Can you see the southern lights in Queenstown in November?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Queenstown have civil darkness, and 0% of past November days reached Kp 9.

How dark is Queenstown in November?

Queenstown averages 8.0 hours of civil night a night in November 2026, from 8 h 39 min on the 1st to 7 h 22 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Queenstown in November?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Queenstown's 1 degree cell 72% mean cloud in November, against 67% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in November 2026 for aurora in Queenstown?

By darkness and moon alone, Nov 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Queenstown. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.

Is November or December better in Queenstown?

By civil night times the clear share, November scores 2.2 hours at Queenstown and December 1.9. November comes out ahead.

Queenstown · November 2026

Southern lights in Queenstown in November 2026

Answer

November gives Queenstown 8.0 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 10th darkest of its 12 months, under 72% mean cloud. 0% of November days since 1996 reached Kp 9, enough for the oval edge to reach Queenstown.

8.0 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for -45.03, 168.66; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

November against the rest of the year

2.3

3.1

3.7

4.2

4.5

5.0

5.1

4.3

3.6

2.9

2.2

1.9

November cloud at Queenstown averages 72% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 5 points cloudier than its yearly mean. July is Queenstown's clearest month at 63%. By civil night times clear sky, November scores 2.2 hours at Queenstown, 11th of 12. Anadyr, 12,230 km away, averages 71%, clearer by 1 points.

Civil night at Queenstown starts November at 8 h 39 min and reaches 7 h 22 min by November 30, 1.3 hours shorter. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 4.8 hours on the 15th.

November night by night

November opens toward a new moon on Nov 9, with full moon on Nov 25, in Pacific/Auckland dates. Queenstown gets 129 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 1 (4 h), Nov 2 (4 h), Nov 3 (4 h).

1
55% lit
6.0 h
2
43% lit
6.4 h
3
33% lit
6.8 h
4
23% lit
7.0 h
5
15% lit
7.3 h
6
8% lit
7.6 h
7
4% lit
7.9 h
8
1% lit
8.3 h
9
0% lit
8.3 h
New
10
2% lit
7.5 h
11
5% lit
6.5 h
12
9% lit
5.5 h
13
15% lit
4.7 h
14
23% lit
4.1 h
15
31% lit
3.5 h
16
40% lit
3.1 h
17
50% lit
2.7 h
18
60% lit
2.4 h
19
69% lit
2.1 h
20
79% lit
1.8 h
21
87% lit
1.4 h
22
93% lit
1.0 h
23
98% lit
0.5 h
24
100% lit
0.0 h
25
99% lit
0.6 h
Full
26
95% lit
1.8 h
27
88% lit
2.6 h
28
80% lit
3.3 h
29
70% lit
3.8 h
30
59% lit
4.2 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

Queenstown needs Kp 9 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 0 of the 900 November days from 1996 to 2025 (0%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 4th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 10%. Queenstown sits at 48.8 degrees geomagnetic. The lowest NOAA storm level whose typical viewing latitude reaches it is G4 (Kp = 8, including a 9-). By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead only at Kp 9.

November across New Zealand

Coming from October (9.6 hours at Queenstown), November loses darkness, and December brings shorter nights (7.0 hours on the 15th).

Darkness and moon, every night

Queenstown, 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	8 h 39 min	5 h 50 min	5 h 59 min	4 h	55%
Mon Nov 2	8 h 36 min	5 h 45 min	6 h 24 min	4 h	43%
Tue Nov 3	8 h 33 min	5 h 41 min	6 h 45 min	4 h	33%
Wed Nov 4	8 h 30 min	5 h 36 min	7 h 3 min	4 h	23%
Thu Nov 5	8 h 27 min	5 h 32 min	7 h 19 min	4 h	15%
Fri Nov 6	8 h 24 min	5 h 28 min	7 h 37 min	4 h	8%
Sat Nov 7	8 h 21 min	5 h 23 min	7 h 55 min	4 h	4%
Sun Nov 8	8 h 18 min	5 h 19 min	8 h 17 min	4 h	1%
Mon Nov 9	8 h 15 min	5 h 14 min	8 h 15 min	4 h	0%
Tue Nov 10	8 h 12 min	5 h 10 min	7 h 31 min	3 h 57 min	2%
Wed Nov 11	8 h 9 min	5 h 5 min	6 h 27 min	2 h 54 min	5%
Thu Nov 12	8 h 6 min	5 h 1 min	5 h 31 min	1 h 58 min	9%
Fri Nov 13	8 h 3 min	4 h 57 min	4 h 43 min	1 h 12 min	15%
Sat Nov 14	8 h	4 h 52 min	4 h 4 min	34 min	23%
Sun Nov 15	7 h 58 min	4 h 48 min	3 h 33 min	4 min	31%
Mon Nov 16	7 h 55 min	4 h 43 min	3 h 7 min	0 min	40%
Tue Nov 17	7 h 52 min	4 h 39 min	2 h 44 min	0 min	50%
Wed Nov 18	7 h 50 min	4 h 35 min	2 h 24 min	0 min	60%
Thu Nov 19	7 h 47 min	4 h 30 min	2 h 5 min	0 min	69%
Fri Nov 20	7 h 44 min	4 h 26 min	1 h 46 min	0 min	79%
Sat Nov 21	7 h 42 min	4 h 22 min	1 h 24 min	0 min	87%
Sun Nov 22	7 h 39 min	4 h 18 min	59 min	0 min	93%
Mon Nov 23	7 h 37 min	4 h 13 min	28 min	0 min	98%
Tue Nov 24	7 h 35 min	4 h 9 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Wed Nov 25	7 h 32 min	4 h 5 min	38 min	23 min	99%
Thu Nov 26	7 h 30 min	4 h 1 min	1 h 45 min	1 h 33 min	95%
Fri Nov 27	7 h 28 min	3 h 57 min	2 h 38 min	2 h 27 min	88%
Sat Nov 28	7 h 26 min	3 h 53 min	3 h 17 min	3 h 7 min	80%
Sun Nov 29	7 h 24 min	3 h 50 min	3 h 46 min	3 h 38 min	70%
Mon Nov 30	7 h 22 min	3 h 46 min	4 h 9 min	4 h	59%

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

Questions

Can you see the southern lights in Queenstown in November?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Queenstown have civil darkness, and 0% of past November days reached Kp 9.
How dark is Queenstown in November?: Queenstown averages 8.0 hours of civil night a night in November 2026, from 8 h 39 min on the 1st to 7 h 22 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Queenstown in November?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Queenstown's 1 degree cell 72% mean cloud in November, against 67% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in November 2026 for aurora in Queenstown?: By darkness and moon alone, Nov 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Queenstown. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is November or December better in Queenstown?: By civil night times the clear share, November scores 2.2 hours at Queenstown and December 1.9. 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.