Timaru · December 2026
Southern lights in Timaru in December 2026
Answer
December against the rest of the year
December cloud at Timaru averages 72% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 6 points cloudier than its yearly mean. July is Timaru's clearest month at 61%. By civil night times clear sky, December scores 2.0 hours at Timaru, 12th of 12. Seattle, 12,109 km away, averages 79%, cloudier by 7 points.
Civil night at Timaru starts December at 7 h 26 min and reaches 7 h 12 min by December 31, 0.2 hours shorter. The 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on 25 of 31 nights. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 3.4 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. Timaru gets 118 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
5.1 h
- 4
19% lit
5.4 h
- 5
12% lit
5.8 h
- 6
6% lit
6.2 h
- 7
2% lit
6.7 h
- 8
0% lit
7.3 h
- 9
0% lit
7.2 h
- 10
2% lit
6.6 h
- 11
5% lit
5.9 h
- 12
10% lit
5.3 h
- 13
17% lit
4.9 h
- 14
24% lit
4.5 h
- 15
33% lit
4.2 h
- 16
42% lit
3.9 h
- 17
52% lit
3.6 h
- 18
63% lit
3.3 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
0.8 h
- 26
92% lit
1.4 h
- 27
84% lit
1.8 h
- 28
74% lit
2.2 h
- 29
64% lit
2.5 h
- 30
54% lit
2.9 h
- 31
43% lit
3.2 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.
Activity in past Decembers
No whole Kp puts the average oval edge over Timaru by SWPC's rule, so the GFZ record has no threshold to count for December. Timaru sits at 47.8 degrees geomagnetic. The lowest NOAA storm level whose typical viewing latitude reaches it is G4 (Kp = 8, including a 9-). Even Kp 9 does not put the average oval edge overhead by SWPC's rule.
December across New Zealand
Coming from November (8.0 hours at Timaru), December loses darkness, and the nights keep growing into January (7.6 hours on the 15th). The December solstice falls on December 22, 09:49 Timaru 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 26 min | 3 h 56 min | 4 h 30 min | 4 h | 48% |
| Wed Dec 2 | 7 h 24 min | 3 h 53 min | 4 h 48 min | 4 h | 37% |
| Thu Dec 3 | 7 h 23 min | 3 h 49 min | 5 h 6 min | 4 h | 28% |
| Fri Dec 4 | 7 h 21 min | 3 h 46 min | 5 h 25 min | 4 h | 19% |
| Sat Dec 5 | 7 h 20 min | 3 h 43 min | 5 h 46 min | 4 h | 12% |
| Sun Dec 6 | 7 h 18 min | 3 h 41 min | 6 h 12 min | 4 h | 6% |
| Mon Dec 7 | 7 h 17 min | 3 h 38 min | 6 h 43 min | 4 h | 2% |
| Tue Dec 8 | 7 h 15 min | 3 h 35 min | 7 h 15 min | 4 h | 0% |
| Wed Dec 9 | 7 h 14 min | 3 h 33 min | 7 h 14 min | 4 h | 0% |
| Thu Dec 10 | 7 h 13 min | 3 h 31 min | 6 h 34 min | 3 h 29 min | 2% |
| Fri Dec 11 | 7 h 12 min | 3 h 29 min | 5 h 53 min | 2 h 49 min | 5% |
| Sat Dec 12 | 7 h 11 min | 3 h 27 min | 5 h 20 min | 2 h 16 min | 10% |
| Sun Dec 13 | 7 h 10 min | 3 h 25 min | 4 h 53 min | 1 h 49 min | 17% |
| Mon Dec 14 | 7 h 10 min | 3 h 24 min | 4 h 31 min | 1 h 26 min | 24% |
| Tue Dec 15 | 7 h 9 min | 3 h 22 min | 4 h 11 min | 1 h 7 min | 33% |
| Wed Dec 16 | 7 h 8 min | 3 h 21 min | 3 h 53 min | 48 min | 42% |
| Thu Dec 17 | 7 h 8 min | 3 h 20 min | 3 h 35 min | 30 min | 52% |
| Fri Dec 18 | 7 h 8 min | 3 h 19 min | 3 h 17 min | 11 min | 63% |
| Sat Dec 19 | 7 h 7 min | 3 h 19 min | 2 h 55 min | 0 min | 73% |
| Sun Dec 20 | 7 h 7 min | 3 h 18 min | 2 h 29 min | 0 min | 82% |
| Mon Dec 21 | 7 h 7 min | 3 h 18 min | 1 h 54 min | 0 min | 90% |
| Tue Dec 22 | 7 h 7 min | 3 h 18 min | 1 h 7 min | 0 min | 96% |
| Wed Dec 23 | 7 h 7 min | 3 h 18 min | 6 min | 0 min | 99% |
| Thu Dec 24 | 7 h 7 min | 3 h 19 min | 0 min | 0 min | 100% |
| Fri Dec 25 | 7 h 8 min | 3 h 19 min | 45 min | 45 min | 97% |
| Sat Dec 26 | 7 h 8 min | 3 h 20 min | 1 h 21 min | 1 h 21 min | 92% |
| Sun Dec 27 | 7 h 9 min | 3 h 21 min | 1 h 49 min | 1 h 49 min | 84% |
| Mon Dec 28 | 7 h 9 min | 3 h 23 min | 2 h 12 min | 2 h 12 min | 74% |
| Tue Dec 29 | 7 h 10 min | 3 h 24 min | 2 h 33 min | 2 h 33 min | 64% |
| Wed Dec 30 | 7 h 11 min | 3 h 26 min | 2 h 52 min | 2 h 52 min | 54% |
| Thu Dec 31 | 7 h 12 min | 3 h 27 min | 3 h 12 min | 3 h 12 min | 43% |
Questions
- Can you see the southern lights in Timaru in December?
- On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Timaru have civil darkness.
- How dark is Timaru in December?
- Timaru averages 7.2 hours of civil night a night in December 2026, from 7 h 26 min on the 1st to 7 h 12 min on the last night.
- How cloudy is Timaru in December?
- NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Timaru's 1 degree cell 72% mean cloud in December, against 66% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
- What is the best night in December 2026 for aurora in Timaru?
- By darkness and moon alone, Dec 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Timaru. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
- Is December or January better in Timaru?
- By civil night times the clear share, December scores 2.0 hours at Timaru 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.