Night sky tonight in Virginia

Tonight's score out of 10 and the best hours for each Virginia city we cover, worked out for its own position and time zone. Open a city for the full forecast: the Moon, planets, meteor showers, northern lights, ISS passes and clouds.

Cities in Virginia

City	Tonight	Best time	Northern lights need
Virginia Beach	…	…	Kp 7.8
Richmond	…	…	Kp 7.7
Newport News	…	…	Kp 7.8
Suffolk	…	…	Kp 7.8
Roanoke	…	…	Kp 7.7
Lynchburg	…	…	Kp 7.7
Harrisonburg	…	…	Kp 7.5

Scores before clouds; each city page adds the National Weather Service cloud forecast. Northern lights: see tonight's aurora outlook for Virginia.

Darkness across Virginia

How early it gets dark in midwinter and how short the summer nights get, city by city, and how far each city is from the nearest certified dark-sky place.

City	Sunset Dec 15	Full darkness Dec 15	Sunset Jun 15	Full darkness Jun 15	Nearest dark-sky place
Virginia Beach	4:49 PM	11.3 h	8:25 PM	5.6 h	Staunton River State Park, 147 mi W
Richmond	4:53 PM	11.3 h	8:33 PM	5.5 h	James River State Park, 73 mi W
Newport News	4:50 PM	11.3 h	8:28 PM	5.5 h	Staunton River State Park, 122 mi W
Suffolk	4:52 PM	11.3 h	8:27 PM	5.6 h	Staunton River State Park, 113 mi W
Roanoke	5:03 PM	11.3 h	8:42 PM	5.5 h	Natural Bridge State Park, 33 mi NE
Lynchburg	5:00 PM	11.3 h	8:39 PM	5.5 h	Natural Bridge State Park, 25 mi NW
Harrisonburg	4:56 PM	11.3 h	8:41 PM	5.3 h	Rappahannock County Park, 43 mi NE

Moon-free nights in Virginia, month by month

The runs of nights when the Moon is down for most of full darkness, worked out for Virginia Beach; across the state the dates shift by a night at most.

November 2026: Nov 3–15
December 2026: Dec 2–14, Dec 31
January 2027: Jan 1–13, Jan 29–31
February 2027: Feb 1–11, Feb 27–28
March 2027: Mar 1–12, Mar 28–31
April 2027: Apr 1–10, Apr 27–30
May 2027: May 1–9, May 28–31
June 2027: Jun 1–8, Jun 29–30
July 2027: Jul 1–10, Jul 29–31
August 2027: Aug 1–9, Aug 27–31
September 2027: Sep 1–7, Sep 25–30
October 2027: Oct 1–6, Oct 24–31
November 2027: Nov 1–4, Nov 22–30
December 2027: Dec 1–3, Dec 21–31

Dark-sky places in Virginia

James River State Park: International Dark Sky Park (2019)
Natural Bridge State Park: International Dark Sky Park (2021)
Observatory Park at Turner Farm: Urban Night Sky Place (2024)
Rappahannock County Park: International Dark Sky Park (2019)
Sky Meadows State Park: International Dark Sky Park (2021)
Staunton River State Park: International Dark Sky Park (2015)

Descriptions and moon-free weekends

Eclipses visible in Virginia

All states