FAIRBANKS, Alaska (NewsNation Now) — Wednesday’s sunrise in America’s northernmost city will be its last for 66 days.
The National Weather Service in Fairbanks said that when the sun sets at 1:30 p.m. Alaska Standard Time on Wednesday, it won’t rise again in the Alaskan town of Utqiaġvik until Jan. 23, 2021.
Forecasters said it’s part of a 66-day period of polar night, when the sun doesn’t rise above the horizon.
State officials said the daylight returns as the pole begins its swing back toward the sun.
The city, which was formerly known as Barrow until it was restored to its traditional Inupiaq name in 2016, also experiences more than 80 days of round-the-clock sunlight in the summer.