Is Juneau or Whitehorse better for the northern lights?

Whitehorse sits closer to the oval, at 63.8 degrees geomagnetic against 61.6. Darkness, cloud and your dates decide the rest; the tables on this page show both towns month by month.

Which has longer nights in December, Juneau or Whitehorse?

Whitehorse, with 16.2 hours of civil night on December 15 against 15.7 in Juneau.

What Kp do Juneau and Whitehorse need?

By SWPC's rule of 66 degrees at Kp 0 and 2 degrees per step, Juneau needs about Kp 3 and Whitehorse Kp 2 for the average oval edge to sit overhead.

When is it too light for aurora in Juneau and Whitehorse?

Juneau: never, every night has civil darkness. Whitehorse: June 7 to July 3.

Which is clearer, Juneau or Whitehorse?

Whitehorse, with 69% mean cloud in the months with 4 hours or more of civil night against 78% in Juneau (NASA POWER, 2001 to 2020).

Comparison

Juneau vs Whitehorse for the northern lights

Answer

Whitehorse sits 2.2 degrees higher on the IGRF-14 dipole, 63.8 against 61.6. By SWPC's oval-edge rule Whitehorse needs about Kp 2 for the average edge to sit overhead and Juneau Kp 3. On the map Whitehorse is also closer to the pole, by 2.4 degrees.

61.6° / 63.8°

dipole latitude

Side by side

Computed figures for both towns
Figure	Juneau	Whitehorse
Dipole latitude	61.6°	63.8°
Kp for the oval edge overhead	Kp 3	Kp 2
Civil night, December 15	15.7 h	16.2 h
Dark-season days	316	294
Nights with no civil darkness	0	27
Dark-month cloud, NASA POWER	78%	69%
Solar midnight, December 15	23:53	01:56

Juneau sits at 61.6 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 3. Whitehorse sits at 63.8 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.

Civil night month by month

On December 15 Juneau has 15.7 hours of civil night and Whitehorse 16.2. Across the 15th of each month, Juneau is darker in 7 months and Whitehorse in 5. The widest gap comes in June, when Juneau has 2.8 more hours.

Hours of civil night on the 15th of each month, 2026
Month	Juneau	Whitehorse	Difference
January	15.1 h	15.4 h	-0.3 h
February	13.0 h	13.2 h	-0.2 h
March	10.7 h	10.6 h	+0.1 h
April	7.9 h	7.5 h	+0.4 h
May	5.1 h	4.0 h	+1.1 h
June	2.8 h	0.0 h	+2.8 h
July	4.1 h	2.6 h	+1.5 h
August	6.9 h	6.4 h	+0.5 h
September	9.8 h	9.6 h	+0.2 h
October	12.3 h	12.4 h	-0.1 h
November	14.5 h	14.8 h	-0.3 h
December	15.7 h	16.2 h	-0.5 h

Difference: Juneau minus Whitehorse. Each figure links to that town's month page.

Season and midnight sun

Juneau has some civil darkness every night of 2026, and its dark season, 4 or more evening hours of civil night, lasts 316 days. Whitehorse has no civil darkness from June 7 to July 3, 27 nights in 2026, and its dark season, 4 or more evening hours of civil night, lasts 294 days.

Distance, cloud and time zones

The two towns are 271 km apart by great circle. In the dark months Whitehorse averages 69% cloud and Juneau 78%, from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record. Juneau's best month by civil night times clear sky is February. Whitehorse's best month by civil night times clear sky is December. Time zones: America/Juneau and America/Whitehorse.

For tonight, open the live pages for Juneau and Whitehorse, which carry the live OVATION cell.

Questions

Is Juneau or Whitehorse better for the northern lights?: Whitehorse sits closer to the oval, at 63.8 degrees geomagnetic against 61.6. Darkness, cloud and your dates decide the rest; the tables on this page show both towns month by month.
Which has longer nights in December, Juneau or Whitehorse?: Whitehorse, with 16.2 hours of civil night on December 15 against 15.7 in Juneau.
What Kp do Juneau and Whitehorse need?: By SWPC's rule of 66 degrees at Kp 0 and 2 degrees per step, Juneau needs about Kp 3 and Whitehorse Kp 2 for the average oval edge to sit overhead.
When is it too light for aurora in Juneau and Whitehorse?: Juneau: never, every night has civil darkness. Whitehorse: June 7 to July 3.
Which is clearer, Juneau or Whitehorse?: Whitehorse, with 69% mean cloud in the months with 4 hours or more of civil night against 78% in Juneau (NASA POWER, 2001 to 2020).

Sources and verification

IGRF-14 coefficients, NOAA NCEIhttps://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/IAGA/vmod/coeffs/igrf14coeffs.txt
SunCalchttps://github.com/mourner/suncalc
GeoNameshttps://www.geonames.org/export/
NASA POWER climatologyhttps://power.larc.nasa.gov/docs/services/api/temporal/climatology/
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.