Post #7,000: The Opposite of Dark

It's that time of year when folks from everywhere else start wondering what the midnight sun looks like in Alaska.

On the summer solstice in June, this part of the State doesn't ever really get dark. In fact, that lasts for about six weeks. On the solstice itself, we have nearly 23 hours of daylight.

But in mid-May, we're approaching that condition already. Here are the actual times for sunrise and sunset today, along with the times of usable light.

                         Sunrise          Sunset
Actual Time     4:59 AM       10:53 PM

Civil Twilight  3:41 AM       12:11 AM

It's light when we get up, and light when we lay down. These conditions will last into August, and it's the time of year we love. Our payback, if you will, for the long dark nights of winter.

As Far As the Solstice Goes (UPDATED)

... this year, we are less-than-impressed.

While the summer solstice in Alaska is an event which draws tens of thousands of tourists annually (who wouldn't like to see a day or three when there's no night-time?), this year - like most recent years - it's cloudy.

Not heavily overcast, mind, but still not the sunshine and blue skies from which we get the joy of "hey, it's 2 am and it's still not dark".

I'm speaking of our part of Alaska, of course; it is sunny elsewhere. In Fairbanks, they're playing Midnight Sun baseball: a series of games which will run continuously for 24 hours.

And there are of course celebrations locally, including the Mayor's Marathon in Anchorage, as well as some other footraces and charity events. Many stayed up all night to observe the gloomy - but not darkened - skies overnight.

For our part, we enjoy this six-week period where it never gets completely dark, but it's not worth staying up for unless the sun is out.

But still, it's a novel experience for folks from parts more southerly to see it stay light all the time, and is something everyone should experience at least once.

But sunny weather would be a nice touch.


UPDATE: shortly after I posted this, the sun started peeking through the clouds, and eventually stayed out for a couple of hours. We sat out on the deck from 7 until 9 pm, and enjoyed every minute of it.

Summer Solstice

A friend in Anchorage took this picture at midnight, last night.

Friday: Midnight Sun & Wildfires Edition

Friday seemed a long time in coming, this week.


Wildfire update: the Mat-Su fire (called the Sockeye fire, if you're trying to look it up) is still at about 7,000 acres in size, but fire crews seem to have a handle on it. There's still plenty of drama ... 26 homes destroyed, including a captain with the Willow Fire Department lost his home and everything he owned, while battling fire elsewhere. His neighbors we able to save his 28 sled dogs, though.

And then there's this:

Alaskans menaced by what is now the nation’s top wildfire remained cautious Thursday, though the heart of the Card Street blaze had raged miles into the unpopulated Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, driven by winds from the west that quadrupled its size to 12,000 acres in the past day.  (Emphasis added - Ed.)

Meanwhile, here in Anchorage where all we've suffered is some smoke, weather guessers are predicting a temperature inversion tomorrow which could trap the smoke close to the ground. That would cause visibility and respiratory issues, so I hope they're wrong. It's certainly too warm to close the windows.

I've been interviewing vendors and soliciting bids for grounds-keeping, both summer and winter. This morning I went through the stack and narrowed it down to a single choice, and notified the losing bidders of that. But since it's early, and I don't have an e-mail address for the winner, I have to wait another half-hour before trying to call them.

We're only 2 days from the summer solstice, but the midnight sun has been with us for several weeks already (and will be around for several more). For example, we'll have 22 hours, 55 minutes of usable light today. This is the part of Alaskan summers that tourists flock here to see: it just doesn't get dark, this time of year.

Anchorage at midnight, in June

About The Solstice

here in Alaska, the long hours of daylight (including the midnight sun) are fascinating to us, as well as those from elsewhere.

For the record: sunset tonight is officially 11:41 p.m., but the sun barely dips below the horizon. It won't get dark (okay, dusky) until 1:29 a.m., and the pre-dawn light comes at 2:33 a.m. Official time for tomorrow's sunrise is 4:21 a.m.

It's almost too dark to go walking for about 90 minutes in the wee hours, give or take, but that's all. If you have really understanding neighbors, you could mow the grass at midnight. I'm not recommending it, mind, but it's possible.

