Fairbank AK -- Northern Lights ????

To the OP....AKSilverEagle provided a good thorough explanation

Only thing I would add is that...after looking at the information...don't "not go" because of cold weather and Fairbanks being miserable in the winter. It can get cold (really cold sometimes) and short dark days in the cold can be sort of miserable, but that's the nature of the beast and a bit of what one gets while chasing the aurora.

I guess I count as a local again, but for a getaway from Los Anchorage, particularly if one avoids January and February, a drive to Fairbanks for a 3-4 day weekend is quite relaxing to me. I'll gladly call Fairbanks "Squarebanks" (just like I say "Los Anchorage") but don't believe all the negative stories about it.

I've not lived there, but I can say most people leave there cars running when they go to the store or even at work. I did some training with a client in Fairbanks. I was there for 3-4 hours mid day. I was the only one that turned their car off. The rest stayed running. I plugged mine in, but also turned it off. I had to start it 30 to 40 minutes before I left. Everyone said it is cheaper to buy gas every day then to deal with the cold or other problems from turning their cars off. I think many people would have a heated garage, but I know that is not the case. They just start them long before they go to work in the morning. My first trip to Prudhoe bay, all the company trucks stayed running 24/7 - someone would come by and fill the tanks to keep them running. that was before low sulfur diesel. Now, they don't do that.

Fairbanks is very smoggy in the winter due to the car exhaust. Probably very unhealthy air.

I travel to Alaska for work (at least in normal years). I've made several winter trips. Add me to the list of folks that haven't seen the lights.

I was there last year around the winter solstice. 4 hours of "daylight". Temps were around -15*F, and never got above 0*.

Just my opinion, but Fairbanks in December is miserable.

Someone once told me that in his neighborhood in the AK interior somewhere, guys would leave their diesel pickups idling all night when the temp got down there. It stunk up the neighborhood. Is that really so?

I have been to Alaska for work dozens of times. I have been to Fairbanks many times in the winter as well as Barrow and Prudhoe Bay. I have never seen the northern lights while in Alaska. Not saying they can't be seen, just saying the weather never seems to cooperate. I know once while in Prudhoe, the bus driver told me they were really out the night before I got there, but the winds and blowing snow had it so you couldn't see them when I was there.

So, good luck. there are tours you can take out of the Fairbanks area, so just book one. They will know what is going on.

As for weather, dress for -40. When you pick up a rental car at the airport, they will tell you you have to warm the car up for 40 minutes or so before you drive off. If you break a belt or do damage to the car because you drove it too soon, that is on you. It's nice to get cars with remote start, but one year the week before Christmas I had a car with no remote start and only 1 key. I had very expensive gear with me so I wasn't going to leave the car running with the keys in it. So, dress for the very cold weather.

With a negative COVID test you can go this year. Might be less other people doing the same thing.

Fairbanks in December would be hard to describe as "a vacation."
This is especially true if you are not used to the darkness and extreme low temps.

I can't speak as to aurora activity in December, but I agree that Sept is a good month. We saw the lights 3 nights out of 5 we were there last Sept.

I'm with Orion and PA12DRVR on this one reference to northern lights viewing in Alaska that they pointed out in their posts that I will elaborate on....

It is a crapshoot when skies will be clear anywhere in the far north to plan on arriving, however in all my years living here in the Fairbanks area - the best two months of northern lights viewing by far are : March and September

1. - March - When people in other regions personally ask me when is the best time or best chance to view the northern lights, March is the only time I recommend if they are going to invest a travel trip from abroad...

For one, March seems to always have the most clear sky days and nights out of any month of the year....and generally I would notice seeing the lights most every night in March when it is clear in this area.

For two, one would not be generally be exposed to -30 F something below temperatures at all as -20 F to -25 F below is still common lows in March....Fairbanks low temps in general during March on a clear night will average between +10 F to -20 F depending on the current coldfront or warmfront.

March is also the month of the year that the sun exposure gains the most in the Fairbanks area, almost 7 minutes each day times 31 days - which amounts to 11 to 15 hours of twilight per day which in turn still having a potential 14 to 9 hours of nightfall to still view the northern lights.....which would give a visitor the best of both nice sightseeing days and great potential clear viewing nights.

As noted, the Ice Sculpture event happens during March as a lot more events in Fairbanks take place in March rather then in December....Hopefully the Ice Sculpture event will be back up and running again.

I have only witnessed -30 F below lows for a week straight in the month of March only once in 1992, and never seen it -40 F below in March ever until 2007 when the low temps were -40 F to -44 F below for the first two and a half weeks - unbelievable !

As mentioned, the equinox months of earth also happen to be March and September and most active for season change cycle for majority of the planet, which I would guess makes sense due to increased solar activity.


2. - September - On clear nights, late August and September seems to be hit and miss with aurora activity although can be dazzling at times....quite a few times when I go stealth and leave home driving at night on my way to Tok in my camper getting a head start to Canada this time of year, I get a great northern lights show for 200 miles straight non stop and turn off my headlights when there is no oncoming traffic and really enjoy them while driving.

However there are not as many clear nights in August and September as it does tend to rain, or snow at times during September which means cloud cover and no viewing.

