Can you see the northern lights in Anchorage in August?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Anchorage have civil darkness, and 48% of past August days reached Kp 3.

How dark is Anchorage in August?

Anchorage averages 6.3 hours of civil night a night in August 2027, from 4 h 32 min on the 1st to 7 h 59 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Anchorage in August?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Anchorage's 1 degree cell 79% mean cloud in August, against 74% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in August 2027 for aurora in Anchorage?

By darkness and moon alone, Aug 31, with 3 h 59 min of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Anchorage. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.

Is August or September better in Anchorage?

By civil night times the clear share, August scores 1.3 hours at Anchorage and September 2.1. September comes out ahead.

Anchorage · August 2027

Northern lights in Anchorage in August 2027

Answer

August gives Anchorage 6.3 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 9th darkest of its 12 months, under 79% mean cloud. 48% of August days since 1996 reached Kp 3, enough for the oval edge to reach Anchorage.

6.3 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 61.22, -149.90; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

August against the rest of the year

5.4

4.1

3.9

2.1

0.8

0.0

0.4

1.3

2.1

2.9

4.5

4.6

August cloud at Anchorage averages 79% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 5 points cloudier than its yearly mean. March is Anchorage's clearest month at 63%. By civil night times clear sky, August scores 1.3 hours at Anchorage, 9th of 12. Eagle River, 21 km away, averages the same 79%.

Civil night at Anchorage starts August at 4 h 32 min and reaches 7 h 59 min by August 31 as the nights lengthen by 3.5 hours. The 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on 1 of 31 nights. The sun never reaches 18 degrees down, so Anchorage gets no astronomical night in August.

August night by night

August opens toward a new moon on Aug 2 and Aug 31, with full moon on Aug 16, in America/Anchorage dates. Anchorage gets 97 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: Aug 31 (3 h 59 min), Aug 30 (3 h 56 min), Aug 29 (3 h 52 min).

1
0% lit
4.5 h
2
1% lit
4.7 h
New
3
6% lit
4.8 h
4
12% lit
4.9 h
5
21% lit
5.0 h
6
31% lit
5.2 h
7
41% lit
5.3 h
8
51% lit
5.4 h
9
62% lit
5.5 h
10
71% lit
5.6 h
11
79% lit
5.5 h
12
86% lit
4.3 h
13
92% lit
2.8 h
14
97% lit
1.3 h
15
99% lit
0.0 h
16
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
17
99% lit
0.0 h
18
96% lit
0.0 h
19
92% lit
0.0 h
20
85% lit
0.0 h
21
78% lit
0.0 h
22
69% lit
0.0 h
23
58% lit
0.0 h
24
48% lit
0.0 h
25
37% lit
0.1 h
26
26% lit
1.3 h
27
16% lit
3.1 h
28
8% lit
5.1 h
29
3% lit
7.1 h
30
0% lit
7.9 h
31
1% lit
8.0 h
New

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 Augusts

Anchorage needs Kp 3 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 444 of the 930 August days from 1996 to 2025 (48%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 7th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 11%. Anchorage sits at 61.9 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.

August across United States

Anchorage ranks 8th in United States for civil night on August 15, behind Buffalo at 9.0 hours. Coming from July (2.1 hours at Anchorage), August adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into September (9.5 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on August 15 and August cloud, month-page towns in United States
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Buffalo	9.0 h	56%
Portland, Maine	8.9 h	52%
Minneapolis	8.8 h	49%
Duluth	8.6 h	52%
Fargo	8.6 h	49%
Seattle	8.5 h	48%
Juneau	6.9 h	79%
Anchorage	6.3 h	79%
Eagle River	6.2 h	79%
Fairbanks	5.0 h	75%

Darkness and moon, every night

Anchorage, August 2027: 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 Aug 1	4 h 32 min	0 min	4 h 32 min	2 h 10 min	0%
Mon Aug 2	4 h 39 min	0 min	4 h 39 min	2 h 13 min	1%
Tue Aug 3	4 h 47 min	0 min	4 h 47 min	2 h 17 min	6%
Wed Aug 4	4 h 54 min	0 min	4 h 54 min	2 h 21 min	12%
Thu Aug 5	5 h 2 min	0 min	5 h 2 min	2 h 25 min	21%
Fri Aug 6	5 h 9 min	0 min	5 h 9 min	2 h 29 min	31%
Sat Aug 7	5 h 16 min	0 min	5 h 16 min	2 h 32 min	41%
Sun Aug 8	5 h 24 min	0 min	5 h 24 min	2 h 36 min	51%
Mon Aug 9	5 h 31 min	0 min	5 h 31 min	2 h 40 min	62%
Tue Aug 10	5 h 38 min	0 min	5 h 38 min	2 h 44 min	71%
Wed Aug 11	5 h 45 min	0 min	5 h 32 min	2 h 34 min	79%
Thu Aug 12	5 h 52 min	0 min	4 h 17 min	1 h 16 min	86%
Fri Aug 13	5 h 59 min	0 min	2 h 48 min	0 min	92%
Sat Aug 14	6 h 6 min	0 min	1 h 17 min	0 min	97%
Sun Aug 15	6 h 13 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Mon Aug 16	6 h 20 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Tue Aug 17	6 h 27 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Wed Aug 18	6 h 34 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	96%
Thu Aug 19	6 h 40 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	92%
Fri Aug 20	6 h 47 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	85%
Sat Aug 21	6 h 54 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	78%
Sun Aug 22	7 h	0 min	0 min	0 min	69%
Mon Aug 23	7 h 7 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	58%
Tue Aug 24	7 h 14 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	48%
Wed Aug 25	7 h 20 min	0 min	3 min	3 min	37%
Thu Aug 26	7 h 27 min	58 min	1 h 17 min	1 h 17 min	26%
Fri Aug 27	7 h 33 min	1 h 33 min	3 h 6 min	3 h 6 min	16%
Sat Aug 28	7 h 40 min	1 h 57 min	5 h 6 min	3 h 49 min	8%
Sun Aug 29	7 h 46 min	2 h 18 min	7 h 5 min	3 h 52 min	3%
Mon Aug 30	7 h 52 min	2 h 36 min	7 h 52 min	3 h 56 min	0%
Tue Aug 31	7 h 59 min	2 h 52 min	7 h 59 min	3 h 59 min	1%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Anchorage in August?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Anchorage have civil darkness, and 48% of past August days reached Kp 3.
How dark is Anchorage in August?: Anchorage averages 6.3 hours of civil night a night in August 2027, from 4 h 32 min on the 1st to 7 h 59 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Anchorage in August?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Anchorage's 1 degree cell 79% mean cloud in August, against 74% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in August 2027 for aurora in Anchorage?: By darkness and moon alone, Aug 31, with 3 h 59 min of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Anchorage. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is August or September better in Anchorage?: By civil night times the clear share, August scores 1.3 hours at Anchorage and September 2.1. September 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.