Northern lights in Kotzebue, Alaska
Above the Arctic Circle, Kotzebue's sun doesn't set from early June to early July, and doesn't rise for weeks around the solstice.
Kotzebue
…Checking tonight's sky…
The next three nights
Geomagnetic activity (Kp) forecast for the selected town's dark hours. Kp runs 0–9; how much a town needs depends on its magnetic latitude. New to this? What the Kp index means, in plain words → Nights tagged “outlook” use NOAA’s 27-day outlook where the 3-day forecast doesn’t reach — whole-day values, so treat them as rougher estimates.
What Kotzebue needs for a show
Whether aurora reaches a town is mostly a matter of magnetic latitude — distance from the magnetic pole, not the geographic one. Kotzebue sits at magnetic latitude 65.2°, which puts it in the Kp 2 band: when the forecast Kp for the dark hours reaches about 2, the oval's southern edge reaches Kotzebue and displays can appear low on the northern horizon. At Kp 4 or better, expect the band overhead at times. The same law draws the band on the homepage globe: the oval's edge at magnetic latitude 69 − 3×Kp.
| Magnetic latitude | 65.2° |
|---|---|
| Kp needed (horizon show) | About 2 |
| Kp for a strong overhead show | About 4+ |
| Coordinates | 66.8983°N, 162.5953°W · Western |
Kp is only one of four ingredients in the live call above: cloud cover over the dark hours, the town's actual darkness window, and moonlight all count too. A Kp 4 night under solid cloud is still a no — which is why the verdict, not the index, leads this page.
Kotzebue’s aurora season
Kotzebue has a real off-season: from about Apr 3 to Sep 8 (159 nights) the sun never dips 18° below the horizon, so it never gets truly dark and aurora can't be seen even when it's active. Outside that stretch, 206 nights in 2027 get a true-dark window.
| Month (2027) | True darkness | Typical dark window, mid-month |
|---|---|---|
| January | Every night | 12 hr 25 min |
| February | Every night | 9 hr 44 min |
| March | Every night | Around the clock |
| April | 2 of 30 nights | — |
| May | No true darkness | — |
| June | No true darkness | — |
| July | No true darkness | — |
| August | No true darkness | — |
| September | 22 of 30 nights | Around the clock |
| October | Every night | 8 hr 35 min |
| November | Every night | 11 hr 43 min |
| December | Every night | 13 hr 10 min |
True darkness = the sun below −18° (end of astronomical twilight), computed with the standard NOAA solar algorithm for Kotzebue’s coordinates. The live call at the top of this page uses tonight's actual window, not these averages.
Kotzebue in daylight
Sunrise, sunset, and daylight hours for Kotzebue — today or any date — are on our sister site: Kotzebue at Alaska Daylight →
On the water nearby
Night fishing or camping out of Kotzebue? The nearest tide station is Kotzebue (0 mi ENE) — tide predictions and minus tides at Alaska Tide Charts.