Can you see the southern lights in Invercargill in December?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Invercargill have civil darkness, and 0% of past December days reached Kp 8.

How dark is Invercargill in December?

Invercargill averages 6.9 hours of civil night a night in December 2026, from 7 h 7 min on the 1st to 6 h 51 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Invercargill in December?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Invercargill's 1 degree cell 75% mean cloud in December, against 72% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

By darkness and moon alone, Dec 1, with 3 h 58 min of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Invercargill. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.

Is December or January better in Invercargill?

By civil night times the clear share, December scores 1.7 hours at Invercargill and January 1.8. January comes out ahead.

Invercargill · December 2026

Southern lights in Invercargill in December 2026

Answer

December gives Invercargill 6.8 hours of civil night on the 15th, the lightest month of its year, under 75% mean cloud. 0% of December days since 1996 reached Kp 8, enough for the oval edge to reach Invercargill.

6.9 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for -46.40, 168.35; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

December against the rest of the year

1.8

2.4

3.0

3.3

3.8

4.2

4.4

3.9

3.2

2.5

1.8

1.7

December cloud at Invercargill averages 75% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 3 points cloudier than its yearly mean. July is Invercargill's clearest month at 68%. By civil night times clear sky, December scores 1.7 hours at Invercargill, 12th of 12. Anadyr, 12,383 km away, averages 60%, clearer by 15 points.

Civil night at Invercargill starts December at 7 h 7 min and reaches 6 h 51 min by December 31, 0.3 hours shorter. No night keeps the 10 PM to 2 AM window fully dark at Invercargill. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 2.4 hours on the 15th.

December night by night

December opens toward a new moon on Dec 9, with full moon on Dec 24, in Pacific/Auckland dates. Invercargill gets 113 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 1 (3 h 58 min), Dec 2 (3 h 56 min), Dec 3 (3 h 55 min).

1
48% lit
4.4 h
2
37% lit
4.6 h
3
28% lit
4.9 h
4
19% lit
5.2 h
5
12% lit
5.5 h
6
6% lit
5.9 h
7
2% lit
6.4 h
8
0% lit
6.9 h
9
0% lit
6.9 h
New
10
2% lit
6.2 h
11
5% lit
5.5 h
12
10% lit
5.0 h
13
17% lit
4.6 h
14
24% lit
4.3 h
15
33% lit
4.0 h
16
42% lit
3.7 h
17
52% lit
3.4 h
18
63% lit
3.1 h
19
73% lit
2.8 h
20
82% lit
2.4 h
21
90% lit
1.9 h
22
96% lit
1.1 h
23
99% lit
0.1 h
24
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
25
97% lit
0.7 h
26
92% lit
1.3 h
27
84% lit
1.7 h
28
74% lit
2.1 h
29
64% lit
2.4 h
30
54% lit
2.7 h
31
43% lit
3.0 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.

Activity in past Decembers

Invercargill needs Kp 8 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 1 of the 930 December days from 1996 to 2025 (0%) 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%. Invercargill sits at 50.2 degrees geomagnetic. The lowest NOAA storm level whose typical viewing latitude reaches it is G3 (Kp = 7). By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead only at Kp 8.

December across New Zealand

Coming from November (7.8 hours at Invercargill), December loses darkness, and the nights keep growing into January (7.3 hours on the 15th). The December solstice falls on December 22, 09:49 Invercargill time.

Darkness and moon, every night

Invercargill, 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	7 h 7 min	3 h 9 min	4 h 22 min	3 h 58 min	48%
Wed Dec 2	7 h 5 min	3 h 5 min	4 h 38 min	3 h 56 min	37%
Thu Dec 3	7 h 3 min	3 h	4 h 54 min	3 h 55 min	28%
Fri Dec 4	7 h 1 min	2 h 56 min	5 h 11 min	3 h 54 min	19%
Sat Dec 5	6 h 59 min	2 h 52 min	5 h 31 min	3 h 53 min	12%
Sun Dec 6	6 h 58 min	2 h 48 min	5 h 54 min	3 h 51 min	6%
Mon Dec 7	6 h 56 min	2 h 45 min	6 h 24 min	3 h 50 min	2%
Tue Dec 8	6 h 55 min	2 h 41 min	6 h 55 min	3 h 49 min	0%
Wed Dec 9	6 h 54 min	2 h 38 min	6 h 54 min	3 h 48 min	0%
Thu Dec 10	6 h 52 min	2 h 35 min	6 h 13 min	3 h 7 min	2%
Fri Dec 11	6 h 51 min	2 h 32 min	5 h 33 min	2 h 28 min	5%
Sat Dec 12	6 h 50 min	2 h 29 min	5 h 2 min	1 h 56 min	10%
Sun Dec 13	6 h 49 min	2 h 26 min	4 h 36 min	1 h 31 min	17%
Mon Dec 14	6 h 48 min	2 h 24 min	4 h 16 min	1 h 10 min	24%
Tue Dec 15	6 h 48 min	2 h 22 min	3 h 58 min	52 min	33%
Wed Dec 16	6 h 47 min	2 h 20 min	3 h 42 min	36 min	42%
Thu Dec 17	6 h 47 min	2 h 19 min	3 h 25 min	19 min	52%
Fri Dec 18	6 h 46 min	2 h 18 min	3 h 8 min	2 min	63%
Sat Dec 19	6 h 46 min	2 h 17 min	2 h 49 min	0 min	73%
Sun Dec 20	6 h 46 min	2 h 16 min	2 h 24 min	0 min	82%
Mon Dec 21	6 h 46 min	2 h 16 min	1 h 51 min	0 min	90%
Tue Dec 22	6 h 46 min	2 h 16 min	1 h 6 min	0 min	96%
Wed Dec 23	6 h 46 min	2 h 16 min	5 min	0 min	99%
Thu Dec 24	6 h 46 min	2 h 17 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Fri Dec 25	6 h 46 min	2 h 18 min	43 min	43 min	97%
Sat Dec 26	6 h 47 min	2 h 19 min	1 h 17 min	1 h 17 min	92%
Sun Dec 27	6 h 47 min	2 h 21 min	1 h 43 min	1 h 43 min	84%
Mon Dec 28	6 h 48 min	2 h 23 min	2 h 4 min	2 h 4 min	74%
Tue Dec 29	6 h 49 min	2 h 25 min	2 h 23 min	2 h 23 min	64%
Wed Dec 30	6 h 50 min	2 h 27 min	2 h 40 min	2 h 40 min	54%
Thu Dec 31	6 h 51 min	2 h 30 min	2 h 58 min	2 h 58 min	43%

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

Questions

Can you see the southern lights in Invercargill in December?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Invercargill have civil darkness, and 0% of past December days reached Kp 8.
How dark is Invercargill in December?: Invercargill averages 6.9 hours of civil night a night in December 2026, from 7 h 7 min on the 1st to 6 h 51 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Invercargill in December?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Invercargill's 1 degree cell 75% mean cloud in December, against 72% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in December 2026 for aurora in Invercargill?: By darkness and moon alone, Dec 1, with 3 h 58 min of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Invercargill. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is December or January better in Invercargill?: By civil night times the clear share, December scores 1.7 hours at Invercargill and January 1.8. 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.