Panorama of Fairbanks from Wilmington Tower — Watch Northern Lights Online
Fairbanks — the Northern Lights Capital of Alaska
Fairbanks is the second-largest city in Alaska after Anchorage, with a population of about 32,000 people within the city limits and nearly 96,000 in the Fairbanks North Star Borough metropolitan area. Located in the central part of the state on the 64th parallel, this city is considered one of the best places on the planet to observe the northern lights. The reason is simple: Fairbanks sits directly beneath the auroral oval — the zone of maximum concentration of northern lights in the Northern Hemisphere.
The city was founded in 1901 as a trading post during the gold rush, and today it is home to the University of Alaska Fairbanks — a leading research center established in 1917. It is at this university that the Geophysical Institute operates, producing northern lights forecasts for the entire state.
Why the lights are visible right here
The northern lights occur when charged particles from the solar wind collide with the upper layers of Earth's atmosphere. These particles are directed by the planet's magnetic field toward the poles, creating a glow at altitudes between 100 and 400 kilometers. The auroral oval is a ring-shaped zone around the northern magnetic pole where the probability of seeing the lights is highest. Fairbanks lies directly beneath this zone throughout the entire season.
The northern lights season in Fairbanks lasts from August 21 to April 21 — nine months of the year. During this period, the nights are dark enough to see the glow. The best chances of catching a bright display are from September through March, when the sky is dark for the longest period. Statistically, if you stay in Fairbanks for three nights during the season, the probability of seeing the lights exceeds 90 percent.
Climate and nature of the surrounding area
Fairbanks is the coldest city in the United States among settlements with a population of more than 10,000 people. The average January temperature is minus 22 degrees Celsius, and the absolute minimum has dropped below minus 50. Summers are short but warm — in July the average reaches plus 17 degrees. Such extremes are typical of the sharply continental climate of interior Alaska.
The surroundings of Fairbanks consist of hilly terrain covered with coniferous forest of spruce and birch, with numerous rivers and lakes. The Chena River flows through the city, emptying into the Tanana, which in turn flows into the Yukon. In the foreground of the camera, silhouettes of hills and dry vegetation are visible — a typical landscape for this region, where taiga gives way to tundra patches on higher ground.
What the webcam shows in real time
The online camera is mounted on the Wilmington Tower and aimed at the panorama of the night sky over the hilly terrain. During dark hours, stars are visible in the broadcast, and when geomagnetic activity is present, green wavy curtains of the northern lights spread across the sky above the silhouettes of the hills. In the foreground are the outlines of elevated terrain and dry vegetation, creating a sense of Alaska's wilderness.
A bright star or planet visible on the left side of the broadcast is most often Venus or Jupiter — they are clearly distinguishable in the clear northern sky. During strong displays, the green glow can fill the entire sky, transitioning into purple and pink hues at the upper edges — this occurs when nitrogen atoms are excited at high altitude.
How to know when the lights will appear
The Kp index is used to forecast the northern lights — a planetary indicator of geomagnetic activity on a scale from 0 to 9. For observation in Fairbanks, a Kp of 3 or higher is sufficient. At Kp 5, the lights are visible low on the horizon; at Kp 7 and above, they can fill the entire sky to the zenith. The Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska publishes forecasts on its website, and there are also mobile apps with notifications about increased activity.
The optimal time for observation is between 10 PM and 2 AM local time, although the lights can appear earlier. It is important that the sky is clear or at least partly clear — cloudiness is the main enemy of aurora hunting. This is exactly why a real-time webcam is so useful: you can assess the sky conditions over Fairbanks in advance without leaving your home.
Practical benefits of the broadcast
The Fairbanks webcam is not just entertainment but a practical tool for trip planning. Tourists heading to Alaska for the northern lights can check current activity and cloud cover in real time. If the camera shows a bright green glow, it is worth heading outside immediately; if the sky is clear but there are no lights yet, you can check the Kp index forecast and wait for an increase.
For Fairbanks residents, the camera is also convenient: there is no need to go out into the cold to determine whether it is worth looking at the sky right now. And for those far from Alaska, the broadcast is a chance to witness one of the most impressive natural phenomena on the planet without leaving home.
What is visible on the camera
On the broadcast from the Wilmington Tower in Fairbanks during dark hours: a night sky filled with numerous stars, silhouettes of hills on the horizon, dry vegetation in the foreground. When geomagnetic activity is present, green wavy curtains of the northern lights spread across the landscape. On the left side of the sky, a bright planet — Venus or Jupiter — is often visible. The camera operates in real time, allowing you to observe the current state of the sky over central Alaska.
