TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
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.
Change Size
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.
Read also: Denali National Park welcomes its first (and last) luxury hotel
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)
