Can you see the northern lights in Aurora, Illinois in March?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Aurora, Illinois have civil darkness, and 0% of past March days reached Kp 8.

How dark is Aurora, Illinois in March?

Aurora, Illinois averages 11.0 hours of civil night a night in March 2027, from 11 h 42 min on the 1st to 10 h 17 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Aurora, Illinois in March?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Aurora, Illinois's 1 degree cell 64% mean cloud in March, against 59% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in March 2027 for aurora in Aurora, Illinois?

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

Is March or April better in Aurora, Illinois?

By civil night times the clear share, March scores 4.0 hours at Aurora, Illinois and April 3.7. March comes out ahead.

Aurora, Illinois · March 2027

Northern lights in Aurora, Illinois in March 2027

Answer

March gives Aurora, Illinois 11.1 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 6th darkest of its 12 months, under 64% mean cloud. 0% of March days since 1996 reached Kp 8, enough for the oval edge to reach Aurora, Illinois.

11.0 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 41.76, -88.32; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

March against the rest of the year

4.3

4.1

4.0

3.7

3.2

3.4

4.1

4.8

5.9

5.1

5.0

4.1

March cloud at Aurora, Illinois averages 64% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 5 points cloudier than its yearly mean. September is Aurora, Illinois's clearest month at 44%. By civil night times clear sky, March scores 4.0 hours at Aurora, Illinois, 9th of 12. Minneapolis, 536 km away, averages 67%, cloudier by 3 points.

Civil night at Aurora, Illinois starts March at 11 h 42 min and reaches 10 h 17 min by March 31, 1.4 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 8.9 hours on the 15th.

March night by night

March opens toward a new moon on Mar 8, with full moon on Mar 22, in America/Chicago dates. Aurora, Illinois gets 187 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
31% lit
9.3 h
2
23% lit
9.9 h
3
15% lit
10.4 h
4
9% lit
10.9 h
5
4% lit
11.2 h
6
1% lit
11.5 h
7
0% lit
11.4 h
8
1% lit
11.3 h
New
9
4% lit
10.2 h
10
9% lit
9.0 h
11
16% lit
7.8 h
12
24% lit
6.6 h
13
34% lit
5.3 h
14
45% lit
4.2 h
15
56% lit
3.2 h
16
67% lit
2.3 h
17
78% lit
1.6 h
18
87% lit
1.1 h
19
93% lit
0.6 h
20
98% lit
0.1 h
21
100% lit
0.0 h
22
99% lit
0.2 h
Full
23
96% lit
1.4 h
24
91% lit
2.6 h
25
84% lit
3.7 h
26
76% lit
4.8 h
27
67% lit
5.8 h
28
58% lit
6.6 h
29
49% lit
7.3 h
30
39% lit
7.9 h
31
30% lit
8.4 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

Aurora, Illinois needs Kp 8 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 4 of the 930 March days from 1996 to 2025 (0%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 6th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 12%. Aurora, Illinois sits at 50.6 degrees geomagnetic. The lowest NOAA storm level whose typical viewing latitude reaches it is G3 (Kp = 7). By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead only at Kp 8.

March across United States

No month-page town in United States has more civil night on March 15 than Aurora, Illinois; the national median is 11.0 hours. Coming from February (12.3 hours at Aurora, Illinois), March loses darkness, and April brings shorter nights (9.6 hours on the 15th). The March equinox falls on March 20, 15:25 Aurora, Illinois time, inside the weeks SWPC links with larger storms.

