Can you see the northern lights in Norilsk in October?

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

How dark is Norilsk in October?

Norilsk averages 12.7 hours of civil night a night in October 2026, from 10 h 45 min on the 1st to 14 h 41 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Norilsk in October?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Norilsk's 1 degree cell 79% mean cloud in October, against 68% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

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

Is October or November better in Norilsk?

By civil night times the clear share, October scores 2.6 hours at Norilsk and November 6.6. November comes out ahead.

Norilsk · October 2026

Northern lights in Norilsk in October 2026

Answer

October gives Norilsk 12.6 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 5th darkest of its 12 months, under 79% mean cloud. 54% of October days since 1996 reached Kp 3, enough for the oval edge to reach Norilsk.

12.7 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 69.35, 88.20; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

October against the rest of the year

8.0

5.6

3.7

1.6

0.0

0.3

1.5

2.6

6.6

8.0

October cloud at Norilsk averages 79% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 11 points cloudier than its yearly mean. January is Norilsk's clearest month at 55%. By civil night times clear sky, October scores 2.6 hours at Norilsk, 6th of 12. Talnakh, 17 km away, averages the same 79%.

Civil night at Norilsk starts October at 10 h 45 min and reaches 14 h 41 min by October 31 as the nights lengthen by 3.9 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 8.0 hours on the 15th.

October night by night

October opens toward a new moon on Oct 10, with full moon on Oct 26, in Asia/Krasnoyarsk dates. Norilsk gets 187 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
71% lit
0.0 h
2
60% lit
0.0 h
3
48% lit
0.0 h
4
37% lit
0.0 h
5
27% lit
3.0 h
6
17% lit
6.2 h
7
10% lit
8.5 h
8
4% lit
10.6 h
9
1% lit
11.8 h
10
0% lit
12.0 h
New
11
1% lit
12.1 h
12
5% lit
12.2 h
13
10% lit
12.4 h
14
16% lit
12.5 h
15
24% lit
12.6 h
16
32% lit
12.8 h
17
41% lit
12.9 h
18
50% lit
13.0 h
19
60% lit
13.2 h
20
69% lit
8.2 h
21
78% lit
6.1 h
22
86% lit
4.2 h
23
92% lit
2.3 h
24
97% lit
0.2 h
25
100% lit
0.0 h
26
99% lit
0.0 h
Full
27
97% lit
0.0 h
28
91% lit
0.0 h
29
83% lit
0.0 h
30
74% lit
0.0 h
31
63% 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

Norilsk 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%. Norilsk sits at 60.5 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

Norilsk ranks 3rd in Russia for civil night on October 15, behind Zapolyarnyy at 12.7 hours. Coming from September (8.4 hours at Norilsk), October adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into November (16.5 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%
Norilsk	12.6 h	79%
Murmansk	12.6 h	89%
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%
Olenegorsk	12.6 h	89%

Darkness and moon, every night

Norilsk, 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 45 min	5 h 36 min	0 min	0 min	71%
Fri Oct 2	10 h 53 min	5 h 48 min	0 min	0 min	60%
Sat Oct 3	11 h 1 min	5 h 59 min	0 min	0 min	48%
Sun Oct 4	11 h 9 min	6 h 11 min	0 min	0 min	37%
Mon Oct 5	11 h 18 min	6 h 22 min	3 h	37 min	27%
Tue Oct 6	11 h 26 min	6 h 32 min	6 h 12 min	3 h 25 min	17%
Wed Oct 7	11 h 34 min	6 h 43 min	8 h 28 min	4 h	10%
Thu Oct 8	11 h 42 min	6 h 53 min	10 h 34 min	4 h	4%
Fri Oct 9	11 h 50 min	7 h 3 min	11 h 50 min	4 h	1%
Sat Oct 10	11 h 58 min	7 h 12 min	11 h 58 min	4 h	0%
Sun Oct 11	12 h 6 min	7 h 22 min	12 h 6 min	4 h	1%
Mon Oct 12	12 h 14 min	7 h 31 min	12 h 14 min	4 h	5%
Tue Oct 13	12 h 22 min	7 h 41 min	12 h 22 min	4 h	10%
Wed Oct 14	12 h 30 min	7 h 50 min	12 h 30 min	4 h	16%
Thu Oct 15	12 h 38 min	7 h 58 min	12 h 38 min	4 h	24%
Fri Oct 16	12 h 46 min	8 h 7 min	12 h 46 min	4 h	32%
Sat Oct 17	12 h 54 min	8 h 16 min	12 h 54 min	4 h	41%
Sun Oct 18	13 h 2 min	8 h 24 min	13 h 2 min	4 h	50%
Mon Oct 19	13 h 9 min	8 h 32 min	13 h 9 min	4 h	60%
Tue Oct 20	13 h 17 min	8 h 41 min	8 h 13 min	2 h 42 min	69%
Wed Oct 21	13 h 25 min	8 h 49 min	6 h 6 min	31 min	78%
Thu Oct 22	13 h 33 min	8 h 57 min	4 h 11 min	0 min	86%
Fri Oct 23	13 h 40 min	9 h 4 min	2 h 16 min	0 min	92%
Sat Oct 24	13 h 48 min	9 h 12 min	14 min	0 min	97%
Sun Oct 25	13 h 56 min	9 h 20 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Mon Oct 26	14 h 3 min	9 h 27 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Tue Oct 27	14 h 11 min	9 h 35 min	0 min	0 min	97%
Wed Oct 28	14 h 19 min	9 h 42 min	0 min	0 min	91%
Thu Oct 29	14 h 26 min	9 h 49 min	0 min	0 min	83%
Fri Oct 30	14 h 34 min	9 h 56 min	0 min	0 min	74%
Sat Oct 31	14 h 41 min	10 h 3 min	0 min	0 min	63%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Norilsk in October?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Norilsk have civil darkness, and 54% of past October days reached Kp 3.
How dark is Norilsk in October?: Norilsk averages 12.7 hours of civil night a night in October 2026, from 10 h 45 min on the 1st to 14 h 41 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Norilsk in October?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Norilsk's 1 degree cell 79% mean cloud in October, against 68% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in October 2026 for aurora in Norilsk?: By darkness and moon alone, Oct 7, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Norilsk. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is October or November better in Norilsk?: By civil night times the clear share, October scores 2.6 hours at Norilsk and November 6.6. 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.