Journeys

Why is it so Light Outside?

Perhaps you sheathed the front of your RV in mesh and Plexiglass to protect it from the apparent dangers of flying rocks on the North’s gravel highways, or maybe you wisely packed bug dope and citronella candles to fend off the blood-sucking hordes of mosquitoes. But the one thing you probably did not think about was the extended daylight hours in the North. Right now those little eye masks that the airlines give out on long fights – the ones promptly put away in a sock drawer and forgotten about – are looking pretty good.

Rest assured, the nickname, ‘Land of the Midnight Sun’ was not coined by some slick nineties advertising company to sell tours. At the turn of the century, an unknown explorer in the region, whoever it was, made no exaggeration when coining that term.

Yet, for all the sleepless grief the midnight sun might cause some north country visitors, it also rewards everyone with beautiful, long lingering sunsets and gorgeous, almost never-ending twilight hours. The sunlight the North might lack in winter is more than made up for during the short summer season.

The tilt of the Earth’s northern hemisphere towards the sun inspires countless midnight sun activities all over the north. It climaxes on June 21 during the summer equinox – the longest day of the year.

With the northern top of the world pointing directly toward the sun between mid-June and late July, there is little Earth for the sun to set behind. Consequently, the daylight hours are much longer. Standing on a hill in the Arctic Circle on June 21, one could watch the sun circle around overhead and never set!

From the middle of May through the end of July, the sun never officially sets in places above the 64^th parallel. In Fairbanks and Dawson City, 20 to 21 hours of sunlight are the norm in June and July.

For trivia lovers out there, most of the daylight hours are officially recognized as twilight. This state occurs when the sun dips below the horizon, but by less than six degrees, so early morning brightness – at 2 a.m. – still occurs.

For all the sun the North received in the summer, it lacks in winter. During December, the month when the sun is furthest from the North, Dawson City averages only 4.5 hours of daylight.