Over the years, we've gotten quite a few questions on exactly what it's like on the darkest day of the year in Interior Alaska.
This winter solstice, we were blessed with a clear and cold day up here in Alaska, and took the opportunity to take some pictures of the sun in front of the Momplex from Sunrise to Sunset. None of these pictures have been altered or taken with a filter (camera on auto) so you can get the real deal.
After you read this post, you'll be wishing you worked from sunrise to sunset Alaska time! The sun is supposed to rise at about 10:30.
But we didn't see a thing until 11:40. Outside, it's the dawn before the daylight. Light enough to make your way around outside, but not bright enough to cheer you up.
And then, just peeking over the mountains,
you see a glimmer of brightness.
At noon, the sun is up.
It's bright and optimistic, despite barely clearing the mountains of the Alaska range, despite it being -20 degrees below zero (without wind chill).
With only three real hours of daylight, the sun just skims over the tops of the mountains, never rising directly overhead as it does in the summer.
Outside, it's now light, and even though the sun is so far away, and hardly directly over us, with all the snow, the sun reflects everywhere and it is bright outside.
At night with a full moon, it's bright enough to see without a flashlight, because the moonlight reflects so brightly on the snow.
We get about an hour or two of "full" sun.
If I have pictures to take, this is my only window, between 12:30 and 1:30. If we have any outdoor work to do, it's now or wait until tomorrow.
Here we are at 12:50, and the sun is already starting to go down.
And by 2:10?
The sun starts dropping behind the mountains.
And just 10 minutes later,
The sun is gone.
And it won't return for another 21 hours.
On the bright side?
Tomorrow, we'll gain a few seconds more of daylight.
Over the years, we've gotten quite a few questions on exactly what it's like on the darkest day of the year in Interior Alaska.
This winter solstice, we were blessed with a clear and cold day up here in Alaska, and took the opportunity to take some pictures of the sun in front of the Momplex from Sunrise to Sunset. None of these pictures have been altered or taken with a filter (camera on auto) so you can get the real deal.
After you read this post, you'll be wishing you worked from sunrise to sunset Alaska time! The sun is supposed to rise at about 10:30.
But we didn't see a thing until 11:40. Outside, it's the dawn before the daylight. Light enough to make your way around outside, but not bright enough to cheer you up.
And then, just peeking over the mountains,
you see a glimmer of brightness.
At noon, the sun is up.
It's bright and optimistic, despite barely clearing the mountains of the Alaska range, despite it being -20 degrees below zero (without wind chill).
With only three real hours of daylight, the sun just skims over the tops of the mountains, never rising directly overhead as it does in the summer.
Outside, it's now light, and even though the sun is so far away, and hardly directly over us, with all the snow, the sun reflects everywhere and it is bright outside.
At night with a full moon, it's bright enough to see without a flashlight, because the moonlight reflects so brightly on the snow.
We get about an hour or two of "full" sun.
If I have pictures to take, this is my only window, between 12:30 and 1:30. If we have any outdoor work to do, it's now or wait until tomorrow.
Here we are at 12:50, and the sun is already starting to go down.
And by 2:10?
The sun starts dropping behind the mountains.
And just 10 minutes later,
The sun is gone.
And it won't return for another 21 hours.
On the bright side?
Tomorrow, we'll gain a few seconds more of daylight.
Warm wishes from Alaska!