Is March good for the northern lights?

SWPC says the best seasons are around the equinoxes, and the March equinox falls this month. Darkness shrinks quickly in the far north, so earlier in the month is darker.

Which town has the longest nights in March?

Buffalo, with 11 h 3 min of civil night on March 15, 2027, of the 10 Glow towns.

When is the full moon in March 2027?

On March 22, 2027 (UTC date). Local dates can differ by a day.

Does March have an equinox or solstice?

Yes, the March equinox, on March 20, 20:25 UTC.

How many Glow towns are dark in March?

10 of 10 have civil night on March 15, 2027.

Aurora by month · 2027

Northern lights in March

Answer

March holds the spring equinox, one of the two seasons SWPC calls best for aurora watching. On March 15, 2027, Buffalo has the most civil night of the 10 Glow towns at 11 h 3 min, and Tromsø the least at 10 h 12 min. The median is 10.8 hours.

Best destinations in March

Across Glow's 168 month-page towns, Yellowknife scores highest for March at 5.4 clear-dark hours: 10.6 hours of civil night on the 15th with 49% mean cloud. The median town scores 2.9. The score multiplies civil night by the clear share of NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 cloud average; it compares places, it does not forecast.

Top 20 month-page towns for March, by civil night times clear share
Town	Country	Civil night	Cloud	Score
Yellowknife	Canada	10.6 h	49%	5.4 h
Fairbanks	United States	10.4 h	51%	5.1 h
Greater Sudbury	Canada	11.0 h	60%	4.4 h
Anadyr	Russia	10.5 h	59%	4.3 h
Winnipeg	Canada	10.9 h	61%	4.3 h
Whitehorse	Canada	10.6 h	60%	4.2 h
Duluth	United States	11.0 h	62%	4.2 h
Portland, Maine	United States	11.0 h	62%	4.2 h
Trois-Rivières	Canada	11.0 h	62%	4.2 h
Québec	Canada	11.0 h	63%	4.1 h
Anchorage	United States	10.6 h	63%	3.9 h
Eagle River	United States	10.6 h	63%	3.9 h
Saguenay	Canada	11.0 h	66%	3.7 h
Fargo	United States	11.0 h	66%	3.7 h
Norilsk	Russia	10.2 h	64%	3.7 h
Talnakh	Russia	10.2 h	64%	3.7 h
Minneapolis	United States	11.0 h	67%	3.6 h
Thunder Bay	Canada	11.0 h	67%	3.6 h
Fort McMurray	Canada	10.8 h	67%	3.6 h
Hamar	Norway	10.7 h	67%	3.5 h

All 168 towns in March

March 2027 at 10 towns

Civil night on the 1st, 15th and last night of March 2027, with astronomical night and moon-free darkness on the 15th
Town	Mar 1	Mar 15	Last night	Astronomical, 15th	Moon-free, 15th
Buffalo	11 h 43 min	11 h 3 min	10 h 15 min	8 h 50 min	3 h 7 min
Portland, Maine	11 h 44 min	11 h 2 min	10 h 13 min	8 h 47 min	3 h 4 min
Minneapolis	11 h 45 min	11 h 1 min	10 h 10 min	8 h 43 min	2 h 54 min
Duluth	11 h 46 min	11 h	10 h 5 min	8 h 36 min	2 h 44 min
Seattle	11 h 46 min	10 h 58 min	10 h 2 min	8 h 33 min	2 h 35 min
Anchorage	11 h 57 min	10 h 37 min	9 h 1 min	7 h 3 min	13 min
Yellowknife	11 h 59 min	10 h 35 min	8 h 53 min	6 h 50 min	0 min
Reykjavik	12 h 2 min	10 h 32 min	8 h 42 min	6 h 30 min	0 min
Fairbanks	12 h 1 min	10 h 27 min	8 h 34 min	6 h 17 min	0 min
Tromsø	12 h 10 min	10 h 12 min	7 h 43 min	4 h 38 min	0 min

Civil night: sun at or below -6 degrees; astronomical: -18. Each town links to its full month page with every night.

What March means for aurora

SWPC names the weeks around the spring and fall equinoxes as the best seasons for aurora, because larger storms tend to occur then. March is also when the far north loses darkness fastest; SWPC flags that caveat for travelers. Early March keeps more dark hours than late March at every far-north town on Glow.

Tromsø changes fastest across March: 12 h 10 min of civil night on the 1st and 7 h 43 min on the last night, a loss of 4.5 hours. The March equinox falls on March 20, 20:25 UTC.

The moon in March 2027

In UTC dates, the new moon falls on Mar 8 and the full moon on Mar 22. Local dates can differ by a day; each town's month page uses its own time zone.

SWPC says a full moon diminishes the apparent brightness of the aurora. Nights near the new moon give the darkest background. The moon planner shows every night of March for any coordinates, and the moon guide explains how Glow counts moon-free darkness.

Questions

Is March good for the northern lights?: SWPC says the best seasons are around the equinoxes, and the March equinox falls this month. Darkness shrinks quickly in the far north, so earlier in the month is darker.
Which town has the longest nights in March?: Buffalo, with 11 h 3 min of civil night on March 15, 2027, of the 10 Glow towns.
When is the full moon in March 2027?: On March 22, 2027 (UTC date). Local dates can differ by a day.
Does March have an equinox or solstice?: Yes, the March equinox, on March 20, 20:25 UTC.
How many Glow towns are dark in March?: 10 of 10 have civil night on March 15, 2027.

Sources and verification

SunCalchttps://github.com/mourner/suncalc
NOAA SWPC, Tips on viewing the aurorahttps://www.spaceweather.gov/content/tips-viewing-aurora
NOAA SWPC, Aurorahttps://www.swpc.noaa.gov/phenomena/aurora

Quoted figures last checked against their sources on 2026-09-30; next review 2026-12-31. Computed figures come from SunCalc and the IGRF-14 dipole as described in the methodology. Every quote is listed in the sources ledger.