Oamaru · December 2026
Southern lights in Oamaru in December 2026
Answer
December against the rest of the year
December cloud at Oamaru averages 76% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 5 points cloudier than its yearly mean. July is Oamaru's clearest month at 67%. By civil night times clear sky, December scores 1.7 hours at Oamaru, 12th of 12. Seattle, 12,183 km away, averages 79%, cloudier by 3 points.
Civil night at Oamaru starts December at 7 h 20 min and reaches 7 h 4 min by December 31, 0.3 hours shorter. The 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on 16 of 31 nights. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 3.1 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. Oamaru gets 116 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 (4 h), Dec 2 (4 h), Dec 3 (4 h).
- 1
48% lit
4.5 h
- 2
37% lit
4.8 h
- 3
28% lit
5.0 h
- 4
19% lit
5.3 h
- 5
12% lit
5.7 h
- 6
6% lit
6.1 h
- 7
2% lit
6.6 h
- 8
0% lit
7.2 h
- 9
0% lit
7.1 h
- 10
2% lit
6.5 h
- 11
5% lit
5.8 h
- 12
10% lit
5.2 h
- 13
17% lit
4.8 h
- 14
24% lit
4.4 h
- 15
33% lit
4.1 h
- 16
42% lit
3.8 h
- 17
52% lit
3.5 h
- 18
63% lit
3.2 h
- 19
73% lit
2.9 h
- 20
82% lit
2.5 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
- 25
97% lit
0.7 h
- 26
92% lit
1.3 h
- 27
84% lit
1.8 h
- 28
74% lit
2.2 h
- 29
64% lit
2.5 h
- 30
54% lit
2.8 h
- 31
43% lit
3.1 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
Oamaru needs Kp 9 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 0 of the 930 December days from 1996 to 2025 (0%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 4th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 5%. Oamaru sits at 48.5 degrees geomagnetic. The lowest NOAA storm level whose typical viewing latitude reaches it is G4 (Kp = 8, including a 9-). By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead only at Kp 9.
December across New Zealand
Coming from November (8.0 hours at Oamaru), December loses darkness, and the nights keep growing into January (7.5 hours on the 15th). The December solstice falls on December 22, 09:49 Oamaru time.
Darkness and moon, every night
| Night | Civil | Astronomical | Moon-free dark | Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM | Moon lit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue Dec 1 | 7 h 20 min | 3 h 41 min | 4 h 27 min | 4 h | 48% |
| Wed Dec 2 | 7 h 18 min | 3 h 37 min | 4 h 45 min | 4 h | 37% |
| Thu Dec 3 | 7 h 16 min | 3 h 34 min | 5 h 2 min | 4 h | 28% |
| Fri Dec 4 | 7 h 14 min | 3 h 31 min | 5 h 20 min | 4 h | 19% |
| Sat Dec 5 | 7 h 13 min | 3 h 27 min | 5 h 41 min | 4 h | 12% |
| Sun Dec 6 | 7 h 11 min | 3 h 24 min | 6 h 6 min | 4 h | 6% |
| Mon Dec 7 | 7 h 10 min | 3 h 21 min | 6 h 36 min | 4 h | 2% |
| Tue Dec 8 | 7 h 9 min | 3 h 19 min | 7 h 9 min | 4 h | 0% |
| Wed Dec 9 | 7 h 7 min | 3 h 16 min | 7 h 7 min | 4 h | 0% |
| Thu Dec 10 | 7 h 6 min | 3 h 13 min | 6 h 27 min | 3 h 25 min | 2% |
| Fri Dec 11 | 7 h 5 min | 3 h 11 min | 5 h 46 min | 2 h 44 min | 5% |
| Sat Dec 12 | 7 h 4 min | 3 h 9 min | 5 h 14 min | 2 h 12 min | 10% |
| Sun Dec 13 | 7 h 3 min | 3 h 7 min | 4 h 48 min | 1 h 46 min | 17% |
| Mon Dec 14 | 7 h 2 min | 3 h 5 min | 4 h 26 min | 1 h 24 min | 24% |
| Tue Dec 15 | 7 h 2 min | 3 h 4 min | 4 h 7 min | 1 h 5 min | 33% |
| Wed Dec 16 | 7 h 1 min | 3 h 3 min | 3 h 49 min | 47 min | 42% |
| Thu Dec 17 | 7 h 1 min | 3 h 1 min | 3 h 32 min | 30 min | 52% |
| Fri Dec 18 | 7 h | 3 h 1 min | 3 h 14 min | 11 min | 63% |
| Sat Dec 19 | 7 h | 3 h | 2 h 53 min | 0 min | 73% |
| Sun Dec 20 | 7 h | 2 h 59 min | 2 h 27 min | 0 min | 82% |
| Mon Dec 21 | 7 h | 2 h 59 min | 1 h 53 min | 0 min | 90% |
| Tue Dec 22 | 7 h | 2 h 59 min | 1 h 7 min | 0 min | 96% |
| Wed Dec 23 | 7 h | 3 h | 6 min | 0 min | 99% |
| Thu Dec 24 | 7 h | 3 h | 0 min | 0 min | 100% |
| Fri Dec 25 | 7 h | 3 h 1 min | 44 min | 44 min | 97% |
| Sat Dec 26 | 7 h 1 min | 3 h 2 min | 1 h 20 min | 1 h 20 min | 92% |
| Sun Dec 27 | 7 h 1 min | 3 h 3 min | 1 h 47 min | 1 h 47 min | 84% |
| Mon Dec 28 | 7 h 2 min | 3 h 4 min | 2 h 10 min | 2 h 10 min | 74% |
| Tue Dec 29 | 7 h 3 min | 3 h 6 min | 2 h 29 min | 2 h 29 min | 64% |
| Wed Dec 30 | 7 h 4 min | 3 h 8 min | 2 h 48 min | 2 h 48 min | 54% |
| Thu Dec 31 | 7 h 4 min | 3 h 10 min | 3 h 7 min | 3 h 7 min | 43% |
Questions
- Can you see the southern lights in Oamaru in December?
- On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Oamaru have civil darkness, and 0% of past December days reached Kp 9.
- How dark is Oamaru in December?
- Oamaru averages 7.1 hours of civil night a night in December 2026, from 7 h 20 min on the 1st to 7 h 4 min on the last night.
- How cloudy is Oamaru in December?
- NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Oamaru's 1 degree cell 76% mean cloud in December, against 71% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
- What is the best night in December 2026 for aurora in Oamaru?
- By darkness and moon alone, Dec 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Oamaru. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
- Is December or January better in Oamaru?
- By civil night times the clear share, December scores 1.7 hours at Oamaru and January 2.0. 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.