Can you see the northern lights in Fairbanks in December?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Fairbanks have civil darkness, and 5% of past December days reached Kp 5.

How dark is Fairbanks in December?

Fairbanks averages 17.1 hours of civil night a night in December 2026, from 16 h 40 min on the 1st to 17 h 4 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Fairbanks in December?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Fairbanks's 1 degree cell 59% mean cloud in December, against 66% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

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

Is December or January better in Fairbanks?

By civil night times the clear share, December scores 7.1 hours at Fairbanks and January 7.3. January comes out ahead.

Fairbanks · December 2026

Northern lights in Fairbanks in December 2026

Answer

December gives Fairbanks 17.2 hours of civil night on the 15th, the darkest month of its year, under 59% mean cloud. 5% of December days since 1996 reached storm level, Kp 5.

17.1 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 64.84, -147.72; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

December against the rest of the year

7.3

5.5

5.1

2.7

0.0

1.3

2.6

2.9

5.1

7.1

December cloud at Fairbanks averages 59% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 7 points clearer than its yearly mean. March is Fairbanks's clearest month at 51%. By civil night times clear sky, December scores 7.1 hours at Fairbanks, 2nd of 12. Eagle River, 402 km away, averages 72%, cloudier by 13 points.

Civil night at Fairbanks starts December at 16 h 40 min and reaches 17 h 4 min by December 31 as the nights lengthen by 0.4 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 12.8 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. Fairbanks gets 289 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
9.5 h
2
28% lit
11.2 h
3
20% lit
12.9 h
4
12% lit
14.8 h
5
7% lit
16.8 h
6
3% lit
16.9 h
7
1% lit
17.0 h
8
0% lit
17.0 h
New
9
2% lit
17.0 h
10
5% lit
17.1 h
11
10% lit
17.1 h
12
16% lit
14.9 h
13
23% lit
13.2 h
14
32% lit
11.5 h
15
42% lit
9.9 h
16
52% lit
8.3 h
17
62% lit
6.7 h
18
72% lit
4.8 h
19
81% lit
2.8 h
20
89% lit
0.3 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
1.2 h
26
85% lit
3.4 h
27
75% lit
5.4 h
28
65% lit
7.2 h
29
55% lit
8.9 h
30
44% lit
10.6 h
31
34% lit
12.3 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

Quiet activity already puts the oval edge over Fairbanks, so storm days matter more: 44 of the 930 December days from 1996 to 2025 (5%) reached Kp 5, one of the three quietest months for that level. Fairbanks 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.

December across United States

No month-page town in United States has more civil night on December 15 than Fairbanks; the national median is 14.3 hours. Coming from November (15.5 hours at Fairbanks), December adds darkness, and January brings shorter nights (16.3 hours on the 15th). The December solstice falls on December 21, 11:49 Fairbanks 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

Fairbanks, 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	16 h 40 min	12 h 25 min	9 h 30 min	3 h 51 min	38%
Wed Dec 2	16 h 43 min	12 h 28 min	11 h 12 min	4 h	28%
Thu Dec 3	16 h 46 min	12 h 30 min	12 h 56 min	4 h	20%
Fri Dec 4	16 h 49 min	12 h 33 min	14 h 45 min	4 h	12%
Sat Dec 5	16 h 52 min	12 h 35 min	16 h 48 min	4 h	7%
Sun Dec 6	16 h 55 min	12 h 37 min	16 h 55 min	4 h	3%
Mon Dec 7	16 h 58 min	12 h 39 min	16 h 58 min	4 h	1%
Tue Dec 8	17 h	12 h 40 min	17 h	4 h	0%
Wed Dec 9	17 h 2 min	12 h 42 min	17 h 2 min	4 h	2%
Thu Dec 10	17 h 4 min	12 h 43 min	17 h 4 min	4 h	5%
Fri Dec 11	17 h 6 min	12 h 45 min	17 h 6 min	4 h	10%
Sat Dec 12	17 h 8 min	12 h 46 min	14 h 57 min	4 h	16%
Sun Dec 13	17 h 9 min	12 h 47 min	13 h 10 min	4 h	23%
Mon Dec 14	17 h 11 min	12 h 48 min	11 h 31 min	4 h	32%
Tue Dec 15	17 h 12 min	12 h 49 min	9 h 55 min	2 h 33 min	42%
Wed Dec 16	17 h 13 min	12 h 49 min	8 h 20 min	56 min	52%
Thu Dec 17	17 h 14 min	12 h 50 min	6 h 40 min	0 min	62%
Fri Dec 18	17 h 14 min	12 h 50 min	4 h 51 min	0 min	72%
Sat Dec 19	17 h 15 min	12 h 51 min	2 h 48 min	0 min	81%
Sun Dec 20	17 h 15 min	12 h 51 min	16 min	0 min	89%
Mon Dec 21	17 h 15 min	12 h 51 min	0 min	0 min	96%
Tue Dec 22	17 h 15 min	12 h 51 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Wed Dec 23	17 h 14 min	12 h 50 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Thu Dec 24	17 h 14 min	12 h 50 min	0 min	0 min	97%
Fri Dec 25	17 h 13 min	12 h 49 min	1 h 12 min	0 min	92%
Sat Dec 26	17 h 12 min	12 h 49 min	3 h 25 min	0 min	85%
Sun Dec 27	17 h 11 min	12 h 48 min	5 h 23 min	0 min	75%
Mon Dec 28	17 h 9 min	12 h 47 min	7 h 11 min	1 h 29 min	65%
Tue Dec 29	17 h 8 min	12 h 46 min	8 h 53 min	3 h 12 min	55%
Wed Dec 30	17 h 6 min	12 h 45 min	10 h 35 min	4 h	44%
Thu Dec 31	17 h 4 min	12 h 43 min	12 h 21 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 Fairbanks in December?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Fairbanks have civil darkness, and 5% of past December days reached Kp 5.
How dark is Fairbanks in December?: Fairbanks averages 17.1 hours of civil night a night in December 2026, from 16 h 40 min on the 1st to 17 h 4 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Fairbanks in December?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Fairbanks's 1 degree cell 59% mean cloud in December, against 66% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in December 2026 for aurora in Fairbanks?: By darkness and moon alone, Dec 2, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Fairbanks. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is December or January better in Fairbanks?: By civil night times the clear share, December scores 7.1 hours at Fairbanks and January 7.3. 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.