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Rule Dark Skies

Dark Skies Forecast for North Pole, Alaska

North Pole, Alaska, United States

East of Fairbanks, North Pole is surrounded by flat boreal forest and sloughs, with dark pullouts beyond town for aurora above snow-coated spruce.

2 matching opportunities in the 14-day forecast.

Upcoming Opportunities

When all conditions match, PhotoWeather marks an opportunity window.

Times shown in America/Anchorage
pristinedarkskies weather icon
First upcoming window
Excellent Dark Skies (pristine)
North Pole
Tue, Sep 22 · 22:46–23:00 · 1h window
Medium confidence
54%
🌛Moon Altitude8.1°
☁️Total Cloud Coverage9%
pristinedarkskies weather icon
Pristine Dark Skies (pristine)
North Pole
Thu, Sep 24 · 03:00–04:42
🌛Moon Altitude:3.7-8.3°
Low

72-hour requirements breakdown

When available, this detailed table covers only the stated 72-hour horizon (typically 72–168 hours, depending on available hourly data). Opportunity records above span the full 14-day forecast period, so this table does not explain that entire period. Times shown in America/Anchorage.

Requirements breakdown is temporarily unavailable or expired. This does not mean no opportunities.

Supporting forecast inputs

Additional hourly values for interpreting the forecast and any derived scores. See the separate requirements breakdown for rule logic; missing values are unavailable.

Forecast time (America/Anchorage)Astronomical NightMoon AltitudeMoon Illumination
Sat, Sep 19, 2026Sunrise · Sunset
NightUnavailable-1.5°57%
NightUnavailable-2.5°57%
NightUnavailable-4.8°57%
Sun, Sep 20, 2026Sunrise · Sunset
NightUnavailable-8.2°66%
NightUnavailable-13°66%
NightUnavailable-18°66%
NightUnavailable-24°66%
NightUnavailable-30°66%
NightUnavailable-36°66%
NightUnavailable-41°66%
NightUnavailable-46°66%
Unavailable-50°66%
Unavailable-51°66%
Unavailable-50°66%
Unavailable-47°66%
Unavailable-43°66%
Unavailable-37°66%
Unavailable-31°66%
Unavailable-25°66%
Unavailable-19°66%
Unavailable-13°66%
Unavailable-8°66%
Unavailable-4°66%
NightUnavailable-1°66%
NightUnavailable0.66°66%
NightUnavailable0.91°66%
NightUnavailable-0.25°66%
Mon, Sep 21, 2026Sunrise · Sunset
NightUnavailable-2.7°75%
NightUnavailable-6.4°75%
NightUnavailable-11°75%
NightUnavailable-16°75%
NightUnavailable-22°75%
NightUnavailable-28°75%
NightUnavailable-34°75%
NightUnavailable-40°75%
Unavailable-44°75%
Unavailable-47°75%
Unavailable-48°75%
Unavailable-47°75%
Unavailable-43°75%
Unavailable-39°75%
Unavailable-33°75%
Unavailable-27°75%
Unavailable-21°75%
Unavailable-14°75%
Unavailable-8.8°75%
Unavailable-3.8°75%
NightUnavailable0.21°75%
NightUnavailable75%
NightUnavailable4.5°75%
NightUnavailable4.5°75%
Tue, Sep 22, 2026Sunrise · Sunset
NightUnavailable82%
NightUnavailable0.25°82%
NightUnavailable-3.7°82%
NightUnavailable-8.6°82%
NightUnavailable-14°82%
NightUnavailable-20°82%
NightUnavailable-26°82%
NightUnavailable-32°82%
Unavailable-37°82%
Unavailable-41°82%
Unavailable-43°82%
Unavailable-44°82%
Unavailable-42°82%
Unavailable-38°82%
Unavailable-34°82%
Unavailable-28°82%
Unavailable-22°82%
Unavailable-15°82%
Unavailable-9.1°82%
Unavailable-3.4°82%
NightUnavailable1.6°82%

How this forecast is evaluated

See which weather signals PhotoWeather uses to identify Dark Skies conditions across Alaska. The requirements and hourly values above show how those signals apply at North Pole.

Explore Dark Skies conditions across Alaska →

Recorded match history

Completed PhotoWeather forecast matches recorded for this exact rule at North Pole during the last 365 days.

Last 30 days
1
recorded matching window · 55% average confidence
Last 90 days
1
recorded matching window · 55% average confidence
Last 365 days
51
recorded matching windows · 67% average confidence
Most frequent recorded start hour

09:00 local time, shared by 7 of 51 matches recorded in the last 365 days.

Most represented month

February, with 27 of 51 matches recorded in the last 365 days.

These figures use completed PhotoWeather MatchEvent records from the previous 365 days only. They describe recorded forecast matches, not observations, climatological probability, or a guarantee of future conditions.

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How this forecast is made

Opportunities are threshold-based signals: PhotoWeather checks whether forecast conditions match the rules for a photography scenario. They are planning guidance, not guarantees. Forecasts can change as new model runs arrive, and confidence generally decreases farther into the forecast horizon, so recheck conditions before travelling.

The weather forecast foundation comes through Open-Meteo , which aggregates models from weather agencies. PhotoWeather applies condition-specific thresholds and derived calculations; not every condition uses every model or data input.

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