FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WFFT) — Utqiagvik, which was known as Barrow, Alaska until 2016, will not see any sunshine until late January 2021.

Utqiagvik is America’s northernmost city that is located more than 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

On Nov. 18, the city experienced a sunrise at 12:54 p.m. and the sun quickly set at 1:29 p.m. local time.

The day consisted of a whole 34 minutes of daylight and there won’t be another sunrise until Jan. 22, 2021.

At that time, the sun will rise at 1:16 p.m. and it will set at 2:02 p.m. local time, giving the city just 46 minutes of daylight.

After that, the daylight hours will quickly increase.

Could you imagine, two months of darkness?

Me either but it is common for the residents of Utqiagvik, Alaska.

The phenomenon is known as polar night.

It occurs when the Northern Hemisphere tilts away from the sun and the sun remains below the horizon during the winter months, which results in uninterrupted darkness.

It isn’t complete darkness all the time, but it will appear like a twilight as the sun sits below the horizon during the day.

The opposite happens in the summer months when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the sun.

The area will experience two months of sunshine which is known as a polar day or midnight sun.

When the sun is visible in the Arctic, it looks like it moves from left to right.

Locally, daylight hours have been decreasing since Summer Solstice or since June 20, 2020.

The daylight hours rapidly decreased in August and they will continue to decrease until Winter Solstice on December 21, 2020.

This is the shortest day of the year for Fort Wayne with 9 hour and 13 minutes of daylight.