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Alaska's Sun Never Sets: 84 Days of Daylight Begin!
12 May
Summary
- Utqiagvik, Alaska, began 84 days without sunset on Saturday, May 9.
- The city will experience continuous daylight until August 2.
- True nighttime darkness will not return until September 21.
Utqiagvik, Alaska, the northernmost city in the United States, has just experienced its last sunset for 84 days. On Saturday, May 9, the sun rose and will remain visible until 2:57 a.m. local time on August 2. This means the city will have daylight for nearly three months straight.
Following this extended daylight period, Utqiagvik will not immediately plunge into darkness. The sun will linger near the horizon, creating a twilight effect. True nighttime darkness is not expected to return until September 21, nearly two months after the initial sunset.
This extreme variation in daylight hours is a direct consequence of Utqiagvik's location on the Arctic Ocean. The city experiences significant swings in daylight throughout the year, with months of sunlight in the summer and weeks of darkness in the winter.
