Can you see the northern lights in Rovaniemi in November?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Rovaniemi have civil darkness, and 74% of past November days reached Kp 2.

How dark is Rovaniemi in November?

Rovaniemi averages 15.8 hours of civil night a night in November 2026, from 14 h 24 min on the 1st to 17 h 3 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Rovaniemi in November?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Rovaniemi's 1 degree cell 81% mean cloud in November, against 74% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

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

Is November or December better in Rovaniemi?

By civil night times the clear share, November scores 3.0 hours at Rovaniemi and December 3.4. December comes out ahead.

Rovaniemi · November 2026

Northern lights in Rovaniemi in November 2026

Answer

November gives Rovaniemi 15.8 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 3rd darkest of its 12 months, under 81% mean cloud. 74% of November days since 1996 reached Kp 2, enough for the oval edge to reach Rovaniemi.

15.8 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 66.50, 25.69; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

November against the rest of the year

3.7

3.3

3.2

1.8

0.0

1.2

2.2

2.4

3.0

3.4

November cloud at Rovaniemi averages 81% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 7 points cloudier than its yearly mean. March is Rovaniemi's clearest month at 69%. By civil night times clear sky, November scores 3.0 hours at Rovaniemi, 5th of 12. Kemi, 99 km away, averages 83%, cloudier by 2 points.

Civil night at Rovaniemi starts November at 14 h 24 min and reaches 17 h 3 min by November 30 as the nights lengthen by 2.6 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 11.5 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/Helsinki dates. Rovaniemi gets 245 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
49% lit
3.9 h
2
38% lit
6.2 h
3
28% lit
8.2 h
4
19% lit
10.1 h
5
12% lit
11.9 h
6
6% lit
13.8 h
7
2% lit
15.0 h
8
0% lit
15.1 h
9
1% lit
15.2 h
New
10
3% lit
15.3 h
11
7% lit
15.4 h
12
12% lit
15.5 h
13
19% lit
15.6 h
14
27% lit
15.7 h
15
35% lit
13.3 h
16
45% lit
11.1 h
17
54% lit
9.3 h
18
64% lit
7.7 h
19
74% lit
6.0 h
20
82% lit
4.2 h
21
90% lit
2.2 h
22
96% lit
0.0 h
23
99% lit
0.0 h
24
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
25
97% lit
0.0 h
26
92% lit
0.0 h
27
85% lit
0.0 h
28
75% lit
2.5 h
29
65% lit
4.9 h
30
54% lit
7.0 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 Novembers

Rovaniemi needs Kp 2 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 670 of the 900 November days from 1996 to 2025 (74%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 8th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 10%. Rovaniemi sits at 63.6 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 2.

November across Finland

No month-page town in Finland has more civil night on November 15 than Rovaniemi; the national median is 15.2 hours. Coming from October (12.5 hours at Rovaniemi), November adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into December (17.7 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on November 15 and November cloud, month-page towns in Finland
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Rovaniemi	15.8 h	81%
Tornio	15.7 h	83%
Kemi	15.7 h	83%
Oulu	15.5 h	83%
Raahe	15.5 h	87%
Haukipudas	15.5 h	83%
Kajaani	15.4 h	85%
Kokkola	15.3 h	87%
Jakobstad	15.3 h	87%
Ylivieska	15.3 h	87%
Vaasa	15.2 h	82%
Siilinjärvi	15.2 h	88%

Darkness and moon, every night

Rovaniemi, 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	14 h 24 min	10 h 18 min	3 h 56 min	0 min	49%
Mon Nov 2	14 h 30 min	10 h 24 min	6 h 12 min	59 min	38%
Tue Nov 3	14 h 36 min	10 h 30 min	8 h 12 min	2 h 55 min	28%
Wed Nov 4	14 h 43 min	10 h 35 min	10 h 4 min	4 h	19%
Thu Nov 5	14 h 49 min	10 h 41 min	11 h 53 min	4 h	12%
Fri Nov 6	14 h 55 min	10 h 46 min	13 h 45 min	4 h	6%
Sat Nov 7	15 h 1 min	10 h 52 min	15 h 1 min	4 h	2%
Sun Nov 8	15 h 7 min	10 h 57 min	15 h 7 min	4 h	0%
Mon Nov 9	15 h 13 min	11 h 2 min	15 h 13 min	4 h	1%
Tue Nov 10	15 h 19 min	11 h 7 min	15 h 19 min	4 h	3%
Wed Nov 11	15 h 25 min	11 h 12 min	15 h 25 min	4 h	7%
Thu Nov 12	15 h 31 min	11 h 17 min	15 h 31 min	4 h	12%
Fri Nov 13	15 h 37 min	11 h 22 min	15 h 37 min	4 h	19%
Sat Nov 14	15 h 43 min	11 h 27 min	15 h 43 min	4 h	27%
Sun Nov 15	15 h 48 min	11 h 31 min	13 h 15 min	4 h	35%
Mon Nov 16	15 h 54 min	11 h 36 min	11 h 8 min	4 h	45%
Tue Nov 17	16 h	11 h 40 min	9 h 20 min	3 h 17 min	54%
Wed Nov 18	16 h 5 min	11 h 45 min	7 h 39 min	1 h 33 min	64%
Thu Nov 19	16 h 10 min	11 h 49 min	5 h 57 min	0 min	74%
Fri Nov 20	16 h 16 min	11 h 53 min	4 h 11 min	0 min	82%
Sat Nov 21	16 h 21 min	11 h 57 min	2 h 14 min	0 min	90%
Sun Nov 22	16 h 26 min	12 h 1 min	0 min	0 min	96%
Mon Nov 23	16 h 31 min	12 h 5 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Tue Nov 24	16 h 36 min	12 h 9 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Wed Nov 25	16 h 41 min	12 h 12 min	0 min	0 min	97%
Thu Nov 26	16 h 45 min	12 h 16 min	0 min	0 min	92%
Fri Nov 27	16 h 50 min	12 h 19 min	0 min	0 min	85%
Sat Nov 28	16 h 54 min	12 h 22 min	2 h 28 min	0 min	75%
Sun Nov 29	16 h 58 min	12 h 25 min	4 h 56 min	0 min	65%
Mon Nov 30	17 h 3 min	12 h 28 min	7 h	35 min	54%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Rovaniemi in November?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Rovaniemi have civil darkness, and 74% of past November days reached Kp 2.
How dark is Rovaniemi in November?: Rovaniemi averages 15.8 hours of civil night a night in November 2026, from 14 h 24 min on the 1st to 17 h 3 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Rovaniemi in November?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Rovaniemi's 1 degree cell 81% mean cloud in November, against 74% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in November 2026 for aurora in Rovaniemi?: By darkness and moon alone, Nov 4, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Rovaniemi. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is November or December better in Rovaniemi?: By civil night times the clear share, November scores 3.0 hours at Rovaniemi and December 3.4. December 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.