The Leonids come from debris left by comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle. In 1966, observers saw rates of thousands of meteors per minute for about 15 minutes. Storms like that tend to recur on roughly a 33-year cycle, tied to the comet's orbit, and the last strong displays were around 1999-2002.

2026 is an ordinary year:

Peak: Nov 17, around 23:45 UTC (IMO). One model puts it earlier, around 16:00 UTC on the 17th, so the night of Nov 16-17 is also worth a look.

Expected rate: about 10-15 meteors per hour under ideal dark skies; no storm is forecast.

Moon: first quarter on Nov 17 (about 55% lit at peak). It sets around local midnight, and Leo rises late in the evening, so the moonless hours before dawn are the best window.

Bonus: NOAA's 27-day outlook (issued Nov 2) currently shows a chance of Kp 5 geomagnetic activity on Nov 17-18.…