Alaska’s Barrow Slips Into ‘Polar Night’, Beginning 65 Sunless Days

Last Updated:November 21, 2025, 02:13 IST

Utqiagvik entered polar night on November 18, facing 65 days without direct sunlight. The next sunrise is due January 22, 2026, followed by a summer of continuous daylight.

The Alaskan town of Utqiagvik (formerly known as Barrow), home to about 4,600 residents, recorded its final sunset of the year on Tuesday (November 18) and entered “polar night”. The polar night is a stretch of roughly 65 days without direct sunlight.

Situated roughly 483 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, this northernmost community in North America will remain in prolonged darkness because the Northern Hemisphere tilts away from the sun between the September and March equinoxes, causing daylight at far-northern latitudes to gradually fade and reach its extremity around the December solstice.

During this period the only light comes from faint twilight near the southern horizon, and the occasional glow of the Aurora Borealis overhead offers a small source of illumination.

The next sunrise in Utqiagvik is not expected until January 22, 2026.

Conditions during the polar night are extreme. Temperatures often fall well below zero degrees Fahrenheit, and the absence of sunlight affects daily routines for the roughly 5,000 residents.

However, the darkness is only a phase. As spring approaches, daylight gradually returns, and by mid-May the situation reverses completely. From that point until early August the sun does not set at all, creating a period of continuous daylight. This marks Utqiagvik’s bright summer season, which is the natural counterpart to its long winter night.

In India, even in the coldest places like Drass, Leh or Gulmarg, the sun always rises and sets every day. Winter days may be short, but there is never a period when the sun disappears completely. This is because India lies far from the poles, so the sun’s path is always high enough to cross the horizon.

But in places like Utqiagvik, which lies deep inside the Arctic Circle, the situation is very different. Earth’s tilt pushes the sun so low during winter that it stays below the horizon for weeks, creating the long stretch of darkness known as polar night.

The same phenomenon happens in the Southern Hemisphere, but it is even more dramatic at the South Pole. While Arctic towns face weeks of darkness, the South Pole gets a single night lasting nearly six months because it sits at the exact point where Earth’s tilt has the strongest effect. When the Arctic is dark, the South Pole is in continuous sunlight, and when the Arctic enjoys the midnight sun, the South Pole slips into its half-year night.

Shankhyaneel Sarkar

Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a Chief Sub-Editor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over seven years of experience during which he has covered se…Read More

Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a Chief Sub-Editor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has over seven years of experience during which he has covered se… Read More

Read More