Residents in America’s northernmost town of Utqiagvik, Alaska, saw their last sunrise for two months on Monday.
The sun set at 1:27 p.m. local time on Monday and won’t rise again until 1:15 p.m. on January 22, the Washington Post reported, where it will shine for less than an hour before sinking once more.
This months long period of darkness is known as the polar night. Daylight will then gradually increase each day until the sun remains in the sky for 24 hours a day for roughly two months, in what is known as the midnight sun, during the summer months.
In the winter, the Northern Hemisphere tilts away from the sun, causing residents in Utqiagvik, which is situated at the very top of Alaska, north of the Arctic Circle, to experience uninterrupted darkness for approximately two months, AccuWeather senior meteorologist Tom Kines told Newsweek.
Currently, typical temperatures in the area are around 10 to 15 degrees Fahrenheit. They drop by about a degree a day until January, when they average below zero, Kines said.
Despite the sun’s absence, the northern lights still occur. Storms also are still possible, AccuWeather senior meteorologist Tyler Roys previously told Newsweek.
Kines added that it’s not completely dark all the time during the polar night, as the sky brightens slightly in what he described as “twilight.”
Utqiagvik was formerly known as Barrow but residents voted in 2016 to change it back to its traditional name, given by the Native Alaskan Inupiat people.
Forecasters took to social media to express the beginning of the polar night in the city, which can only be reached by plane.
“The sun will set today in Barrow, Alaska (now #Utqiaġvik) and won’t rise again until January 22nd. That’s 64 days with NO SUN!” WINK News chief meteorologist Matt Devitt posted on X, formerly Twitter, with a photo of the town shrouded in darkness.
“It’s time to say “so long” to the sun in Utqiagvik, AK as the sun will set on the Northernmost town in United States tonight at 1:27 pm local time for the last time in 2024,” WeatherNation posted on X. “The town won’t see the sun rise fully again until January 22nd, giving them 64 days of darkness.”
Despite the months long stretch of darkness, many of the just under 5,000 Utqiagvik residents often feel festive during the polar night.
“It’s a time we always look forward to; it’s such a beautiful time. People, I don’t think they understand. They think, oh my God, that many days without the sun, it’s got to be depressing and it isn’t,” former resident Kristen Alburg said in the AccuWeather report.
“Everyone gets so excited about it that you’re just like, ‘yeah, this is a thing we’re going to go through together.'”
Celebrations also occur when the sun rises for the first time after the polar night. Videos of the spectacle are often shared across social media, prompting jokes for residents in the area not to forget their sunscreen for the 48 minutes of sunlight.
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