Best Time to See the Northern Lights in Alaska 2024

best time to see the northern lights in alaska

You may connect the Northern Lights with wintertime, albeit in all actuality, they are available all year; it’s merely that you can’t see them also when the evenings are light. In this blog, you’ll get to know the best time to see the northern lights in Alaska.

The more obscure the foundation, the more superb the aurora lights will be.

Practically speaking, in northern Norway, Iceland, Greenland, and Finland, you need to design your Northern Lights tour between the time frame starting toward the beginning of September and extend until the center of April.

Aside from determining the best time, it is also crucial to know the best places to view the northern lights in Iceland, for example. Check out this free travel resource elaborating on the when, where, and other important aspects of planning a trip to Iceland to see the northern lights.

Nonetheless, if the Northern Lights are sufficient, you may see them against a nightfall sky. It isn’t irregular to see them from Tromsø on an August evening.

What are Northern Lights?

best time to see the northern lights in alaska

The Northern lights in Alaska are famous astronomical phenomena popularly known as the “Aurora Polaris”. They are the curtains veiled of colorful lights brightly visible in the night sky.

Aurora is the natural astronomical phenomenon easily found in both hemispheres that turn out to be mesmerizingly beautiful.

Scientifically Northern Lights are named “Aurora Borealis.”

Introductory Note:

  • While numerous voyagers think they need to make a beeline for Canada or northern Europe to see the north’s lights, you can recognize this marvel without leaving the United States.
  •  Northern Alaska is ideal for Americans wanting an opportunity to see the aurora borealis.
  •  It very well might be cold in winter (temperatures can drop to – 30°F). However, the inland Alaskan Arctic — where skies will be more precise is perhaps the best spot on the planet.
  • Make sure to check ahead when planning your excursion, as offerings may have changed because of the Covid pandemic. 

Best Time To See The Northern Lights In Alaska

best time to see the northern lights in alaska
  • Alaska’s northern lights season is between early mid-September and late April, peaking in Marchincomprehensible with our present innovation. 
  • Notwithstanding, we know that the northern lights are best seen in Alaska between 65° N and 70° N scope. 
  • Fairbanks is around 180 miles south of the Arctic Circle and appreciates irregular northern lights. However, it’s best to fail to remember Anchorage and Juneau’s more southerly destinations, which see significantly fewer shows. 
  • Those wanting to boost their odds should set out toward the more distant northern towns of Cold-foot in the Yukon Territory or to Prudhoe Bay and Utqiaġvik in the great northern hemispheres. 
  • The further the northern hemisphere you travel in Alaska, the more probable you are to see the northern lights. 
  • The viewing season endures just about seven months, so the best time to seek the aurora indeed relies on what else you need to do during your visit. 
  • Depending upon overcast cover and weather, Alaska evenings can be adequately dim to feature extraordinary auroras between mid-August through mid-April. 
  • You should go to the state just during the profound winter when murkiness can last 16-18 hours of the day. Sometimes the season’s most incredible auroras happen during September or October or during March and April.

Where Can You Get To See The Northern Lights?

best time to see the northern lights in alaska
  • Attempt Fairbanks first. While the aurora can show up over all aspects of Alaska, from Barrow to Ketchikan, the odds improve with scope. 
  • The main auroral band generally crosses the state in a circular segment north of the Alaska Range.
  •  So this interior city and the surrounding territory (Including Chena Hot Springs) is likely the state’s sweet spot for northern lights viewing. It’s the place where the recurrence of splendid showcases dovetails easily of facilities and travel coordinations. 
  • You can fly into Fairbanks and be at an elite aurora viewing setting in not precisely 60 minutes. 
  • Yet, don’t tally out southern Alaska! Southcentral Alaska—Anchorage, the Mat-Su valleys, and the Kenai—all experience evenings with excellent arch-April’s possibilities cases. 
  • Only not as frequently as Fairbanks and parts north. In Southcentral than during the weeks not long when the equinoxes, marginally improving August-September and March-April’s possibilities. See our Anchorage aurora manage. 
  • Southeast Alaska regions additionally experience auroras; however, the environment’s cloudinessrence tumbles off as you go further south. Include the district’s rain timberland environment’s cloudiness, and you ought not to venture out to these territories fundamentally to see auroras.

Northern Lights Near Fairbanks 

  • The old dash for unheard of wealth boomtown of Fairbanks is the undisputed capital of the northern lights chase in Alaska. It’s not the absolute best spot for aurora viewing — it’s merely beneath the Arctic Circle — yet auroras often happen environment’s cloudiness, plentiful parking, and has a healthy perspective not too far off. 
  • According to the Geophysical Institute at the Alaska university, other great perception puts close by, including Haystack Mountain, Ester, Wickersham, and Murphy Domes. 
  • Chena Lakes Recreation Area is a famous spot to search for appearance in the water.

Northern Lights Near Utqiagvik 

  • This modest community, once called Barrow, is on the extraordinary northern edge of Alaska at 71° N scope and is home to the Top Of The World Hotel, which puts together tours and open-air undertakings associated with the Inupiat Alaska Native culture. 
  • You can likewise visit the Inupiat Heritage Center to find out about bowhead whale hunting and neighborhood culture. 
  • Alaska Airlines flies to the town’s Wiley that is Post-Will Rogers Memorial Airport from Anchorage, and bundles are accessible from Tundra Tours and the Northern Alaska Tour Company.

Northern Lights Near Wrangell-St. Elias National Park 

  • Spanning 13.2 million land sections, this public park is the biggest ensured save in the United States. 
  • Voyagers can go to sleep at the eight-man Ultima Thule stop for a wild experience loaded up with ice sheet trekking, rafting, fishing in Lake Tebay, and (obviously), waiting for the northern lights to glimmer across the sky.

How Does the Best Time To See Northern Lights for the year Looks Like:

best time to see the northern lights in alaska
  • To start with, think of it as a journey. 
  • You are trying to observe probably the most fantastic display in nature, however one that can be whimsical and modest, to some degree like a wild creature. 
  • Similarly, as earthy colored bears loom capriciously during a photo safari into Denali, or executioner whale cases probably won’t surface during the primary hours of a journey, the aurora can be slippery and should be sought after.
  •  It’s an undertaking! (With an enormous result.) 
  • Many people spend around five to seven days beginning to end, which offers Time to stand by out shady whether or not precisely prime gauges. 
  • It can function as a three-or four-road trip fixated at the end of the week, yet then you should be more engaged.
  • Fill your days with other exercises.
  •  Each people group underneath the aurora offers numerous choices for open-air undertakings and indoor attractions the entire season. What precisely you do will rely on the date you show up. 
  • For thoughts, start with three of our recommendation pages—Things to Do in Alaska, Winter Vacation Tips, and Alaska Travel Tips. 
  • Devote at any rate three evenings to viewing the aurora. 
  • Finding a scene or a circumstance where you can serenely keep awake between 10 pm and 3 am increases your odds and adds to the good times.
  •  At the point when possibilities are acceptable, the aurora can eject at any second. 
  • The aurora’s seven-month season ranges from pre-fall to late-winter, with conceivable evening time temperatures ranging from the summery 60s to cold. 
  • We have definite exhortation on picking the correct clothing to be open to during your visit.

For more updates on the tourism industry, visit Travelila.

Also Read:

The Best Time to Visit Alaska: A Perfect Guide from Why to When!