Can you see the northern lights in South Bend in November?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at South Bend have civil darkness, and 1% of past November days reached Kp 8.

How dark is South Bend in November?

South Bend averages 13.1 hours of civil night a night in November 2026, from 12 h 36 min on the 1st to 13 h 29 min on the last night.

How cloudy is South Bend in November?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives South Bend's 1 degree cell 67% mean cloud in November, against 63% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in November 2026 for aurora in South Bend?

By darkness and moon alone, Nov 3, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at South Bend. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.

Is November or December better in South Bend?

By civil night times the clear share, November scores 4.3 hours at South Bend and December 3.2. November comes out ahead.

South Bend · November 2026

Northern lights in South Bend in November 2026

Answer

November gives South Bend 13.1 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 3rd darkest of its 12 months, under 67% mean cloud. 1% of November days since 1996 reached Kp 8, enough for the oval edge to reach South Bend.

13.1 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 41.68, -86.25; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

November against the rest of the year

3.2

3.1

3.6

3.5

2.9

3.2

4.0

4.5

5.5

4.6

4.3

3.2

November cloud at South Bend averages 67% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 4 points cloudier than its yearly mean. September is South Bend's clearest month at 48%. By civil night times clear sky, November scores 4.3 hours at South Bend, 4th of 12. Buffalo, 621 km away, averages 75%, cloudier by 8 points.

Civil night at South Bend starts November at 12 h 36 min and reaches 13 h 29 min by November 30 as the nights lengthen by 0.9 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 10.9 hours on the 15th.

November night by night

November opens toward a new moon on Nov 9, with full moon on Nov 24, in America/Indiana/Indianapolis dates. South Bend gets 206 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 3 (4 h), Nov 4 (4 h), Nov 5 (4 h).

1
46% lit
5.9 h
2
35% lit
7.2 h
3
25% lit
8.3 h
4
17% lit
9.5 h
5
10% lit
10.6 h
6
5% lit
11.8 h
7
1% lit
12.8 h
8
0% lit
12.8 h
9
1% lit
12.9 h
New
10
4% lit
12.9 h
11
8% lit
12.3 h
12
14% lit
11.4 h
13
21% lit
10.5 h
14
29% lit
9.5 h
15
38% lit
8.4 h
16
47% lit
7.4 h
17
57% lit
6.3 h
18
67% lit
5.3 h
19
76% lit
4.2 h
20
85% lit
3.0 h
21
92% lit
1.8 h
22
97% lit
0.5 h
23
100% lit
0.0 h
24
99% lit
0.0 h
Full
25
96% lit
0.2 h
26
90% lit
1.4 h
27
82% lit
2.7 h
28
72% lit
4.0 h
29
62% lit
5.3 h
30
51% 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

South Bend needs Kp 8 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 8 of the 900 November days from 1996 to 2025 (1%) 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%. South Bend sits at 50.6 degrees geomagnetic. The lowest NOAA storm level whose typical viewing latitude reaches it is G3 (Kp = 7). By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead only at Kp 8.

November across United States

South Bend ranks 11th in United States for civil night on November 15, behind Fairbanks at 15.5 hours. Coming from October (11.9 hours at South Bend), November adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into December (13.7 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on November 15 and November cloud, month-page towns in United States
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Fairbanks	15.5 h	67%
Anchorage	14.9 h	70%
Eagle River	14.9 h	70%
Juneau	14.5 h	79%
Seattle	13.5 h	77%
Fargo	13.5 h	64%
Duluth	13.4 h	69%
Minneapolis	13.3 h	63%
Buffalo	13.2 h	75%
Portland, Maine	13.2 h	61%
South Bend	13.1 h	67%

Darkness and moon, every night

South Bend, 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	12 h 36 min	10 h 26 min	5 h 54 min	2 h 5 min	46%
Mon Nov 2	12 h 38 min	10 h 28 min	7 h 9 min	3 h 18 min	35%
Tue Nov 3	12 h 40 min	10 h 30 min	8 h 20 min	4 h	25%
Wed Nov 4	12 h 43 min	10 h 32 min	9 h 29 min	4 h	17%
Thu Nov 5	12 h 45 min	10 h 34 min	10 h 37 min	4 h	10%
Fri Nov 6	12 h 47 min	10 h 36 min	11 h 45 min	4 h	5%
Sat Nov 7	12 h 49 min	10 h 38 min	12 h 49 min	4 h	1%
Sun Nov 8	12 h 51 min	10 h 40 min	12 h 51 min	4 h	0%
Mon Nov 9	12 h 54 min	10 h 42 min	12 h 54 min	4 h	1%
Tue Nov 10	12 h 56 min	10 h 44 min	12 h 56 min	4 h	4%
Wed Nov 11	12 h 58 min	10 h 46 min	12 h 18 min	4 h	8%
Thu Nov 12	13 h	10 h 48 min	11 h 27 min	4 h	14%
Fri Nov 13	13 h 2 min	10 h 49 min	10 h 30 min	4 h	21%
Sat Nov 14	13 h 4 min	10 h 51 min	9 h 29 min	4 h	29%
Sun Nov 15	13 h 6 min	10 h 53 min	8 h 27 min	3 h 24 min	38%
Mon Nov 16	13 h 7 min	10 h 55 min	7 h 24 min	2 h 20 min	47%
Tue Nov 17	13 h 9 min	10 h 56 min	6 h 21 min	1 h 16 min	57%
Wed Nov 18	13 h 11 min	10 h 58 min	5 h 17 min	11 min	67%
Thu Nov 19	13 h 13 min	10 h 59 min	4 h 11 min	0 min	76%
Fri Nov 20	13 h 15 min	11 h 1 min	3 h 2 min	0 min	85%
Sat Nov 21	13 h 16 min	11 h 2 min	1 h 49 min	0 min	92%
Sun Nov 22	13 h 18 min	11 h 4 min	32 min	0 min	97%
Mon Nov 23	13 h 20 min	11 h 5 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Tue Nov 24	13 h 21 min	11 h 7 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Wed Nov 25	13 h 23 min	11 h 8 min	13 min	0 min	96%
Thu Nov 26	13 h 24 min	11 h 9 min	1 h 25 min	0 min	90%
Fri Nov 27	13 h 25 min	11 h 10 min	2 h 43 min	0 min	82%
Sat Nov 28	13 h 27 min	11 h 12 min	4 h 3 min	0 min	72%
Sun Nov 29	13 h 28 min	11 h 13 min	5 h 19 min	1 h 8 min	62%
Mon Nov 30	13 h 29 min	11 h 14 min	6 h 31 min	2 h 21 min	51%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in South Bend in November?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at South Bend have civil darkness, and 1% of past November days reached Kp 8.
How dark is South Bend in November?: South Bend averages 13.1 hours of civil night a night in November 2026, from 12 h 36 min on the 1st to 13 h 29 min on the last night.
How cloudy is South Bend in November?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives South Bend's 1 degree cell 67% mean cloud in November, against 63% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in November 2026 for aurora in South Bend?: By darkness and moon alone, Nov 3, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at South Bend. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is November or December better in South Bend?: By civil night times the clear share, November scores 4.3 hours at South Bend and December 3.2. 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.