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Saint Cloud · December 2026

Northern lights in Saint Cloud in December 2026

Answer

December gives Saint Cloud 14.1 hours of civil night on the 15th, the darkest month of its year, under 68% mean cloud. 1% of December days since 1996 reached Kp 6, enough for the oval edge to reach Saint Cloud.
14.0 h
civil night, average night
SunCalc for 45.56, -94.16; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

December against the rest of the year

December cloud at Saint Cloud averages 68% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 10 points cloudier than its yearly mean. July is Saint Cloud's clearest month at 46%. By civil night times clear sky, December scores 4.5 hours at Saint Cloud, 7th of 12. Minneapolis, 95 km away, averages 69%, cloudier by 1 points.

Civil night at Saint Cloud starts December at 13 h 50 min and reaches 14 h by December 31 as the nights lengthen by 0.2 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 11.6 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/Chicago dates. Saint Cloud gets 233 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. 1

    40% lit

    7.8 h

  2. 2

    30% lit

    9.0 h

  3. 3

    21% lit

    10.2 h

  4. 4

    13% lit

    11.3 h

  5. 5

    7% lit

    12.5 h

  6. 6

    3% lit

    13.6 h

  7. 7

    1% lit

    13.9 h

  8. 8

    0% lit

    14.0 h

  9. 9

    1% lit

    14.0 h

  10. 10

    4% lit

    13.5 h

  11. 11

    9% lit

    12.5 h

  12. 12

    15% lit

    11.4 h

  13. 13

    22% lit

    10.3 h

  14. 14

    31% lit

    9.2 h

  15. 15

    40% lit

    8.1 h

  16. 16

    50% lit

    7.0 h

  17. 17

    61% lit

    5.9 h

  18. 18

    71% lit

    4.7 h

  19. 19

    80% lit

    3.4 h

  20. 20

    88% lit

    2.0 h

  21. 21

    95% lit

    0.7 h

  22. 22

    99% lit

    0.0 h

  23. 23

    100% lit

    0.0 h

  24. 24

    98% lit

    0.1 h

  25. 25

    93% lit

    1.6 h

  26. 26

    86% lit

    3.0 h

  27. 27

    77% lit

    4.3 h

  28. 28

    66% lit

    5.5 h

  29. 29

    56% lit

    6.7 h

  30. 30

    45% lit

    7.9 h

  31. 31

    35% lit

    9.1 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

Saint Cloud needs Kp 6 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 11 of the 930 December days from 1996 to 2025 (1%) 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%. Saint Cloud sits at 54.0 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 6.

December across United States

Saint Cloud ranks 8th in United States for civil night on December 15, behind Fairbanks at 17.2 hours. Coming from November (13.4 hours at Saint Cloud), December adds darkness, and January brings shorter nights (13.7 hours on the 15th). The December solstice falls on December 21, 14:49 Saint Cloud time.

Civil night on December 15 and December cloud, month-page towns in United States
TownCivil nightCloud
Fairbanks17.2 h59%
Anchorage16.3 h72%
Eagle River16.3 h72%
Juneau15.7 h80%
Seattle14.3 h79%
Duluth14.2 h71%
Fargo14.2 h68%
Saint Cloud14.1 h68%
Minneapolis14.0 h69%
Portland, Maine13.9 h66%
Buffalo13.8 h85%

Darkness and moon, every night

Saint Cloud, December 2026: each night from local noon to the next noon
NightCivilAstronomicalMoon-free darkMoon-free, 10 PM to 2 AMMoon lit
Tue Dec 113 h 50 min11 h 25 min7 h 51 min3 h 2 min40%
Wed Dec 213 h 51 min11 h 26 min9 h 2 min4 h30%
Thu Dec 313 h 53 min11 h 27 min10 h 12 min4 h21%
Fri Dec 413 h 54 min11 h 28 min11 h 21 min4 h13%
Sat Dec 513 h 55 min11 h 29 min12 h 31 min4 h7%
Sun Dec 613 h 56 min11 h 30 min13 h 38 min4 h3%
Mon Dec 713 h 57 min11 h 31 min13 h 57 min4 h1%
Tue Dec 813 h 58 min11 h 32 min13 h 58 min4 h0%
Wed Dec 913 h 59 min11 h 32 min13 h 59 min4 h1%
Thu Dec 1014 h11 h 33 min13 h 32 min4 h4%
Fri Dec 1114 h11 h 34 min12 h 29 min4 h9%
Sat Dec 1214 h 1 min11 h 34 min11 h 24 min4 h15%
Sun Dec 1314 h 2 min11 h 35 min10 h 19 min4 h22%
Mon Dec 1414 h 2 min11 h 35 min9 h 13 min4 h31%
Tue Dec 1514 h 3 min11 h 36 min8 h 8 min2 h 54 min40%
Wed Dec 1614 h 3 min11 h 36 min7 h 1 min1 h 47 min50%
Thu Dec 1714 h 3 min11 h 36 min5 h 52 min37 min61%
Fri Dec 1814 h 4 min11 h 36 min4 h 39 min0 min71%
Sat Dec 1914 h 4 min11 h 37 min3 h 22 min0 min80%
Sun Dec 2014 h 4 min11 h 37 min2 h 1 min0 min88%
Mon Dec 2114 h 4 min11 h 37 min41 min0 min95%
Tue Dec 2214 h 4 min11 h 37 min0 min0 min99%
Wed Dec 2314 h 4 min11 h 36 min0 min0 min100%
Thu Dec 2414 h 3 min11 h 36 min8 min0 min98%
Fri Dec 2514 h 3 min11 h 36 min1 h 33 min0 min93%
Sat Dec 2614 h 3 min11 h 36 min2 h 57 min0 min86%
Sun Dec 2714 h 2 min11 h 35 min4 h 16 min0 min77%
Mon Dec 2814 h 2 min11 h 35 min5 h 32 min49 min66%
Tue Dec 2914 h 1 min11 h 34 min6 h 44 min2 h 2 min56%
Wed Dec 3014 h 1 min11 h 34 min7 h 54 min3 h 13 min45%
Thu Dec 3114 h11 h 33 min9 h 3 min4 h35%
Moon lit: SunCalc illuminated fraction at the middle of the 10 PM to 2 AM window.

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Saint Cloud in December?
On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Saint Cloud have civil darkness, and 1% of past December days reached Kp 6.
How dark is Saint Cloud in December?
Saint Cloud averages 14.0 hours of civil night a night in December 2026, from 13 h 50 min on the 1st to 14 h on the last night.
How cloudy is Saint Cloud in December?
NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Saint Cloud's 1 degree cell 68% mean cloud in December, against 58% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in December 2026 for aurora in Saint Cloud?
By darkness and moon alone, Dec 2, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Saint Cloud. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is December or January better in Saint Cloud?
By civil night times the clear share, December scores 4.5 hours at Saint Cloud and January 5.5. January comes out ahead.

Sources and verification

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.