Can you see the northern lights in Anchorage in July?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 23 of 31 nights at Anchorage have civil darkness, and 43% of past July days reached Kp 3.

How dark is Anchorage in July?

Anchorage averages 2.1 hours of civil night a night in July 2027, from 0 min on the 1st to 4 h 24 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Anchorage in July?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Anchorage's 1 degree cell 83% mean cloud in July, against 74% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

By darkness and moon alone, Jul 31, with 2 h 6 min of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Anchorage. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.

Is July or August better in Anchorage?

By civil night times the clear share, July scores 0.4 hours at Anchorage and August 1.3. August comes out ahead.

Anchorage · July 2027

Northern lights in Anchorage in July 2027

Answer

July gives Anchorage 2.1 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 11th darkest of its 12 months, under 83% mean cloud. 43% of July days since 1996 reached Kp 3, enough for the oval edge to reach Anchorage.

2.1 h

civil night, average night

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

July 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

July cloud at Anchorage averages 83% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 9 points cloudier than its yearly mean. March is Anchorage's clearest month at 63%. By civil night times clear sky, July scores 0.4 hours at Anchorage, 11th of 12. Eagle River, 21 km away, averages the same 83%.

Civil night at Anchorage starts July at 0 min and reaches 4 h 24 min by July 31 as the nights lengthen by 4.4 hours. 8 Anchorage nights this month have no civil darkness at all. No night keeps the 10 PM to 2 AM window fully dark at Anchorage. The sun never reaches 18 degrees down, so Anchorage gets no astronomical night in July.

July night by night

July opens toward a new moon on Jul 3, with full moon on Jul 18, in America/Anchorage dates. Anchorage gets 16 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: Jul 31 (2 h 6 min), Jul 30 (2 h 2 min), Jul 14 (50 min).

1
5% lit
no night
2
1% lit
no night
3
0% lit
no night
New
4
2% lit
no night
5
7% lit
no night
6
15% lit
no night
7
24% lit
no night
8
34% lit
no night
9
45% lit
0.5 h
10
56% lit
0.9 h
11
66% lit
1.2 h
12
75% lit
1.5 h
13
84% lit
1.7 h
14
90% lit
1.9 h
15
95% lit
1.5 h
16
98% lit
0.2 h
17
100% lit
0.0 h
18
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
19
98% lit
0.0 h
20
94% lit
0.0 h
21
88% lit
0.0 h
22
81% lit
0.0 h
23
73% lit
0.0 h
24
64% lit
0.0 h
25
54% lit
0.0 h
26
43% lit
0.0 h
27
33% lit
0.0 h
28
23% lit
0.0 h
29
14% lit
0.6 h
30
7% lit
2.2 h
31
2% lit
4.2 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 Julys

Anchorage needs Kp 3 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 403 of the 930 July 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 9%. 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.

July across United States

Anchorage ranks 8th in United States for civil night on July 15, behind Buffalo at 7.8 hours. Coming from June (0.0 hours at Anchorage), July adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into August (6.3 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on July 15 and July cloud, month-page towns in United States
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Buffalo	7.8 h	56%
Portland, Maine	7.6 h	55%
Minneapolis	7.4 h	46%
Duluth	7.2 h	51%
Fargo	7.1 h	48%
Seattle	7.0 h	47%
Juneau	4.1 h	81%
Anchorage	2.1 h	83%
Eagle River	2.0 h	83%
Fairbanks	0.0 h	77%

Darkness and moon, every night

Anchorage, July 2027: each night from local noon to the next noon
Night	Civil	Moon-free dark	Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM	Moon lit
Thu Jul 1	0 min	0 min	0 min	5%
Fri Jul 2	0 min	0 min	0 min	1%
Sat Jul 3	0 min	0 min	0 min	0%
Sun Jul 4	0 min	0 min	0 min	2%
Mon Jul 5	0 min	0 min	0 min	7%
Tue Jul 6	0 min	0 min	0 min	15%
Wed Jul 7	0 min	0 min	0 min	24%
Thu Jul 8	0 min	0 min	0 min	34%
Fri Jul 9	32 min	32 min	11 min	45%
Sat Jul 10	56 min	56 min	23 min	56%
Sun Jul 11	1 h 13 min	1 h 13 min	31 min	66%
Mon Jul 12	1 h 28 min	1 h 28 min	38 min	75%
Tue Jul 13	1 h 41 min	1 h 41 min	45 min	84%
Wed Jul 14	1 h 53 min	1 h 53 min	50 min	90%
Thu Jul 15	2 h 4 min	1 h 32 min	24 min	95%
Fri Jul 16	2 h 14 min	12 min	0 min	98%
Sat Jul 17	2 h 24 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Sun Jul 18	2 h 34 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Mon Jul 19	2 h 43 min	0 min	0 min	98%
Tue Jul 20	2 h 53 min	0 min	0 min	94%
Wed Jul 21	3 h 2 min	0 min	0 min	88%
Thu Jul 22	3 h 11 min	0 min	0 min	81%
Fri Jul 23	3 h 19 min	0 min	0 min	73%
Sat Jul 24	3 h 28 min	0 min	0 min	64%
Sun Jul 25	3 h 36 min	0 min	0 min	54%
Mon Jul 26	3 h 44 min	0 min	0 min	43%
Tue Jul 27	3 h 52 min	0 min	0 min	33%
Wed Jul 28	4 h	0 min	0 min	23%
Thu Jul 29	4 h 8 min	35 min	35 min	14%
Fri Jul 30	4 h 16 min	2 h 12 min	2 h 2 min	7%
Sat Jul 31	4 h 24 min	4 h 12 min	2 h 6 min	2%

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 July?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 23 of 31 nights at Anchorage have civil darkness, and 43% of past July days reached Kp 3.
How dark is Anchorage in July?: Anchorage averages 2.1 hours of civil night a night in July 2027, from 0 min on the 1st to 4 h 24 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Anchorage in July?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Anchorage's 1 degree cell 83% mean cloud in July, against 74% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in July 2027 for aurora in Anchorage?: By darkness and moon alone, Jul 31, with 2 h 6 min of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Anchorage. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is July or August better in Anchorage?: By civil night times the clear share, July scores 0.4 hours at Anchorage and August 1.3. August 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.