We won't start having any actual "night-time" darkness for another few weeks. So unless you're one of those who simply cannot sleep if there's light in the room, it's an awesome time of year. The nearly-constant sunshine is great compensation for the long winter months. 

A Soggy Solstice

Today is the peak day for summer tourism in Alaska - everybody and their cousins want to be here for the midnight sun. 'Ceptin' we aren't likely to see much sun today. It's solidly overcast and misty/drizzly, and only 52 degrees. Bleah.

But ... the solstice celebrations continue, despite the weather. We tend to overlook things like rain when there's a chance for an all-nighter with barbeque parties at midnight. In Fairbanks, they'll kick off the season with the Midnight Sun baseball game that begins at midnight.

Anchorage hosts the Mayor's Midnight Run (well, it took place over the weekend, but close enough) and all sorts of other events, such as the John Bagoy Summer Solstice Cemetery Tour - at the Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery, tonight, where many of our pioneers are interred, with a narrated history of who they were & what they did.

So what if it's rainy? A little rain never hurt anyone.  Sure, we'd prefer sunshine, but what the hey - at least it won't be dark.

Midnight Sun

The long summer days in Alaska are always a source of fascination for visitors and blog-readers, alike. Since the solstice on the 21st is during the work week, I took pictures last night for your viewing pleasure

Here's 11 pm, with the sun still shining on the tree-tops across the street:

And here's a shot a midnight, when the sun is behind the trees to the west, but still above the horizon:

Daylight

The view to the southeast

I note with approval that there is light in the east at 6am, and it was quite bright enough at 7am to read or do whatever you wish. And it's light out until almost 10pm, these days.

Alaska is now in its headlong rush* to reach the "land of the midnight sun" status - gaining almost six minutes of light daily - and that's perfectly okay with us.

By the end of this week, I won't need headlights to drive to work again until some time in October. And that's okay, too.




*Okay, so it's hyperbole. But not by much.

Only a Month Until the Solstice

I took this photo at about 10:00 pm yesterday. It's unretouched, other than down-sizing from its original 4000 x 3000 pixel size.

As the longest day approaches, I note there's now enough light to walk by at 4 a.m., and it's light until midnight, or shortly after. In another month, there will be no darkness at all (unless clouds are heavy), with a period of dusk from 1:30 am. until about 3 a.m. You can read the paper even at the "darkest" part of the night, then.

Sunday: the Midnight Sun

Good morning!

We have mostly clear skies & 50 degrees this morning; AccuHunch is predicting 70 for today. That's pretty warm, for us.

I took this photo of the back yard this morning at about 10 minutes after midnight, just for your viewing pleasure. It had clouded up at the time, so you can't see the mountains in the background.

There is usable light from 2:18 a.m. until 1:54 a.m., today. It never really gets dark here at this time of year; that's our compensation for the long, cold and dark winters. Mr. Sun is our friend!

* * * * *

There's little local news of any interest outside the Anchorage city limits, so I won't bore you with the minutiae.

My wife and younger daughter - inveterate shoppers, both of them - are headed off to a sale at Kohl's. I won't be joining them, choosing to remain outside, elsewhere, enjoying the wonderful weather.

North Korea's continuing missile tests are making some Alaskans a bit jittery, according to the local paper. That's our Daily News, flogging the painfully obvious. And for this, they charge money.

The rest of the paper is filled with information I read online, yesterday. I don't think we'll bother picking up the paper anymore, although my wife is concerned about losing the sale flyers. Okay, so maybe just the Sunday news.

* * * * *

I'm not seeing the large crowds of tourists, nor the heretofore-inevitable caravans of buses, this year. I really feel sorry for the businesses that are dependent on the tourist trade - it's going to be a very tough year for the merchants & businesses downtown.

One thing I'm hearing consistently, though, is the secession movement quietly gathering support. It wouldn't surprise me, and it could be a good thing for Alaska ... eventually. For one thing, we'd open up ANWR and the off-shore areas for drilling. No one can tell me it would be a bad thing (for us, and for the other States) to triple our oil output.

That's it for now. Thanks for taking the time to come by - have a great day.