Can you see the southern lights in Queenstown in December?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Queenstown have civil darkness, and 0% of past December days reached Kp 9.

How dark is Queenstown in December?

Queenstown averages 7.1 hours of civil night a night in December 2026, from 7 h 20 min on the 1st to 7 h 5 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Queenstown in December?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Queenstown's 1 degree cell 73% mean cloud in December, against 67% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

By darkness and moon alone, Dec 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Queenstown. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.

Is December or January better in Queenstown?

By civil night times the clear share, December scores 1.9 hours at Queenstown and January 2.3. January comes out ahead.

Queenstown · December 2026

Southern lights in Queenstown in December 2026

Answer

December gives Queenstown 7.0 hours of civil night on the 15th, the lightest month of its year, under 73% mean cloud. 0% of December days since 1996 reached Kp 9, enough for the oval edge to reach Queenstown.

7.1 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for -45.03, 168.66; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

December against the rest of the year

2.3

3.1

3.7

4.2

4.5

5.0

5.1

4.3

3.6

2.9

2.2

1.9

December cloud at Queenstown averages 73% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 6 points cloudier than its yearly mean. July is Queenstown's clearest month at 63%. By civil night times clear sky, December scores 1.9 hours at Queenstown, 12th of 12. Anadyr, 12,230 km away, averages 60%, clearer by 13 points.

Civil night at Queenstown starts December at 7 h 20 min and reaches 7 h 5 min by December 31, 0.3 hours shorter. The 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on 7 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. Queenstown gets 117 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
New
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
Full
25
97% lit
0.8 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

Queenstown 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%. Queenstown sits at 48.8 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 Queenstown), 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 Queenstown time.

Darkness and moon, every night

Queenstown, 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 20 min	3 h 42 min	4 h 28 min	4 h	48%
Wed Dec 2	7 h 18 min	3 h 39 min	4 h 45 min	4 h	37%
Thu Dec 3	7 h 17 min	3 h 35 min	5 h 2 min	4 h	28%
Fri Dec 4	7 h 15 min	3 h 32 min	5 h 21 min	4 h	19%
Sat Dec 5	7 h 13 min	3 h 29 min	5 h 42 min	4 h	12%
Sun Dec 6	7 h 12 min	3 h 26 min	6 h 6 min	4 h	6%
Mon Dec 7	7 h 10 min	3 h 23 min	6 h 37 min	3 h 59 min	2%
Tue Dec 8	7 h 9 min	3 h 20 min	7 h 9 min	3 h 57 min	0%
Wed Dec 9	7 h 8 min	3 h 18 min	7 h 8 min	3 h 56 min	0%
Thu Dec 10	7 h 7 min	3 h 15 min	6 h 27 min	3 h 16 min	2%
Fri Dec 11	7 h 6 min	3 h 13 min	5 h 47 min	2 h 35 min	5%
Sat Dec 12	7 h 5 min	3 h 11 min	5 h 14 min	2 h 3 min	10%
Sun Dec 13	7 h 4 min	3 h 9 min	4 h 48 min	1 h 37 min	17%
Mon Dec 14	7 h 3 min	3 h 7 min	4 h 26 min	1 h 15 min	24%
Tue Dec 15	7 h 2 min	3 h 6 min	4 h 7 min	55 min	33%
Wed Dec 16	7 h 2 min	3 h 4 min	3 h 50 min	38 min	42%
Thu Dec 17	7 h 1 min	3 h 3 min	3 h 32 min	20 min	52%
Fri Dec 18	7 h 1 min	3 h 2 min	3 h 14 min	2 min	63%
Sat Dec 19	7 h 1 min	3 h 2 min	2 h 53 min	0 min	73%
Sun Dec 20	7 h 1 min	3 h 1 min	2 h 27 min	0 min	82%
Mon Dec 21	7 h	3 h 1 min	1 h 53 min	0 min	90%
Tue Dec 22	7 h 1 min	3 h 1 min	1 h 7 min	0 min	96%
Wed Dec 23	7 h 1 min	3 h 1 min	5 min	0 min	99%
Thu Dec 24	7 h 1 min	3 h 2 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Fri Dec 25	7 h 1 min	3 h 3 min	45 min	45 min	97%
Sat Dec 26	7 h 2 min	3 h 4 min	1 h 20 min	1 h 20 min	92%
Sun Dec 27	7 h 2 min	3 h 5 min	1 h 48 min	1 h 48 min	84%
Mon Dec 28	7 h 3 min	3 h 6 min	2 h 10 min	2 h 10 min	74%
Tue Dec 29	7 h 3 min	3 h 8 min	2 h 30 min	2 h 30 min	64%
Wed Dec 30	7 h 4 min	3 h 10 min	2 h 48 min	2 h 48 min	54%
Thu Dec 31	7 h 5 min	3 h 11 min	3 h 8 min	3 h 8 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 Queenstown in December?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Queenstown have civil darkness, and 0% of past December days reached Kp 9.
How dark is Queenstown in December?: Queenstown averages 7.1 hours of civil night a night in December 2026, from 7 h 20 min on the 1st to 7 h 5 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Queenstown in December?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Queenstown's 1 degree cell 73% mean cloud in December, against 67% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in December 2026 for aurora in Queenstown?: By darkness and moon alone, Dec 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Queenstown. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is December or January better in Queenstown?: By civil night times the clear share, December scores 1.9 hours at Queenstown and January 2.3. 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.