Northern lights in Unalaska / Dutch Harbor, Alaska
Out in the Aleutians, Unalaska has Alaska's gentlest daylight curve: about 17 hours in June, 7.75 in December.
Unalaska / Dutch Harbor
…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 Unalaska / Dutch Harbor 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. Unalaska / Dutch Harbor sits at magnetic latitude 52.3°, which puts it in the Kp 6 band: when the forecast Kp for the dark hours reaches about 6, the oval's southern edge reaches Unalaska / Dutch Harbor and displays can appear low on the northern horizon. At Kp 8 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 | 52.3° |
|---|---|
| Kp needed (horizon show) | About 6 |
| Kp for a strong overhead show | About 8+ |
| Coordinates | 53.8720°N, 166.5369°W · Southwest |
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 8 night under solid cloud is still a no — which is why the verdict, not the index, leads this page.
Unalaska / Dutch Harbor’s aurora season
Unalaska / Dutch Harbor has a real off-season: from about May 12 to Jul 30 (80 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, 285 nights in 2027 get a true-dark window.
| Month (2027) | True darkness | Typical dark window, mid-month |
|---|---|---|
| January | Every night | 11 hr 43 min |
| February | Every night | 10 hr 11 min |
| March | Every night | 8 hr 9 min |
| April | Every night | Around the clock |
| May | 11 of 31 nights | — |
| June | No true darkness | — |
| July | 1 of 31 nights | — |
| August | Every night | Around the clock |
| September | Every night | 7 hr 11 min |
| October | Every night | 9 hr 32 min |
| November | Every night | 11 hr 19 min |
| December | Every night | 12 hr 9 min |
True darkness = the sun below −18° (end of astronomical twilight), computed with the standard NOAA solar algorithm for Unalaska / Dutch Harbor’s coordinates. The live call at the top of this page uses tonight's actual window, not these averages.
Unalaska / Dutch Harbor in daylight
Sunrise, sunset, and daylight hours for Unalaska / Dutch Harbor — today or any date — are on our sister site: Unalaska / Dutch Harbor at Alaska Daylight →
On the water nearby
Night fishing or camping out of Unalaska / Dutch Harbor? The nearest tide station is Unalaska (1 mi NNW) — tide predictions and minus tides at Alaska Tide Charts.