	7 h 41 min	13 min	0 min	57%
Sat Oct 3	11 h 14 min	7 h 47 min	1 h 54 min	0 min	46%
Sun Oct 4	11 h 20 min	7 h 54 min	3 h 51 min	1 h 18 min	35%
Mon Oct 5	11 h 25 min	8 h	5 h 45 min	3 h 9 min	25%
Tue Oct 6	11 h 31 min	8 h 6 min	7 h 33 min	4 h	16%
Wed Oct 7	11 h 36 min	8 h 13 min	9 h 15 min	4 h	8%
Thu Oct 8	11 h 42 min	8 h 19 min	10 h 53 min	4 h	3%
Fri Oct 9	11 h 47 min	8 h 25 min	11 h 47 min	4 h	1%
Sat Oct 10	11 h 53 min	8 h 31 min	11 h 53 min	4 h	0%
Sun Oct 11	11 h 58 min	8 h 37 min	11 h 58 min	4 h	2%
Mon Oct 12	12 h 4 min	8 h 42 min	12 h 4 min	4 h	5%
Tue Oct 13	12 h 9 min	8 h 48 min	12 h 9 min	4 h	11%
Wed Oct 14	12 h 15 min	8 h 54 min	12 h 15 min	4 h	17%
Thu Oct 15	12 h 20 min	8 h 59 min	12 h 20 min	4 h	25%
Fri Oct 16	12 h 25 min	9 h 5 min	12 h 25 min	4 h	34%
Sat Oct 17	12 h 31 min	9 h 10 min	11 h 2 min	4 h	43%
Sun Oct 18	12 h 36 min	9 h 16 min	9 h 26 min	4 h	52%
Mon Oct 19	12 h 41 min	9 h 21 min	7 h 51 min	2 h 26 min	62%
Tue Oct 20	12 h 47 min	9 h 27 min	6 h 18 min	52 min	71%
Wed Oct 21	12 h 52 min	9 h 32 min	4 h 48 min	0 min	80%
Thu Oct 22	12 h 57 min	9 h 37 min	3 h 18 min	0 min	87%
Fri Oct 23	13 h 2 min	9 h 42 min	1 h 46 min	0 min	94%
Sat Oct 24	13 h 7 min	9 h 47 min	8 min	0 min	98%
Sun Oct 25	13 h 13 min	9 h 52 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Mon Oct 26	13 h 18 min	9 h 57 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Tue Oct 27	13 h 23 min	10 h 2 min	0 min	0 min	95%
Wed Oct 28	13 h 28 min	10 h 7 min	0 min	0 min	89%
Thu Oct 29	13 h 33 min	10 h 12 min	0 min	0 min	81%
Fri Oct 30	13 h 38 min	10 h 17 min	54 min	0 min	71%
Sat Oct 31	13 h 43 min	10 h 21 min	2 h 48 min	0 min	60%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Lillehammer in October?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Lillehammer have civil darkness, and 54% of past October days reached Kp 3.
How dark is Lillehammer in October?: Lillehammer averages 12.4 hours of civil night a night in October 2026, from 11 h 3 min on the 1st to 13 h 43 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Lillehammer in October?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Lillehammer's 1 degree cell 77% mean cloud in October, against 75% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in October 2026 for aurora in Lillehammer?: By darkness and moon alone, Oct 6, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Lillehammer. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is October or November better in Lillehammer?: By civil night times the clear share, October scores 2.8 hours at Lillehammer and November 3.4. 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.