Can you see the northern lights in Alta in March?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Alta have civil darkness, and 12% of past March days reached Kp 5.

How dark is Alta in March?

Alta averages 10.0 hours of civil night a night in March 2027, from 12 h 11 min on the 1st to 7 h 39 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Alta in March?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Alta's 1 degree cell 79% mean cloud in March, against 80% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in March 2027 for aurora in Alta?

By darkness and moon alone, Mar 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Alta. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.

Is March or April better in Alta?

By civil night times the clear share, March scores 2.1 hours at Alta and April 1.1. March comes out ahead.

Alta · March 2027

Northern lights in Alta in March 2027

Answer

March gives Alta 10.1 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 6th darkest of its 12 months, under 79% mean cloud. 12% of March days since 1996 reached storm level, Kp 5.

10.0 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 69.97, 23.27; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

March against the rest of the year

3.8

3.0

2.1

1.1

0.0

1.6

2.0

3.2

3.3

March cloud at Alta averages 79% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, close to its yearly mean of 80%. April is Alta's clearest month at 76%. By civil night times clear sky, March scores 2.1 hours at Alta, 5th of 12. Tromsø, 169 km away, averages 85%, cloudier by 6 points.

Civil night at Alta starts March at 12 h 11 min and reaches 7 h 39 min by March 31, 4.5 hours shorter. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 4.4 hours on the 15th.

March night by night

March opens toward a new moon on Mar 8, with full moon on Mar 22, in Europe/Oslo dates. Alta gets 180 hours of civil night with the moon below the horizon across the month. The best of them for moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM: Mar 1 (4 h), Mar 2 (4 h), Mar 3 (4 h).

1
34% lit
12.2 h
2
25% lit
12.0 h
3
18% lit
11.9 h
4
11% lit
11.8 h
5
6% lit
11.6 h
6
2% lit
11.5 h
7
0% lit
11.3 h
8
0% lit
11.2 h
New
9
3% lit
9.7 h
10
7% lit
7.5 h
11
13% lit
4.2 h
12
22% lit
0.0 h
13
31% lit
0.0 h
14
42% lit
0.0 h
15
53% lit
0.0 h
16
65% lit
0.0 h
17
75% lit
0.0 h
18
84% lit
0.0 h
19
92% lit
0.0 h
20
97% lit
0.0 h
21
100% lit
0.0 h
22
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
23
97% lit
2.3 h
24
92% lit
6.1 h
25
86% lit
8.6 h
26
78% lit
8.5 h
27
70% lit
8.3 h
28
61% lit
8.2 h
29
51% lit
8.0 h
30
42% lit
7.8 h
31
33% lit
7.7 h

Each cell is the night that starts on that date. Hours are civil-dark time with the moon below the horizon; the green rule scales with them. Green outline: new moon. Bone outline: full moon.

Activity in past Marchs

Quiet activity already puts the oval edge over Alta, so storm days matter more: 111 of the 930 March days from 1996 to 2025 (12%) reached Kp 5, one of the three most active months for that level. Alta sits at 67.2 degrees geomagnetic, inside SWPC's 60 to 75 degree band, where aurora can be seen on more than half of all nights. No storm is needed: by SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 0.

March across Norway

Alta ranks 20th in Norway for civil night on March 15, behind Kristiansand at 10.8 hours. Coming from February (14.1 hours at Alta), March loses darkness, and April brings shorter nights (4.7 hours on the 15th). The March equinox falls on March 20, 21:25 Alta time, inside the weeks SWPC links with larger storms.

