Can you see the northern lights in Tri-Cities in November?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Tri-Cities have civil darkness, and 2% of past November days reached Kp 7.

How dark is Tri-Cities in November?

Tri-Cities averages 13.4 hours of civil night a night in November 2026, from 12 h 49 min on the 1st to 13 h 52 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Tri-Cities in November?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Tri-Cities's 1 degree cell 70% mean cloud in November, against 56% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in November 2026 for aurora in Tri-Cities?

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

Is November or December better in Tri-Cities?

By civil night times the clear share, November scores 4.0 hours at Tri-Cities and December 3.2. November comes out ahead.

Tri-Cities · November 2026

Northern lights in Tri-Cities in November 2026

Answer

November gives Tri-Cities 13.4 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 3rd darkest of its 12 months, under 70% mean cloud. 2% of November days since 1996 reached Kp 7, enough for the oval edge to reach Tri-Cities.

13.4 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 46.25, -119.20; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

November against the rest of the year

2.9

4.0

3.4

3.6

3.4

3.7

5.4

6.2

6.3

5.3

4.0

3.2

November cloud at Tri-Cities averages 70% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 14 points cloudier than its yearly mean. July is Tri-Cities's clearest month at 26%. By civil night times clear sky, November scores 4.0 hours at Tri-Cities, 5th of 12. Seattle, 282 km away, averages 77%, cloudier by 7 points.

Civil night at Tri-Cities starts November at 12 h 49 min and reaches 13 h 52 min by November 30 as the nights lengthen by 1.1 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 11.0 hours on the 15th.

November night by night

November opens toward a new moon on Nov 8, with full moon on Nov 24, in America/Los_Angeles dates. Tri-Cities gets 211 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
45% lit
5.9 h
2
34% lit
7.3 h
3
24% lit
8.5 h
4
16% lit
9.7 h
5
9% lit
10.9 h
6
4% lit
12.1 h
7
1% lit
13.1 h
8
0% lit
13.1 h
New
9
1% lit
13.2 h
10
4% lit
13.2 h
11
9% lit
12.8 h
12
15% lit
11.9 h
13
22% lit
10.9 h
14
30% lit
9.8 h
15
39% lit
8.7 h
16
49% lit
7.6 h
17
58% lit
6.5 h
18
68% lit
5.4 h
19
77% lit
4.2 h
20
86% lit
3.0 h
21
93% lit
1.7 h
22
97% lit
0.3 h
23
100% lit
0.0 h
24
99% lit
0.0 h
Full
25
96% lit
0.1 h
26
89% lit
1.4 h
27
81% lit
2.7 h
28
71% lit
4.1 h
29
60% lit
5.5 h
30
49% lit
6.8 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

Tri-Cities needs Kp 7 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 16 of the 900 November days from 1996 to 2025 (2%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 4th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 10%. Tri-Cities sits at 52.1 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 7.

November across United States

Tri-Cities ranks 7th in United States for civil night on November 15, behind Fairbanks at 15.5 hours. Coming from October (12.0 hours at Tri-Cities), November adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into December (14.1 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%
Tri-Cities	13.4 h	70%
Duluth	13.4 h	69%
Minneapolis	13.3 h	63%
Buffalo	13.2 h	75%
Portland, Maine	13.2 h	61%

Darkness and moon, every night

Tri-Cities, 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 49 min	10 h 28 min	5 h 56 min	1 h 12 min	45%
Mon Nov 2	12 h 52 min	10 h 31 min	7 h 15 min	2 h 29 min	34%
Tue Nov 3	12 h 54 min	10 h 33 min	8 h 30 min	3 h 44 min	24%
Wed Nov 4	12 h 57 min	10 h 36 min	9 h 44 min	4 h	16%
Thu Nov 5	13 h	10 h 38 min	10 h 56 min	4 h	9%
Fri Nov 6	13 h 2 min	10 h 41 min	12 h 8 min	4 h	4%
Sat Nov 7	13 h 5 min	10 h 43 min	13 h 5 min	4 h	1%
Sun Nov 8	13 h 7 min	10 h 45 min	13 h 7 min	4 h	0%
Mon Nov 9	13 h 10 min	10 h 48 min	13 h 10 min	4 h	1%
Tue Nov 10	13 h 12 min	10 h 50 min	13 h 12 min	4 h	4%
Wed Nov 11	13 h 15 min	10 h 52 min	12 h 45 min	4 h	9%
Thu Nov 12	13 h 17 min	10 h 54 min	11 h 53 min	4 h	15%
Fri Nov 13	13 h 20 min	10 h 56 min	10 h 54 min	4 h	22%
Sat Nov 14	13 h 22 min	10 h 59 min	9 h 50 min	4 h	30%
Sun Nov 15	13 h 24 min	11 h 1 min	8 h 44 min	4 h	39%
Mon Nov 16	13 h 26 min	11 h 3 min	7 h 38 min	3 h 12 min	49%
Tue Nov 17	13 h 29 min	11 h 5 min	6 h 31 min	2 h 4 min	58%
Wed Nov 18	13 h 31 min	11 h 6 min	5 h 23 min	55 min	68%
Thu Nov 19	13 h 33 min	11 h 8 min	4 h 13 min	0 min	77%
Fri Nov 20	13 h 35 min	11 h 10 min	3 h	0 min	86%
Sat Nov 21	13 h 37 min	11 h 12 min	1 h 42 min	0 min	93%
Sun Nov 22	13 h 39 min	11 h 14 min	20 min	0 min	97%
Mon Nov 23	13 h 41 min	11 h 15 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Tue Nov 24	13 h 43 min	11 h 17 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Wed Nov 25	13 h 44 min	11 h 18 min	8 min	0 min	96%
Thu Nov 26	13 h 46 min	11 h 20 min	1 h 22 min	0 min	89%
Fri Nov 27	13 h 48 min	11 h 21 min	2 h 44 min	0 min	81%
Sat Nov 28	13 h 49 min	11 h 23 min	4 h 8 min	0 min	71%
Sun Nov 29	13 h 51 min	11 h 24 min	5 h 28 min	19 min	60%
Mon Nov 30	13 h 52 min	11 h 25 min	6 h 45 min	1 h 35 min	49%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Tri-Cities in November?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Tri-Cities have civil darkness, and 2% of past November days reached Kp 7.
How dark is Tri-Cities in November?: Tri-Cities averages 13.4 hours of civil night a night in November 2026, from 12 h 49 min on the 1st to 13 h 52 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Tri-Cities in November?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Tri-Cities's 1 degree cell 70% mean cloud in November, against 56% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in November 2026 for aurora in Tri-Cities?: By darkness and moon alone, Nov 4, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Tri-Cities. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is November or December better in Tri-Cities?: By civil night times the clear share, November scores 4.0 hours at Tri-Cities 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.