Fairbanks Aurora Forecast

Why Fairbanks

Most aurora forecasts give you a Kp number and leave you to guess what it means from your driveway. This one scores every one of the 24 sites we watch and weighs the thing that actually decides most nights here: cloud. A strong display above solid overcast is a display you will not see.

Fairbanks sits much further under the auroral oval than Southcentral does, so a night that only reaches Anchorage on a strong display sits over Fairbanks on plenty of ordinary ones. The Interior's winter inversion adds to that: the hills above town, Cleary Summit and Murphy Dome among them, often sit in clear air while the valley below holds cloud, which is why the list scores them on their own sky rather than on the town's.

How the level is worked out

The level, 1 to 5, comes from aurora strength times clear sky, times darkness, times the moon. On a level 1 or 2 night the page names what holds the night back: cloud, a quiet aurora, a sky still too light, or a bright moon. A 5 means go tonight, a 4 is worth the drive to a dark spot, a 3 is worth stepping out, and a 2 is a maybe. Nothing reaches certainty, because the sky does not offer it.

About this page

This page watches the aurora for Fairbanks and the towns around it, using the same live call as Daymingo's statewide Alaska aurora forecast, ordered so the Interior sites come first. For the rest of what Daymingo covers around Fairbanks, see the Alaska forecast, trails and camping hubs.