Civil night on March 15 and March cloud, month-page towns in Norway
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Kristiansand	10.8 h	79%
Oslo	10.7 h	74%
Bergen	10.7 h	78%
Stavanger	10.7 h	80%
Drammen	10.7 h	74%
Haugesund	10.7 h	80%
Hamar	10.7 h	67%
Lillehammer	10.7 h	70%
Gjøvik	10.7 h	67%
Trondheim	10.6 h	82%
Ålesund	10.6 h	84%
Kristiansund	10.6 h	79%
Alta	10.1 h	79%

Darkness and moon, every night

Alta, March 2027: each night from local noon to the next noon
Night	Civil	Astronomical	Moon-free dark	Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM	Moon lit
Mon Mar 1	12 h 11 min	7 h 18 min	12 h 11 min	4 h	34%
Tue Mar 2	12 h 2 min	7 h 8 min	12 h 2 min	4 h	25%
Wed Mar 3	11 h 54 min	6 h 58 min	11 h 54 min	4 h	18%
Thu Mar 4	11 h 45 min	6 h 47 min	11 h 45 min	4 h	11%
Fri Mar 5	11 h 37 min	6 h 36 min	11 h 37 min	4 h	6%
Sat Mar 6	11 h 29 min	6 h 25 min	11 h 29 min	4 h	2%
Sun Mar 7	11 h 20 min	6 h 14 min	11 h 20 min	4 h	0%
Mon Mar 8	11 h 11 min	6 h 2 min	11 h 11 min	4 h	0%
Tue Mar 9	11 h 3 min	5 h 50 min	9 h 43 min	4 h	3%
Wed Mar 10	10 h 54 min	5 h 38 min	7 h 29 min	4 h	7%
Thu Mar 11	10 h 45 min	5 h 25 min	4 h 14 min	2 h 5 min	13%
Fri Mar 12	10 h 37 min	5 h 12 min	0 min	0 min	22%
Sat Mar 13	10 h 28 min	4 h 58 min	0 min	0 min	31%
Sun Mar 14	10 h 19 min	4 h 44 min	0 min	0 min	42%
Mon Mar 15	10 h 10 min	4 h 29 min	0 min	0 min	53%
Tue Mar 16	10 h 1 min	4 h 13 min	0 min	0 min	65%
Wed Mar 17	9 h 52 min	3 h 56 min	0 min	0 min	75%
Thu Mar 18	9 h 43 min	3 h 37 min	0 min	0 min	84%
Fri Mar 19	9 h 34 min	3 h 18 min	0 min	0 min	92%
Sat Mar 20	9 h 25 min	2 h 56 min	0 min	0 min	97%
Sun Mar 21	9 h 16 min	2 h 31 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Mon Mar 22	9 h 7 min	2 h 1 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Tue Mar 23	8 h 57 min	1 h 21 min	2 h 17 min	0 min	97%
Wed Mar 24	8 h 48 min	0 min	6 h 5 min	1 h 58 min	92%
Thu Mar 25	8 h 38 min	0 min	8 h 38 min	4 h	86%
Fri Mar 26	8 h 29 min	0 min	8 h 29 min	4 h	78%
Sat Mar 27	8 h 19 min	0 min	8 h 19 min	3 h	70%
Sun Mar 28	8 h 9 min	0 min	8 h 9 min	4 h	61%
Mon Mar 29	7 h 59 min	0 min	7 h 59 min	4 h	51%
Tue Mar 30	7 h 49 min	0 min	7 h 49 min	4 h	42%
Wed Mar 31	7 h 39 min	0 min	7 h 39 min	4 h	33%

Moon lit: SunCalc illuminated fraction at the middle of the 10 PM to 2 AM window.

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Alta in March?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Alta have civil darkness, and 12% of past March days reached Kp 5.
How dark is Alta in March?: Alta averages 10.0 hours of civil night a night in March 2027, from 12 h 11 min on the 1st to 7 h 39 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Alta in March?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Alta's 1 degree cell 79% mean cloud in March, against 80% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in March 2027 for aurora in Alta?: By darkness and moon alone, Mar 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Alta. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is March or April better in Alta?: By civil night times the clear share, March scores 2.1 hours at Alta and April 1.1. March comes out ahead.

Sources and verification

SunCalchttps://github.com/mourner/suncalc
NASA POWER climatologyhttps://power.larc.nasa.gov/docs/services/api/temporal/climatology/
GFZ Potsdam Kp indexhttps://kp.gfz.de/en/data
NOAA SWPC, Tips on viewing the aurorahttps://www.spaceweather.gov/content/tips-viewing-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.