Alaska, United States
Northern lights in Badger
Answer
Tonight
Darkness window open
Civil darkness has begun.
Observed 11:49 UTC, forecast 13:20 UTC, 91 min lead
Clock times in America/Anchorage
Valid 12:00 to 15:00 UTC
Storm level needed
Badger sits at 64.80N 147.53W in Alaska, United States. The IGRF-14 centered dipole puts Badger at 65.7 degrees geomagnetic latitude, 0.9 degrees closer to the magnetic pole than its map latitude suggests. Badger sits at 65.7 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 1.
"The best place to observe the aurora is under an oval shaped region between the north and south latitudes of about 60 and 75 degrees. At these polar latitudes, the aurora can be observed more than half of the nights of a given year."
The nearest other Glow towns are Fairbanks (10 km), Eagle River (400 km), Anchorage (416 km). Fairbanks sits 0.0 degrees higher on the dipole and needs the same Kp.
Approximate: SWPC calls its Kp to latitude rule an average, and a centered dipole can differ by a degree from fuller field models. How the storm level is matched
The year in darkness
From May 14 to July 27 the sun never reaches -6 degrees, so 75 nights in 2026 have no civil darkness at all. SWPC puts it plainly: "It must also be dark so during the summer months at auroral latitudes, the midnight sun prevents auroral observations." Glow's dark season, at least 4 hours of civil night between 18:00 and 06:00, runs from August 9 to May 1 across New Year, 266 days in 2026. Badger's longest night of the year, Dec 18, has 17 h 14 min of civil night.
Solar midnight at Badger, when the sun is lowest, falls at 00:45 on local clocks on December 15 and 01:50 on June 15. That is 45 min after midnight in December and 1 h 50 min after midnight in June, the gap set by daylight saving and the equation of time. So at Badger the darkest hour sits late in SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window.
Month by month
| Month | Night | Civil | Cloud | Clear dark | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 16.3 h | 12.1 h | 55% | 7.3 hbest | |
| Feb | 13.5 h | 9.7 h | 59% | 5.5 h | |
| Mar | 10.4 h | 6.3 h | 51% | 5.1 h | |
| Apr | 6.6 h | 0.0 h | 59% | 2.7 h | |
| May | 0.0 h | 0.0 h | 70% | 0.0 h | |
| Jun | 0.0 h | 0.0 h | 73% | 0.0 h | |
| Jul | 0.0 h | 0.0 h | 77% | 0.0 h | |
| Aug | 5.0 h | 0.0 h | 75% | 1.3 h | |
| Sep | 9.2 h | 4.4 h | 72% | 2.6 h | |
| Oct | 12.5 h | 8.7 h | 77% | 2.9 h | |
| Nov | 15.5 h | 11.5 h | 67% | 5.1 h | |
| Dec | 17.2 h | 12.8 h | 59% | 7.1 h |
By the 15th-of-the-month sample, December is the darkest month at Badger with 17.2 hours of civil night and May the lightest at 0.0. Across the year Badger gets 3,247 hours of civil night. Astronomical night at Badger, the sun 18 degrees or more below the horizon, lasts 12.8 hours on December 15.
NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology puts mean cloud amount for the 1 degree cell around Badger at 66% across the year, from 51% in March to 77% in July. In the months with at least 4 hours of civil night Badger averages 64%, against a median of 61% for Glow towns in United States.
Multiplying civil night by the clear share of the sky gives January the best score, 7.3 hours, ahead of December at 7.1. Badger's equinox months score 5.1 in March and 2.6 in September, the weeks SWPC links with larger storms.
Kp history
Quiet levels are enough at Badger: a 3-hour Kp of 1 or more occurred on 96% of days from 1996 to 2025 in the GFZ Potsdam record. The days that matter are storm days, Kp 5 or more: 10% of all days, most often in September.
Share of UTC days in each calendar month whose highest 3-hour Kp reached Kp 5. Kp history by year
Moon, next 30 nights
Over the 30 nights from Oct 1, the new moon falls on Oct 10 and the full moon on Oct 25, in America/Anchorage dates. 14 of the 30 nights at Badger have at least 2 moon-free dark hours inside 10 PM to 2 AM, and Oct 5 has the most at 4 h. Tonight Badger has 11 h of civil night, 0 min of it with the moon down.
- 1
64% lit
0.0 h
- 2
53% lit
0.0 h
- 3
41% lit
1.1 h
- 4
30% lit
4.0 h
- 5
21% lit
6.1 h
- 6
12% lit
8.1 h
- 7
6% lit
9.9 h
- 8
2% lit
11.7 h
- 9
0% lit
11.9 h
- 10
1% lit
12.0 h
- 11
3% lit
12.1 h
- 12
7% lit
12.2 h
- 13
13% lit
12.3 h
- 14
21% lit
12.4 h
- 15
29% lit
12.5 h
- 16
38% lit
12.6 h
- 17
47% lit
12.7 h
- 18
56% lit
9.7 h
- 19
66% lit
7.8 h
- 20
75% lit
6.1 h
- 21
83% lit
4.4 h
- 22
90% lit
2.8 h
- 23
96% lit
1.0 h
- 24
99% lit
0.0 h
- 25
100% lit
0.0 h
- 26
98% lit
0.0 h
- 27
93% lit
0.0 h
- 28
86% lit
0.0 h
- 29
77% lit
0.0 h
- 30
67% lit
0.0 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.
Within United States
Among the 5 Glow towns in Alaska, Badger ranks 2nd by dipole latitude against a regional median of 62.1 degrees; Fairbanks sits highest at 65.7. Among the 137 Glow towns in United States, Badger ranks 2nd by dipole latitude against a national median of 51.5 degrees; Fairbanks sits highest at 65.7. On December 15 Badger gets 17.2 hours of civil night, 1st longest of 137 in United States, where the median is 13.8.
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Badger?
- Badger sits at 65.7 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 1. Clear, dark sky over Badger still decides it.
- When is it dark enough in Badger?
- Civil night, the sun at -6 degrees or lower, is missing from May 14 to Jul 27. Tonight has 11 h of it.
- What is the best month for aurora in Badger?
- January, by civil night at Badger times the clear share of the sky from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 average.
- How cloudy is Badger in the dark months?
- About 64% mean cloud amount over Badger in the months with at least 4 hours of civil night, from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology.
- How often is activity high enough for Badger?
- Almost always: the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 1. Storm days, Kp 5 or more, made up 10% of days from 1996 to 2025 in the GFZ record.
- Why does this page point to Fairbanks?
- Badger sits within 15 km of Fairbanks with the same rounded dipole latitude, Kp and dark season, so Glow treats Fairbanks as the main page for both.
Nearby and related
Nearest Glow towns
Badger by month
Region and comparisons