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Aurora by month · 2026

Northern lights in December

Answer

December holds the solstice and the longest nights of the year at every Glow town. On December 15, 2026, Tromsø has the most civil night of the 10 Glow towns at 19 h 11 min, and Buffalo the least at 13 h 48 min. The median is 15.3 hours.

Best destinations in December

Across Glow's 168 month-page towns, Talnakh scores highest for December at 8.0 clear-dark hours: 19.1 hours of civil night on the 15th with 58% mean cloud. The median town scores 3.3. The score multiplies civil night by the clear share of NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 cloud average; it compares places, it does not forecast.

Top 20 month-page towns for December, by civil night times clear share
TownCountryCivil nightCloudScore
TalnakhRussia19.1 h58%8.0 h
NorilskRussia19.0 h58%8.0 h
KayyerkanRussia19.0 h59%7.8 h
DudinkaRussia19.0 h59%7.8 h
FairbanksUnited States17.2 h59%7.1 h
YellowknifeCanada16.6 h58%7.0 h
AnadyrRussia17.2 h60%6.9 h
LongyearbyenSvalbard and Jan Mayen24.0 h74%6.2 h
NoyabrskRussia16.7 h67%5.5 h
VorkutaRussia18.1 h70%5.4 h
WhitehorseCanada16.2 h68%5.2 h
VorgashorRussia18.2 h72%5.1 h
Fort McMurrayCanada15.4 h69%4.8 h
Fort St. JohnCanada15.4 h69%4.8 h
Portland, MaineUnited States13.9 h66%4.7 h
CalgaryCanada14.6 h68%4.7 h
WinnipegCanada14.5 h68%4.6 h
AnchorageUnited States16.3 h72%4.6 h
Eagle RiverUnited States16.3 h72%4.6 h
FargoUnited States14.2 h68%4.5 h
All 168 towns in December

December 2026 at 10 towns

Civil night on the 1st, 15th and last night of December 2026, with astronomical night and moon-free darkness on the 15th
TownDec 1Dec 15Last nightAstronomical, 15thMoon-free, 15th
Tromsø18 h 18 min19 h 11 min19 h 1 min13 h 18 min11 h 59 min
Fairbanks16 h 40 min17 h 12 min17 h 4 min12 h 49 min9 h 55 min
Reykjavik16 h 28 min16 h 59 min16 h 53 min12 h 45 min10 h 20 min
Yellowknife16 h 6 min16 h 33 min16 h 27 min12 h 37 min9 h 40 min
Anchorage15 h 51 min16 h 16 min16 h 10 min12 h 31 min9 h 20 min
Seattle14 h 1 min14 h 15 min14 h 12 min11 h 42 min8 h 10 min
Duluth13 h 57 min14 h 10 min14 h 7 min11 h 39 min8 h 13 min
Minneapolis13 h 47 min13 h 59 min13 h 57 min11 h 34 min8 h 6 min
Portland, Maine13 h 40 min13 h 52 min13 h 49 min11 h 30 min8 h 5 min
Buffalo13 h 36 min13 h 48 min13 h 45 min11 h 28 min8 h 1 min
Civil night: sun at or below -6 degrees; astronomical: -18. Each town links to its full month page with every night.

What December means for aurora

The December solstice brings the longest nights. Tromsø has more than 19 hours of civil night mid-month, and the sun does not rise there near the solstice, though midday stays in civil twilight. The lower 48 towns reach about 14 hours. Long nights give the most time to wait for activity, but December is far from SWPC's equinox seasons.

Tromsø changes fastest across December: 18 h 18 min of civil night on the 1st and 19 h 1 min on the last night, a gain of 0.7 hours. The December solstice falls on December 21, 20:49 UTC.

The moon in December 2026

In UTC dates, the new moon falls on Dec 9 and the full moon on Dec 24. Local dates can differ by a day; each town's month page uses its own time zone.

SWPC says a full moon diminishes the apparent brightness of the aurora. Nights near the new moon give the darkest background. The moon planner shows every night of December for any coordinates, and the moon guide explains how Glow counts moon-free darkness.

Questions

Is December the best month for the northern lights?
It has the most darkness of any month at every Glow town. SWPC favors the equinoxes for storm activity, so December trades storm tendency for time.
Which town has the longest nights in December?
Tromsø, with 19 h 11 min of civil night on December 15, 2026, of the 10 Glow towns.
When is the full moon in December 2026?
On December 24, 2026 (UTC date). Local dates can differ by a day.
Does December have an equinox or solstice?
Yes, the December solstice, on December 21, 20:49 UTC.
How many Glow towns are dark in December?
10 of 10 have civil night on December 15, 2026.

Sources and verification

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.