For the OP and the large group planning on a December trip to Fairbanks, as others have chimed in reasons why it would not be the best timeframe to do so, I will also elaborate in my perspective :

Fairbanks weather history has shown December to be moderately in the top three snowiest months during the winter the majority of time, which means not a lot of potential northern light viewing compared to March....

If there is no warm trend or snowing a lot in December, you can bet it is going to be a potential 62 day January which is going to be downright bitter cold with daytime highs in the -40's F below or perhaps colder, and it's going to prolong to a multi week coldspell that a visitor will not like - and if it happens to reach record cold temperatures of -60 F for a visitor with no end in sight when a coldspell like that would appear, everything shuts down - transportation, airports, etc.....

Although the conditions will be right for northern lights viewing, there are at times no aurora activity during these prolong coldspells in my experience this time of year....

Also to note that if one is in Fairbanks at -35 F below (particularly during -45 F below or colder), head to the foothills nearby and get out of the ice fog to view the northern lights at it's best when they are ampin'.

With less than 4 hours of sun over the horizon per day in December, daytime highs will not significantly make a difference in the Fairbanks area until late February under clear skies, as during November thru February us Interior Alaskans have to rely on cloud cover or warm trend weather fronts to get any above 0 F temperatures.

Whenever Interior Alaska starts a prolong multi week nasty coldspell, it will generally start in November, December, or January.

As noted, airfare is higher priced in December because of the holidays.

I personally would go against the advice of renting a car if one is planning to drive the 60 miles east on Chena Hot Springs Road to the resort, as it is not the nicest road to drive on during the winter, especially if one is not a seasoned winter driver let alone a visitor unfamiliar with this roadway (plus the fact if the rental car issued is not equipped with winter tires).

There are many careless drivers in a hurry thru mile 20, then traffic gets lighter from there however there are a share of DUI drivers and other accidents too because of driving too fast in prudent conditions because of the frost heaves and blind curves due to slick conditions in the higher elevations where there are warmer temperatures in the various foothills....

Take the shuttle to Chena Hot Springs Resort instead.

As for the OP, I would reconsider visiting the Fairbanks area to see the northern lights during March instead, or if December is the only option, consider Southcentral Alaska where the temperatures are much milder in the winter south of the Alaska Range, however it is a pretty good chance of potential coastal cloud cover to run into, as a short commute inland with a clear weather forecast would in my opinion have the same chance of seeing the northern lights there as Fairbanks in the month of December, plus you get a couple more daylight hours per day of sightseeing there in December without the bitter cold weather.

jthrv wrote:
December in Fairbanks is cold, cold enough to be scary, minus 9 is not fun, it is dangerous.....

Sorry, I got to address on this misleading comment -

Temperature of minus -9 F below is not dangerous at all to us Interior Alaskans that live here....

Although with merit, it would be very well dangerous at -9 F below if one does NOT dress up for it at all and arrive dressed up in a typical Southern California attire and are willing to spend a significant amount of time outdoors with no winter gear to keep them warm.

One prime example of why -9 is not considered dangerous temperature :

School buses will not operate and pick up students in the Fairbanks area if the outside temperature reaches or exceeds -45 below F, and yes the students will wait for a school bus if the temperature is -44 F below zero regardless of the dense ice fog.

Commuting around in -40 F below temperatures in order to shop, work, and do the everyday life activities is a much common practice here when the temperatures get that cold - even during those ungodly two to three week -50 F below coldspells does not deter people from commuting around either unless one couldn't get their vehicle started.

I will absolutely stay put when the temperature reaches -60 F below and will go into survival mode stand by (especially if things ever go south with my house trailer that I live in which the outside walls start 'poppin' at -57 F and colder) - -60 F is very dangerous cold even for a running vehicle (commuting) and nothing to play with, and no matter how fully dressed up one is in quality winter gear.


For the record, I have lived in the Fairbanks area for the past 38 years now - (38 years to life) and seen actual -60 F below and colder in my tenure on three occasions.

The first 17 years of my life I was born at LA County USC hospital and raised in Hollywood, the Coachella Valley and briefly in Las Vegas, with a 3 year break 1969-1972 in South Lake Tahoe, Reno, Sparks....so yes this post is from a native Angelino.

For a group of people, an average temperature of above freezing at night would work out much better.....

Hate to bring this up, however this would not work for Interior Alaska....

October thru late April on average, the overnight lows in the Fairbanks area are below freezing for the 6 to 7 month duration, with the exception of a warm front which brings in cloud cover, snow, or rain which also means no northern lights to observe.

In the Fairbanks area, roughly half of September - the night time temperatures do hover below the freezing mark, and in October it might be three to five days that the overnight low will be above the freezing mark which would be an Indian Summer...

So in other words, "an average temperature of above freezing at night" in the Fairbanks area does not start until late April on average (by that time will reach the 19 hours+ of twilight in a day) and can be as late as the third week of May depending on a late spring coldfront which by then will be 24 hours of twilight.

I have seen them in the North Cascades in late summer. It was always a surprise and a welcome sight. They were mostly green streaks and curtains of light. North of Fairbanks they come in many colors and cover the sky.