Mo i Rana · October 2026
Northern lights in Mo i Rana in October 2026
Answer
October against the rest of the year
October cloud at Mo i Rana averages 83% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 3 points cloudier than its yearly mean. January is Mo i Rana's clearest month at 78%. By civil night times clear sky, October scores 2.1 hours at Mo i Rana, 6th of 12. Bodø, 108 km away, averages 81%, clearer by 2 points.
Civil night at Mo i Rana starts October at 10 h 54 min and reaches 14 h 16 min by October 31 as the nights lengthen by 3.4 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 8.5 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. Mo i Rana gets 184 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
0.0 h
- 3
46% lit
0.0 h
- 4
35% lit
2.1 h
- 5
25% lit
4.9 h
- 6
16% lit
7.1 h
- 7
8% lit
9.1 h
- 8
3% lit
10.9 h
- 9
1% lit
11.8 h
- 10
0% lit
11.9 h
- 11
2% lit
12.1 h
- 12
5% lit
12.2 h
- 13
11% lit
12.3 h
- 14
17% lit
12.4 h
- 15
25% lit
12.5 h
- 16
34% lit
12.6 h
- 17
43% lit
12.8 h
- 18
52% lit
12.8 h
- 19
62% lit
9.1 h
- 20
71% lit
7.1 h
- 21
80% lit
5.3 h
- 22
87% lit
3.6 h
- 23
94% lit
1.8 h
- 24
98% lit
0.0 h
- 25
100% lit
0.0 h
- 26
99% lit
0.0 h
- 27
95% lit
0.0 h
- 28
89% lit
0.0 h
- 29
81% lit
0.0 h
- 30
71% lit
0.0 h
- 31
60% lit
0.0 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 Mo i Rana, 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. Mo i Rana sits at 65.2 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 Norway
Mo i Rana ranks 5th in Norway for civil night on October 15, behind Tromsø at 12.7 hours. Coming from September (8.9 hours at Mo i Rana), October adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into November (15.8 hours on the 15th).
Darkness and moon, every night
| Night | Civil | Astronomical | Moon-free dark | Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM | Moon lit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thu Oct 1 | 10 h 54 min | 6 h 34 min | 0 min | 0 min | 69% |
| Fri Oct 2 | 11 h 1 min | 6 h 43 min | 0 min | 0 min | 57% |
| Sat Oct 3 | 11 h 8 min | 6 h 52 min | 0 min | 0 min | 46% |
| Sun Oct 4 | 11 h 15 min | 7 h 1 min | 2 h 7 min | 0 min | 35% |
| Mon Oct 5 | 11 h 22 min | 7 h 10 min | 4 h 54 min | 2 h 5 min | 25% |
| Tue Oct 6 | 11 h 29 min | 7 h 18 min | 7 h 5 min | 4 h | 16% |
| Wed Oct 7 | 11 h 36 min | 7 h 26 min | 9 h 3 min | 4 h | 8% |
| Thu Oct 8 | 11 h 43 min | 7 h 34 min | 10 h 56 min | 4 h | 3% |
| Fri Oct 9 | 11 h 50 min | 7 h 42 min | 11 h 50 min | 4 h | 1% |
| Sat Oct 10 | 11 h 57 min | 7 h 50 min | 11 h 57 min | 4 h | 0% |
| Sun Oct 11 | 12 h 4 min | 7 h 58 min | 12 h 4 min | 4 h | 2% |
| Mon Oct 12 | 12 h 11 min | 8 h 6 min | 12 h 11 min | 4 h | 5% |
| Tue Oct 13 | 12 h 18 min | 8 h 13 min | 12 h 18 min | 4 h | 11% |
| Wed Oct 14 | 12 h 24 min | 8 h 21 min | 12 h 24 min | 4 h | 17% |
| Thu Oct 15 | 12 h 31 min | 8 h 28 min | 12 h 31 min | 4 h | 25% |
| Fri Oct 16 | 12 h 38 min | 8 h 35 min | 12 h 38 min | 4 h | 34% |
| Sat Oct 17 | 12 h 45 min | 8 h 42 min | 12 h 45 min | 4 h | 43% |
| Sun Oct 18 | 12 h 51 min | 8 h 49 min | 12 h 51 min | 4 h | 52% |
| Mon Oct 19 | 12 h 58 min | 8 h 56 min | 9 h 3 min | 3 h 44 min | 62% |
| Tue Oct 20 | 13 h 5 min | 9 h 3 min | 7 h 5 min | 1 h 43 min | 71% |
| Wed Oct 21 | 13 h 11 min | 9 h 10 min | 5 h 18 min | 0 min | 80% |
| Thu Oct 22 | 13 h 18 min | 9 h 17 min | 3 h 35 min | 0 min | 87% |
| Fri Oct 23 | 13 h 25 min | 9 h 23 min | 1 h 50 min | 0 min | 94% |
| Sat Oct 24 | 13 h 31 min | 9 h 30 min | 0 min | 0 min | 98% |
| Sun Oct 25 | 13 h 38 min | 9 h 36 min | 0 min | 0 min | 100% |
| Mon Oct 26 | 13 h 44 min | 9 h 42 min | 0 min | 0 min | 99% |
| Tue Oct 27 | 13 h 51 min | 9 h 49 min | 0 min | 0 min | 95% |
| Wed Oct 28 | 13 h 57 min | 9 h 55 min | 0 min | 0 min | 89% |
| Thu Oct 29 | 14 h 3 min | 10 h 1 min | 0 min | 0 min | 81% |
| Fri Oct 30 | 14 h 10 min | 10 h 7 min | 0 min | 0 min | 71% |
| Sat Oct 31 | 14 h 16 min | 10 h 13 min | 0 min | 0 min | 60% |
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Mo i Rana in October?
- On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Mo i Rana have civil darkness, and 12% of past October days reached Kp 5.
- How dark is Mo i Rana in October?
- Mo i Rana averages 12.6 hours of civil night a night in October 2026, from 10 h 54 min on the 1st to 14 h 16 min on the last night.
- How cloudy is Mo i Rana in October?
- NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Mo i Rana's 1 degree cell 83% mean cloud in October, against 80% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
- What is the best night in October 2026 for aurora in Mo i Rana?
- By darkness and moon alone, Oct 6, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Mo i Rana. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
- Is October or November better in Mo i Rana?
- By civil night times the clear share, October scores 2.1 hours at Mo i Rana and November 3.3. 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.