Civil night on March 15 and March cloud, month-page towns in United States
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Aurora, Illinois	11.1 h	64%
Seattle	11.0 h	79%
Minneapolis	11.0 h	67%
Buffalo	11.0 h	74%
Duluth	11.0 h	62%
Portland, Maine	11.0 h	62%
Fargo	11.0 h	66%
Juneau	10.7 h	76%
Anchorage	10.6 h	63%
Eagle River	10.6 h	63%
Fairbanks	10.4 h	51%

Darkness and moon, every night

Aurora, Illinois, 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	11 h 42 min	9 h 33 min	9 h 15 min	4 h	31%
Tue Mar 2	11 h 39 min	9 h 31 min	9 h 54 min	4 h	23%
Wed Mar 3	11 h 37 min	9 h 28 min	10 h 25 min	4 h	15%
Thu Mar 4	11 h 34 min	9 h 25 min	10 h 52 min	4 h	9%
Fri Mar 5	11 h 31 min	9 h 22 min	11 h 14 min	4 h	4%
Sat Mar 6	11 h 29 min	9 h 19 min	11 h 29 min	4 h	1%
Sun Mar 7	11 h 26 min	9 h 16 min	11 h 26 min	4 h	0%
Mon Mar 8	11 h 23 min	9 h 14 min	11 h 18 min	4 h	1%
Tue Mar 9	11 h 20 min	9 h 11 min	10 h 11 min	4 h	4%
Wed Mar 10	11 h 17 min	9 h 8 min	9 h 1 min	4 h	9%
Thu Mar 11	11 h 15 min	9 h 5 min	7 h 49 min	4 h	16%
Fri Mar 12	11 h 12 min	9 h 2 min	6 h 35 min	2 h 57 min	24%
Sat Mar 13	11 h 9 min	8 h 59 min	5 h 21 min	45 min	34%
Sun Mar 14	11 h 6 min	8 h 56 min	4 h 12 min	0 min	45%
Mon Mar 15	11 h 3 min	8 h 53 min	3 h 10 min	0 min	56%
Tue Mar 16	11 h	8 h 50 min	2 h 20 min	0 min	67%
Wed Mar 17	10 h 58 min	8 h 47 min	1 h 38 min	0 min	78%
Thu Mar 18	10 h 55 min	8 h 44 min	1 h 4 min	0 min	87%
Fri Mar 19	10 h 52 min	8 h 41 min	35 min	0 min	93%
Sat Mar 20	10 h 49 min	8 h 37 min	9 min	0 min	98%
Sun Mar 21	10 h 46 min	8 h 34 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Mon Mar 22	10 h 43 min	8 h 31 min	14 min	0 min	99%
Tue Mar 23	10 h 40 min	8 h 28 min	1 h 25 min	0 min	96%
Wed Mar 24	10 h 38 min	8 h 25 min	2 h 35 min	15 min	91%
Thu Mar 25	10 h 35 min	8 h 22 min	3 h 43 min	1 h 25 min	84%
Fri Mar 26	10 h 32 min	8 h 18 min	4 h 48 min	2 h 31 min	76%
Sat Mar 27	10 h 29 min	8 h 15 min	5 h 47 min	3 h 30 min	67%
Sun Mar 28	10 h 26 min	8 h 12 min	6 h 37 min	4 h	58%
Mon Mar 29	10 h 23 min	8 h 9 min	7 h 19 min	4 h	49%
Tue Mar 30	10 h 20 min	8 h 5 min	7 h 54 min	4 h	39%
Wed Mar 31	10 h 17 min	8 h 2 min	8 h 22 min	4 h	30%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Aurora, Illinois in March?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Aurora, Illinois have civil darkness, and 0% of past March days reached Kp 8.
How dark is Aurora, Illinois in March?: Aurora, Illinois averages 11.0 hours of civil night a night in March 2027, from 11 h 42 min on the 1st to 10 h 17 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Aurora, Illinois in March?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Aurora, Illinois's 1 degree cell 64% mean cloud in March, against 59% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in March 2027 for aurora in Aurora, Illinois?: By darkness and moon alone, Mar 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Aurora, Illinois. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is March or April better in Aurora, Illinois?: By civil night times the clear share, March scores 4.0 hours at Aurora, Illinois and April 3.7. 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.