Can you see the northern lights in Salekhard in December?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Salekhard have civil darkness, and 19% of past December days reached Kp 4.

How dark is Salekhard in December?

Salekhard averages 17.6 hours of civil night a night in December 2026, from 17 h 7 min on the 1st to 17 h 38 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Salekhard in December?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Salekhard's 1 degree cell 65% mean cloud in December, against 70% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

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

Is December or January better in Salekhard?

By civil night times the clear share, December scores 6.2 hours at Salekhard and January 6.2. December comes out ahead.

Salekhard · December 2026

Northern lights in Salekhard in December 2026

Answer

December gives Salekhard 17.8 hours of civil night on the 15th, the darkest month of its year, under 65% mean cloud. 19% of December days since 1996 reached Kp 4, enough for the oval edge to reach Salekhard.

17.6 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 66.53, 66.61; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

December against the rest of the year

6.2

5.1

3.6

2.0

0.0

0.9

2.0

4.4

6.2

December cloud at Salekhard averages 65% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 5 points clearer than its yearly mean. January is Salekhard's clearest month at 63%. That makes December the best month of Salekhard's year by civil night times clear sky, 6.2 hours. Vorkuta, 155 km away, averages 70%, cloudier by 5 points.

Civil night at Salekhard starts December at 17 h 7 min and reaches 17 h 38 min by December 31 as the nights lengthen by 0.5 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 13.0 hours on the 15th.

December night by night

December opens toward a new moon on Dec 9, with full moon on Dec 24, in Asia/Yekaterinburg dates. Salekhard gets 296 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
44% lit
8.7 h
2
34% lit
10.5 h
3
25% lit
12.3 h
4
16% lit
14.2 h
5
10% lit
16.3 h
6
5% lit
17.4 h
7
2% lit
17.5 h
8
0% lit
17.5 h
9
1% lit
17.6 h
New
10
3% lit
17.6 h
11
7% lit
17.6 h
12
12% lit
17.6 h
13
19% lit
14.9 h
14
27% lit
13.0 h
15
36% lit
11.3 h
16
46% lit
9.6 h
17
56% lit
7.9 h
18
66% lit
6.1 h
19
76% lit
4.1 h
20
85% lit
1.6 h
21
92% lit
0.0 h
22
97% lit
0.0 h
23
100% lit
0.0 h
24
99% lit
0.0 h
Full
25
95% lit
0.0 h
26
89% lit
2.1 h
27
81% lit
4.3 h
28
71% lit
6.3 h
29
61% lit
8.2 h
30
50% lit
9.9 h
31
40% lit
11.8 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

Salekhard needs Kp 4 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 173 of the 930 December days from 1996 to 2025 (19%) 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%. Salekhard sits at 59.0 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 4, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less.

December across Russia

Salekhard ranks 18th in Russia for civil night on December 15, behind Talnakh at 19.1 hours. Coming from November (15.8 hours at Salekhard), December adds darkness, and January brings shorter nights (16.7 hours on the 15th). The December solstice falls on December 22, 01:49 Salekhard time.

Civil night on December 15 and December cloud, month-page towns in Russia
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Talnakh	19.1 h	58%
Zapolyarnyy	19.1 h	86%
Nikel	19.1 h	86%
Norilsk	19.0 h	58%
Kayyerkan	19.0 h	59%
Dudinka	19.0 h	59%
Severomorsk	18.9 h	85%
Murmansk	18.8 h	84%
Olenegorsk	18.4 h	84%
Monchegorsk	18.3 h	80%
Apatity	18.2 h	80%
Narian-Mar	18.2 h	79%
Salekhard	17.8 h	65%

Darkness and moon, every night

Salekhard, 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	17 h 7 min	12 h 31 min	8 h 40 min	2 h 31 min	44%
Wed Dec 2	17 h 11 min	12 h 34 min	10 h 29 min	4 h	34%
Thu Dec 3	17 h 14 min	12 h 37 min	12 h 16 min	4 h	25%
Fri Dec 4	17 h 18 min	12 h 39 min	14 h 9 min	4 h	16%
Sat Dec 5	17 h 21 min	12 h 42 min	16 h 16 min	4 h	10%
Sun Dec 6	17 h 25 min	12 h 44 min	17 h 25 min	4 h	5%
Mon Dec 7	17 h 28 min	12 h 46 min	17 h 28 min	4 h	2%
Tue Dec 8	17 h 30 min	12 h 48 min	17 h 30 min	4 h	0%
Wed Dec 9	17 h 33 min	12 h 50 min	17 h 33 min	4 h	1%
Thu Dec 10	17 h 36 min	12 h 51 min	17 h 36 min	4 h	3%
Fri Dec 11	17 h 38 min	12 h 53 min	17 h 38 min	4 h	7%
Sat Dec 12	17 h 40 min	12 h 54 min	17 h 33 min	4 h	12%
Sun Dec 13	17 h 42 min	12 h 56 min	14 h 52 min	4 h	19%
Mon Dec 14	17 h 44 min	12 h 57 min	12 h 59 min	4 h	27%
Tue Dec 15	17 h 45 min	12 h 58 min	11 h 16 min	3 h 54 min	36%
Wed Dec 16	17 h 46 min	12 h 59 min	9 h 36 min	2 h 13 min	46%
Thu Dec 17	17 h 47 min	12 h 59 min	7 h 54 min	30 min	56%
Fri Dec 18	17 h 48 min	13 h	6 h 6 min	0 min	66%
Sat Dec 19	17 h 49 min	13 h	4 h 4 min	0 min	76%
Sun Dec 20	17 h 49 min	13 h	1 h 33 min	0 min	85%
Mon Dec 21	17 h 49 min	13 h	0 min	0 min	92%
Tue Dec 22	17 h 49 min	13 h	0 min	0 min	97%
Wed Dec 23	17 h 49 min	13 h	0 min	0 min	100%
Thu Dec 24	17 h 48 min	13 h	0 min	0 min	99%
Fri Dec 25	17 h 47 min	12 h 59 min	0 min	0 min	95%
Sat Dec 26	17 h 46 min	12 h 59 min	2 h 4 min	0 min	89%
Sun Dec 27	17 h 45 min	12 h 58 min	4 h 21 min	0 min	81%
Mon Dec 28	17 h 44 min	12 h 57 min	6 h 20 min	3 min	71%
Tue Dec 29	17 h 42 min	12 h 56 min	8 h 10 min	1 h 55 min	61%
Wed Dec 30	17 h 40 min	12 h 54 min	9 h 57 min	3 h 43 min	50%
Thu Dec 31	17 h 38 min	12 h 53 min	11 h 46 min	4 h	40%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Salekhard in December?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Salekhard have civil darkness, and 19% of past December days reached Kp 4.
How dark is Salekhard in December?: Salekhard averages 17.6 hours of civil night a night in December 2026, from 17 h 7 min on the 1st to 17 h 38 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Salekhard in December?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Salekhard's 1 degree cell 65% mean cloud in December, against 70% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in December 2026 for aurora in Salekhard?: By darkness and moon alone, Dec 2, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Salekhard. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is December or January better in Salekhard?: By civil night times the clear share, December scores 6.2 hours at Salekhard and January 6.2. December 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.