Can you see the northern lights in Portlaoise in November?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Portlaoise have civil darkness, and 4% of past November days reached Kp 6.

How dark is Portlaoise in November?

Portlaoise averages 13.9 hours of civil night a night in November 2026, from 13 h 11 min on the 1st to 14 h 34 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Portlaoise in November?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Portlaoise's 1 degree cell 73% 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 Portlaoise?

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

Is November or December better in Portlaoise?

By civil night times the clear share, November scores 3.8 hours at Portlaoise and December 3.6. November comes out ahead.

Portlaoise · November 2026

Northern lights in Portlaoise in November 2026

Answer

November gives Portlaoise 13.9 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 3rd darkest of its 12 months, under 73% mean cloud. 4% of November days since 1996 reached Kp 6, enough for the oval edge to reach Portlaoise.

13.9 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 53.03, -7.30; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

November against the rest of the year

3.2

3.1

2.8

2.3

1.8

1.2

1.3

1.7

2.6

3.1

3.8

3.6

November cloud at Portlaoise averages 73% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 2 points clearer than its yearly mean. April is Portlaoise's clearest month at 73%. That makes November the best month of Portlaoise's year by civil night times clear sky, 3.8 hours. Dublin, 78 km away, averages the same 73%.

Civil night at Portlaoise starts November at 13 h 11 min and reaches 14 h 34 min by November 30 as the nights lengthen by 1.4 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 11.2 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/Dublin dates. Portlaoise gets 218 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
48% lit
5.3 h
2
37% lit
6.8 h
3
27% lit
8.2 h
4
18% lit
9.6 h
5
11% lit
10.9 h
6
5% lit
12.2 h
7
2% lit
13.5 h
8
0% lit
13.6 h
9
1% lit
13.6 h
New
10
3% lit
13.7 h
11
7% lit
13.7 h
12
12% lit
13.2 h
13
19% lit
12.2 h
14
27% lit
11.1 h
15
36% lit
9.8 h
16
45% lit
8.6 h
17
55% lit
7.4 h
18
65% lit
6.1 h
19
74% lit
4.8 h
20
83% lit
3.5 h
21
91% lit
2.1 h
22
96% lit
0.6 h
23
99% lit
0.0 h
24
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
25
97% lit
0.0 h
26
92% lit
0.6 h
27
84% lit
2.0 h
28
74% lit
3.6 h
29
64% lit
5.1 h
30
53% lit
6.5 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

Portlaoise needs Kp 6 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 40 of the 900 November days from 1996 to 2025 (4%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, one of the three most active months for that level; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 10%. Portlaoise sits at 56.0 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 6, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less.

November across Ireland

Portlaoise ranks 2nd in Ireland for civil night on November 15, behind Dublin at 14.0 hours. Coming from October (12.1 hours at Portlaoise), November adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into December (14.9 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on November 15 and November cloud, month-page towns in Ireland
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Dublin	14.0 h	73%
Portlaoise	13.9 h	73%
Limerick	13.9 h	74%
Cork	13.8 h	69%

Darkness and moon, every night

Portlaoise, 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	13 h 11 min	10 h 29 min	5 h 17 min	55 min	48%
Mon Nov 2	13 h 14 min	10 h 32 min	6 h 46 min	2 h 22 min	37%
Tue Nov 3	13 h 18 min	10 h 36 min	8 h 11 min	3 h 45 min	27%
Wed Nov 4	13 h 21 min	10 h 39 min	9 h 33 min	4 h	18%
Thu Nov 5	13 h 25 min	10 h 42 min	10 h 54 min	4 h	11%
Fri Nov 6	13 h 28 min	10 h 45 min	12 h 14 min	4 h	5%
Sat Nov 7	13 h 31 min	10 h 48 min	13 h 31 min	4 h	2%
Sun Nov 8	13 h 35 min	10 h 51 min	13 h 35 min	4 h	0%
Mon Nov 9	13 h 38 min	10 h 54 min	13 h 38 min	4 h	1%
Tue Nov 10	13 h 41 min	10 h 57 min	13 h 41 min	4 h	3%
Wed Nov 11	13 h 44 min	11 h	13 h 44 min	4 h	7%
Thu Nov 12	13 h 47 min	11 h 3 min	13 h 12 min	4 h	12%
Fri Nov 13	13 h 50 min	11 h 5 min	12 h 12 min	4 h	19%
Sat Nov 14	13 h 53 min	11 h 8 min	11 h 3 min	4 h	27%
Sun Nov 15	13 h 56 min	11 h 11 min	9 h 50 min	4 h	36%
Mon Nov 16	13 h 59 min	11 h 13 min	8 h 36 min	3 h 22 min	45%
Tue Nov 17	14 h 2 min	11 h 16 min	7 h 22 min	2 h 6 min	55%
Wed Nov 18	14 h 5 min	11 h 18 min	6 h 8 min	50 min	65%
Thu Nov 19	14 h 8 min	11 h 21 min	4 h 51 min	0 min	74%
Fri Nov 20	14 h 10 min	11 h 23 min	3 h 31 min	0 min	83%
Sat Nov 21	14 h 13 min	11 h 25 min	2 h 7 min	0 min	91%
Sun Nov 22	14 h 16 min	11 h 28 min	37 min	0 min	96%
Mon Nov 23	14 h 18 min	11 h 30 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Tue Nov 24	14 h 21 min	11 h 32 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Wed Nov 25	14 h 23 min	11 h 34 min	0 min	0 min	97%
Thu Nov 26	14 h 25 min	11 h 36 min	34 min	0 min	92%
Fri Nov 27	14 h 27 min	11 h 38 min	2 h 1 min	0 min	84%
Sat Nov 28	14 h 30 min	11 h 40 min	3 h 34 min	0 min	74%
Sun Nov 29	14 h 32 min	11 h 41 min	5 h 6 min	8 min	64%
Mon Nov 30	14 h 34 min	11 h 43 min	6 h 32 min	1 h 34 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 Portlaoise in November?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Portlaoise have civil darkness, and 4% of past November days reached Kp 6.
How dark is Portlaoise in November?: Portlaoise averages 13.9 hours of civil night a night in November 2026, from 13 h 11 min on the 1st to 14 h 34 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Portlaoise in November?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Portlaoise's 1 degree cell 73% 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 Portlaoise?: By darkness and moon alone, Nov 4, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Portlaoise. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is November or December better in Portlaoise?: By civil night times the clear share, November scores 3.8 hours at Portlaoise and December 3.6. 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.