Alaska, United States
Northern lights in Juneau
Answer
Tonight
Darkness window open
Civil darkness has begun.
Observed 11:49 UTC, forecast 13:20 UTC, 91 min lead
Clock times in America/Juneau
Valid 12:00 to 15:00 UTC
Storm level needed
Juneau sits at 58.30N 134.42W in Alaska, United States. The IGRF-14 centered dipole puts Juneau at 61.6 degrees geomagnetic latitude, 3.3 degrees closer to the magnetic pole than its map latitude suggests. Juneau sits at 61.6 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.
"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 Whitehorse (271 km), Terrace (552 km), Fort St. John (845 km). Whitehorse sits 2.2 degrees higher on the dipole, Kp 2 against 3 here.
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
Every night of 2026 at Juneau has some civil darkness; the shortest month sample still has 2.8 hours. Glow's dark season, at least 4 hours of civil night between 18:00 and 06:00, runs from July 15 to May 26 across New Year, 316 days in 2026. Juneau's longest night of the year, Dec 20, has 15 h 44 min of civil night.
Solar midnight at Juneau, when the sun is lowest, falls at 23:53 on local clocks on December 15 and 00:58 on June 15. That is 7 min before midnight in December and 58 min after midnight in June, the gap set by daylight saving and the equation of time. So at Juneau the darkest hour sits near the middle of SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window in winter.
Month by month
| Month | Night | Civil | Cloud | Clear dark | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 15.1 h | 11.8 h | 80% | 3.0 h | |
| Feb | 13.0 h | 9.9 h | 75% | 3.3 hbest | |
| Mar | 10.7 h | 7.5 h | 76% | 2.6 h | |
| Apr | 7.9 h | 3.4 h | 75% | 2.0 h | |
| May | 5.0 h | 0.0 h | 74% | 1.3 h | |
| Jun | 2.8 h | 0.0 h | 81% | 0.5 h | |
| Jul | 4.0 h | 0.0 h | 81% | 0.8 h | |
| Aug | 6.9 h | 0.0 h | 79% | 1.4 h | |
| Sep | 9.8 h | 6.3 h | 81% | 1.9 h | |
| Oct | 12.3 h | 9.2 h | 81% | 2.3 h | |
| Nov | 14.5 h | 11.3 h | 79% | 3.0 h | |
| Dec | 15.7 h | 12.3 h | 80% | 3.1 h |
By the 15th-of-the-month sample, December is the darkest month at Juneau with 15.7 hours of civil night and June the lightest at 2.8. Across the year Juneau gets 3,580 hours of civil night. Astronomical night at Juneau, the sun 18 degrees or more below the horizon, lasts 12.3 hours on December 15.
NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology puts mean cloud amount for the 1 degree cell around Juneau at 79% across the year, from 74% in May to 81% in June. In the months with at least 4 hours of civil night Juneau averages 78%, against a median of 61% for Glow towns in United States.
Multiplying civil night by the clear share of the sky gives February the best score, 3.3 hours, ahead of December at 3.1. Juneau's equinox months score 2.6 in March and 1.9 in September, the weeks SWPC links with larger storms.
Kp history
From 1996 to 2025, the GFZ Potsdam record shows a 3-hour Kp of 3 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge over Juneau, on 50% of days. At Juneau's level the share runs from 43% in June to 58% in March, while storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 10%.
Share of UTC days in each calendar month whose highest 3-hour Kp reached Kp 3. 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/Juneau dates. 15 of the 30 nights at Juneau have at least 2 moon-free dark hours inside 10 PM to 2 AM, and Oct 6 has the most at 4 h. Tonight Juneau has 11 h 8 min of civil night, 29 min of it with the moon down.
- 1
64% lit
0.5 h
- 2
53% lit
1.7 h
- 3
41% lit
3.3 h
- 4
30% lit
5.0 h
- 5
21% lit
6.7 h
- 6
12% lit
8.4 h
- 7
6% lit
9.9 h
- 8
2% lit
11.5 h
- 9
0% lit
11.8 h
- 10
1% lit
11.9 h
- 11
3% lit
12.0 h
- 12
7% lit
12.1 h
- 13
13% lit
12.1 h
- 14
21% lit
12.2 h
- 15
29% lit
12.0 h
- 16
38% lit
11.0 h
- 17
47% lit
9.7 h
- 18
56% lit
8.3 h
- 19
66% lit
6.8 h
- 20
75% lit
5.5 h
- 21
83% lit
4.0 h
- 22
90% lit
2.6 h
- 23
96% lit
1.1 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
0.7 h
- 30
67% lit
2.2 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.
Within United States
Among the 4 Glow towns in Alaska, Juneau ranks 4th by dipole latitude against a regional median of 62.0 degrees; Fairbanks sits highest at 65.7. Among the 136 Glow towns in United States, Juneau ranks 4th by dipole latitude against a national median of 51.5 degrees; Fairbanks sits highest at 65.7. On December 15 Juneau gets 15.7 hours of civil night, 4th longest of 136 in United States, where the median is 13.8.
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Juneau?
- Juneau sits at 61.6 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. Clear, dark sky over Juneau still decides it.
- When is it dark enough in Juneau?
- Every night at Juneau has civil darkness. Tonight has 11 h 8 min, and December 15 has 15.7 hours.
- What is the best month for aurora in Juneau?
- February, by civil night at Juneau times the clear share of the sky from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 average.
- How cloudy is Juneau in the dark months?
- About 78% mean cloud amount over Juneau 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 Juneau?
- A 3-hour Kp of 3 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge overhead, occurred on 50% of days from 1996 to 2025 in the GFZ Potsdam record.
Nearby and related
Nearest Glow towns
Juneau by month
Region and comparisons