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Alaskan city Utqiaġvik won't see sun until Jan. 23
Starting on mid-November, Alaskan city Utqiaġvik won’t receive any sunlight until Jan. 23 next year.
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Fog bow over Duck Camp, Barrow, Alaska (Shutterstock/Michelle Holihan)
Starting mid-November, Alaskan city Utqiaġvik won’t receive any sunlight until Jan. 23 next year.
Formerly known as Barrow, Utqiaġvik is the United States' northernmost city at 330 miles above the Arctic circle. The city is home to indigenous Iñupiaq people and also houses several research stations.
According to weather.com, the sun doesn't rise north of the Arctic Circle from mid-November through late January. This is due to the tilt of the Earth away from the sun's most direct radiation.
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Sun has set today in (Barrow) Utqiaġvik, Alaska. It’s now 65 consecutive days without a sunrise! The next sunrise happens on January 23rd at 1:04 PM Alaska time. Webcam here: https://t.co/K59BqfP72L #AKwx pic.twitter.com/q2v2H4JgzS
— Mark Tarello (@mark_tarello) November 19, 2018
Instead of complete darkness, Utqiaġvik will experience "civil twilight", which happens when the sun is 6 degrees below the horizon and creates little illumination. It lasts six hours per night, but it will decrease to three hours per night by the end of December.
Its 4,400 residents saw its last sunrise on Nov. 18 and won’t see another for 65 days. However, they can expect 80 days without a sunset starting in May. (iru/mut)
