Can you see the northern lights in Anchorage in December?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Anchorage have civil darkness, and 43% of past December days reached Kp 3.

How dark is Anchorage in December?

Anchorage averages 16.2 hours of civil night a night in December 2026, from 15 h 51 min on the 1st to 16 h 10 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Anchorage in December?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Anchorage's 1 degree cell 72% mean cloud in December, against 74% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in December 2026 for aurora in Anchorage?

By darkness and moon alone, Dec 2, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Anchorage. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.

Is December or January better in Anchorage?

By civil night times the clear share, December scores 4.6 hours at Anchorage and January 5.4. January comes out ahead.

Anchorage · December 2026

Northern lights in Anchorage in December 2026

Answer

December gives Anchorage 16.3 hours of civil night on the 15th, the darkest month of its year, under 72% mean cloud. 43% of December days since 1996 reached Kp 3, enough for the oval edge to reach Anchorage.

16.2 h

civil night, average night

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

December 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

December cloud at Anchorage averages 72% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 2 points clearer than its yearly mean. March is Anchorage's clearest month at 63%. By civil night times clear sky, December scores 4.6 hours at Anchorage, 2nd of 12. Eagle River, 21 km away, averages the same 72%.

Civil night at Anchorage starts December at 15 h 51 min and reaches 16 h 10 min by December 31 as the nights lengthen by 0.3 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 12.5 hours on the 15th.

December night by night

December opens toward a new moon on Dec 8, with full moon on Dec 23, in America/Anchorage dates. Anchorage gets 272 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: Dec 2 (4 h), Dec 3 (4 h), Dec 4 (4 h).

1
38% lit
9.1 h
2
28% lit
10.6 h
3
20% lit
12.2 h
4
12% lit
13.8 h
5
7% lit
15.4 h
6
3% lit
16.1 h
7
1% lit
16.1 h
8
0% lit
16.1 h
New
9
2% lit
16.1 h
10
5% lit
16.2 h
11
10% lit
15.3 h
12
16% lit
13.8 h
13
23% lit
12.3 h
14
32% lit
10.8 h
15
42% lit
9.3 h
16
52% lit
7.9 h
17
62% lit
6.4 h
18
72% lit
4.7 h
19
81% lit
3.0 h
20
89% lit
1.0 h
21
96% lit
0.0 h
22
99% lit
0.0 h
23
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
24
97% lit
0.0 h
25
92% lit
1.4 h
26
85% lit
3.4 h
27
75% lit
5.1 h
28
65% lit
6.8 h
29
55% lit
8.3 h
30
44% lit
9.8 h
31
34% lit
11.4 h

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 Decembers

Anchorage needs Kp 3 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 404 of the 930 December days from 1996 to 2025 (43%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, one of the three quietest months for that level; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 5%. 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.

December across United States

Anchorage ranks 2nd in United States for civil night on December 15, behind Fairbanks at 17.2 hours. Coming from November (14.9 hours at Anchorage), December adds darkness, and January brings shorter nights (15.5 hours on the 15th). The December solstice falls on December 21, 11:49 Anchorage time.

Civil night on December 15 and December cloud, month-page towns in United States
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Fairbanks	17.2 h	59%
Anchorage	16.3 h	72%
Eagle River	16.3 h	72%
Juneau	15.7 h	80%
Seattle	14.3 h	79%
Duluth	14.2 h	71%
Fargo	14.2 h	68%
Minneapolis	14.0 h	69%
Portland, Maine	13.9 h	66%
Buffalo	13.8 h	85%

Darkness and moon, every night

Anchorage, December 2026: each night from local noon to the next noon
Night	Civil	Astronomical	Moon-free dark	Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM	Moon lit
Tue Dec 1	15 h 51 min	12 h 12 min	9 h 5 min	3 h 59 min	38%
Wed Dec 2	15 h 53 min	12 h 14 min	10 h 38 min	4 h	28%
Thu Dec 3	15 h 56 min	12 h 16 min	12 h 11 min	4 h	20%
Fri Dec 4	15 h 58 min	12 h 18 min	13 h 47 min	4 h	12%
Sat Dec 5	16 h 1 min	12 h 19 min	15 h 25 min	4 h	7%
Sun Dec 6	16 h 3 min	12 h 21 min	16 h 3 min	4 h	3%
Mon Dec 7	16 h 5 min	12 h 23 min	16 h 5 min	4 h	1%
Tue Dec 8	16 h 7 min	12 h 24 min	16 h 7 min	4 h	0%
Wed Dec 9	16 h 8 min	12 h 25 min	16 h 8 min	4 h	2%
Thu Dec 10	16 h 10 min	12 h 27 min	16 h 10 min	4 h	5%
Fri Dec 11	16 h 12 min	12 h 28 min	15 h 21 min	4 h	10%
Sat Dec 12	16 h 13 min	12 h 29 min	13 h 46 min	4 h	16%
Sun Dec 13	16 h 14 min	12 h 30 min	12 h 15 min	4 h	23%
Mon Dec 14	16 h 15 min	12 h 31 min	10 h 47 min	3 h 45 min	32%
Tue Dec 15	16 h 16 min	12 h 31 min	9 h 20 min	2 h 17 min	42%
Wed Dec 16	16 h 17 min	12 h 32 min	7 h 53 min	49 min	52%
Thu Dec 17	16 h 17 min	12 h 32 min	6 h 22 min	0 min	62%
Fri Dec 18	16 h 18 min	12 h 33 min	4 h 44 min	0 min	72%
Sat Dec 19	16 h 18 min	12 h 33 min	2 h 57 min	0 min	81%
Sun Dec 20	16 h 18 min	12 h 33 min	1 h 2 min	0 min	89%
Mon Dec 21	16 h 18 min	12 h 33 min	0 min	0 min	96%
Tue Dec 22	16 h 18 min	12 h 33 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Wed Dec 23	16 h 18 min	12 h 33 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Thu Dec 24	16 h 17 min	12 h 32 min	0 min	0 min	97%
Fri Dec 25	16 h 17 min	12 h 32 min	1 h 27 min	0 min	92%
Sat Dec 26	16 h 16 min	12 h 31 min	3 h 21 min	0 min	85%
Sun Dec 27	16 h 15 min	12 h 31 min	5 h 7 min	0 min	75%
Mon Dec 28	16 h 14 min	12 h 30 min	6 h 45 min	1 h 40 min	65%
Tue Dec 29	16 h 13 min	12 h 29 min	8 h 19 min	3 h 15 min	55%
Wed Dec 30	16 h 11 min	12 h 28 min	9 h 51 min	4 h	44%
Thu Dec 31	16 h 10 min	12 h 27 min	11 h 25 min	4 h	34%

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 December?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Anchorage have civil darkness, and 43% of past December days reached Kp 3.
How dark is Anchorage in December?: Anchorage averages 16.2 hours of civil night a night in December 2026, from 15 h 51 min on the 1st to 16 h 10 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Anchorage in December?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Anchorage's 1 degree cell 72% mean cloud in December, against 74% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in December 2026 for aurora in Anchorage?: By darkness and moon alone, Dec 2, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Anchorage. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is December or January better in Anchorage?: By civil night times the clear share, December scores 4.6 hours at Anchorage and January 5.4. January 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.