Can you see the northern lights in Nar'yan-Mar in October?

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

How dark is Nar'yan-Mar in October?

Nar'yan-Mar averages 12.7 hours of civil night a night in October 2026, from 10 h 50 min on the 1st to 14 h 26 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Nar'yan-Mar in October?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Nar'yan-Mar's 1 degree cell 88% mean cloud in October, against 77% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in October 2026 for aurora in Nar'yan-Mar?

By darkness and moon alone, Oct 7, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Nar'yan-Mar. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.

Is October or November better in Nar'yan-Mar?

By civil night times the clear share, October scores 1.5 hours at Nar'yan-Mar and November 2.9. November comes out ahead.

Nar'yan-Mar · October 2026

Northern lights in Nar'yan-Mar in October 2026

Answer

October gives Nar'yan-Mar 12.6 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 5th darkest of its 12 months, under 88% mean cloud. 54% of October days since 1996 reached Kp 3, enough for the oval edge to reach Nar'yan-Mar.

12.7 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 67.64, 53.00; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

October against the rest of the year

5.1

3.9

2.7

1.3

0.0

0.7

1.8

1.5

2.9

3.8

October cloud at Nar'yan-Mar averages 88% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 11 points cloudier than its yearly mean. January is Nar'yan-Mar's clearest month at 70%. By civil night times clear sky, October scores 1.5 hours at Nar'yan-Mar, 7th of 12. Narian-Mar, 5 km away, averages the same 88%.

Civil night at Nar'yan-Mar starts October at 10 h 50 min and reaches 14 h 26 min by October 31 as the nights lengthen by 3.6 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 8.3 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/Moscow dates. Nar'yan-Mar 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 7 (4 h), Oct 8 (4 h), Oct 9 (4 h).

1
69% lit
0.0 h
2
58% lit
0.0 h
3
47% lit
0.0 h
4
35% lit
0.0 h
5
25% lit
4.3 h
6
16% lit
6.7 h
7
9% lit
8.8 h
8
4% lit
10.8 h
9
1% lit
11.8 h
10
0% lit
11.9 h
New
11
2% lit
12.1 h
12
5% lit
12.2 h
13
10% lit
12.3 h
14
17% lit
12.4 h
15
25% lit
12.6 h
16
33% lit
12.7 h
17
43% lit
12.8 h
18
52% lit
12.9 h
19
62% lit
9.9 h
20
71% lit
7.5 h
21
79% lit
5.7 h
22
87% lit
3.9 h
23
93% lit
2.0 h
24
98% lit
0.1 h
25
100% lit
0.0 h
26
99% lit
0.0 h
Full
27
96% lit
0.0 h
28
90% lit
0.0 h
29
82% lit
0.0 h
30
72% lit
0.0 h
31
61% 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

Nar'yan-Mar 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%. Nar'yan-Mar sits at 61.3 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 Russia

Nar'yan-Mar ranks 3rd in Russia for civil night on October 15, behind Zapolyarnyy at 12.7 hours. Coming from September (8.7 hours at Nar'yan-Mar), October adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into November (16.1 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on October 15 and October cloud, month-page towns in Russia
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Zapolyarnyy	12.7 h	87%
Nikel	12.7 h	87%
Nar'yan-Mar	12.6 h	88%
Murmansk	12.6 h	89%
Norilsk	12.6 h	79%
Vorkuta	12.6 h	88%
Apatity	12.6 h	85%
Talnakh	12.6 h	79%
Severomorsk	12.6 h	88%
Monchegorsk	12.6 h	85%
Kandalaksha	12.6 h	85%
Kayyerkan	12.6 h	82%

Darkness and moon, every night

Nar'yan-Mar, 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	10 h 50 min	6 h 12 min	0 min	0 min	69%
Fri Oct 2	10 h 58 min	6 h 22 min	0 min	0 min	58%
Sat Oct 3	11 h 5 min	6 h 32 min	0 min	0 min	47%
Sun Oct 4	11 h 13 min	6 h 41 min	0 min	0 min	35%
Mon Oct 5	11 h 20 min	6 h 51 min	4 h 18 min	0 min	25%
Tue Oct 6	11 h 28 min	7 h	6 h 41 min	2 h 14 min	16%
Wed Oct 7	11 h 35 min	7 h 9 min	8 h 47 min	4 h	9%
Thu Oct 8	11 h 43 min	7 h 18 min	10 h 45 min	4 h	4%
Fri Oct 9	11 h 50 min	7 h 27 min	11 h 50 min	4 h	1%
Sat Oct 10	11 h 57 min	7 h 35 min	11 h 57 min	4 h	0%
Sun Oct 11	12 h 5 min	7 h 44 min	12 h 5 min	4 h	2%
Mon Oct 12	12 h 12 min	7 h 52 min	12 h 12 min	4 h	5%
Tue Oct 13	12 h 19 min	8 h	12 h 19 min	4 h	10%
Wed Oct 14	12 h 27 min	8 h 8 min	12 h 27 min	4 h	17%
Thu Oct 15	12 h 34 min	8 h 16 min	12 h 34 min	4 h	25%
Fri Oct 16	12 h 41 min	8 h 24 min	12 h 41 min	4 h	33%
Sat Oct 17	12 h 48 min	8 h 32 min	12 h 48 min	4 h	43%
Sun Oct 18	12 h 55 min	8 h 39 min	12 h 55 min	4 h	52%
Mon Oct 19	13 h 3 min	8 h 47 min	9 h 56 min	4 h	62%
Tue Oct 20	13 h 10 min	8 h 54 min	7 h 33 min	3 h 45 min	71%
Wed Oct 21	13 h 17 min	9 h 1 min	5 h 40 min	1 h 48 min	79%
Thu Oct 22	13 h 24 min	9 h 9 min	3 h 52 min	0 min	87%
Fri Oct 23	13 h 31 min	9 h 16 min	2 h 3 min	0 min	93%
Sat Oct 24	13 h 38 min	9 h 23 min	7 min	0 min	98%
Sun Oct 25	13 h 45 min	9 h 30 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Mon Oct 26	13 h 52 min	9 h 36 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Tue Oct 27	13 h 59 min	9 h 43 min	0 min	0 min	96%
Wed Oct 28	14 h 6 min	9 h 50 min	0 min	0 min	90%
Thu Oct 29	14 h 13 min	9 h 56 min	0 min	0 min	82%
Fri Oct 30	14 h 19 min	10 h 3 min	0 min	0 min	72%
Sat Oct 31	14 h 26 min	10 h 9 min	0 min	0 min	61%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Nar'yan-Mar in October?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Nar'yan-Mar have civil darkness, and 54% of past October days reached Kp 3.
How dark is Nar'yan-Mar in October?: Nar'yan-Mar averages 12.7 hours of civil night a night in October 2026, from 10 h 50 min on the 1st to 14 h 26 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Nar'yan-Mar in October?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Nar'yan-Mar's 1 degree cell 88% mean cloud in October, against 77% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in October 2026 for aurora in Nar'yan-Mar?: By darkness and moon alone, Oct 7, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Nar'yan-Mar. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is October or November better in Nar'yan-Mar?: By civil night times the clear share, October scores 1.5 hours at Nar'yan-Mar and November 2.9. 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.