Northern lights in Yellowknife in October

A solid choice — 41% of October nights offer a real viewing window.

41%of nights offer a window
10 hof darkness per night
99%of days with enough solar activity
41%of nights with a clear hour

The numbers behind it: October nights in Yellowknife average about 10 dark hours, geomagnetic activity reaches local viewing levels on 99% of days, and 41% of nights offer at least one reasonably clear hour after dark.

Neither clouds nor solar activity dominates — October failures are usually bad single-night luck. Several nights in a row is the honest insurance policy.

Numbers come from 1996–2025 Kp records (GFZ Potsdam) and 2015–2024 hourly cloud history for Yellowknife itself — the full method is on the methodology page. Travelling soon? Check tonight's live Yellowknife forecast.

October against the rest of the year

  1. Jan54% of nights
  2. Feb65% of nights
  3. Mar61% of nights
  4. Apr59% of nights
  5. May10% of nights
  6. Junmidnight sun
  7. Julmidnight sun
  8. Aug50% of nights
  9. Sep59% of nights
  10. Oct41% of nights
  11. Nov35% of nights
  12. Dec47% of nights

September in Yellowknife · November in Yellowknife · full year overview

October elsewhere under the oval