Can you see the northern lights in Aykhal in August?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 29 of 31 nights at Aykhal have civil darkness, and 11% of past August days reached Kp 5.

How dark is Aykhal in August?

Aykhal averages 4.2 hours of civil night a night in August 2027, from 0 min on the 1st to 6 h 55 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Aykhal in August?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Aykhal's 1 degree cell 71% mean cloud in August, against 62% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in August 2027 for aurora in Aykhal?

By darkness and moon alone, Aug 31, with 3 h 53 min of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Aykhal. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.

Is August or September better in Aykhal?

By civil night times the clear share, August scores 1.3 hours at Aykhal and September 2.1. September comes out ahead.

Aykhal · August 2027

Northern lights in Aykhal in August 2027

Answer

August gives Aykhal 4.4 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 9th darkest of its 12 months, under 71% mean cloud. 11% of August days since 1996 reached Kp 5, enough for the oval edge to reach Aykhal.

4.2 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 65.93, 111.48; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

August against the rest of the year

9.1

7.9

5.5

2.3

0.0

1.3

2.1

2.3

6.4

9.8

August cloud at Aykhal averages 71% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 9 points cloudier than its yearly mean. February is Aykhal's clearest month at 42%. By civil night times clear sky, August scores 1.3 hours at Aykhal, 9th of 12. Talnakh, 1,043 km away, averages 77%, cloudier by 6 points.

Civil night at Aykhal starts August at 0 min and reaches 6 h 55 min by August 31 as the nights lengthen by 6.9 hours. 2 Aykhal nights this month have no civil darkness at all. No night keeps the 10 PM to 2 AM window fully dark at Aykhal. The sun never reaches 18 degrees down, so Aykhal gets no astronomical night in August.

August night by night

August opens toward a new moon on Aug 2, with full moon on Aug 17, in Asia/Yakutsk dates. Aykhal gets 53 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: Aug 31 (3 h 53 min), Aug 30 (3 h 48 min), Aug 29 (3 h 43 min).

1
1% lit
no night
2
0% lit
no night
New
3
2% lit
0.9 h
4
7% lit
1.5 h
5
15% lit
1.9 h
6
24% lit
2.2 h
7
34% lit
2.5 h
8
44% lit
2.8 h
9
54% lit
3.1 h
10
64% lit
3.3 h
11
73% lit
3.5 h
12
81% lit
3.8 h
13
88% lit
4.0 h
14
94% lit
3.3 h
15
97% lit
0.9 h
16
100% lit
0.0 h
17
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
18
98% lit
0.0 h
19
95% lit
0.0 h
20
90% lit
0.0 h
21
83% lit
0.0 h
22
75% lit
0.0 h
23
66% lit
0.0 h
24
55% lit
0.0 h
25
44% lit
0.0 h
26
33% lit
0.0 h
27
23% lit
0.0 h
28
14% lit
1.6 h
29
7% lit
4.4 h
30
2% lit
6.7 h
31
0% lit
6.9 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 Augusts

Aykhal needs Kp 5 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 99 of the 930 August days from 1996 to 2025 (11%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 5th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 11%. Aykhal sits at 56.7 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 5, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less.

August across Russia

Aykhal ranks 12th in Russia for civil night on August 15, behind Velikiy Novgorod at 6.9 hours. Coming from July (0.0 hours at Aykhal), August adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into September (9.0 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on August 15 and August cloud, month-page towns in Russia
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Velikiy Novgorod	6.9 h	62%
Kolpino	6.6 h	64%
Saint Petersburg	6.5 h	64%
Syktyvkar	6.1 h	69%
Petrozavodsk	6.0 h	69%
Noyabrsk	5.6 h	71%
Ukhta	5.4 h	72%
Arkhangel'sk	5.1 h	70%
Severodvinsk	5.1 h	70%
Kostomuksha	5.1 h	71%
Anadyr	4.9 h	70%
Aykhal	4.4 h	71%

Darkness and moon, every night

Aykhal, August 2027: each night from local noon to the next noon
Night	Civil	Moon-free dark	Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM	Moon lit
Sun Aug 1	0 min	0 min	0 min	1%
Mon Aug 2	0 min	0 min	0 min	0%
Tue Aug 3	53 min	53 min	46 min	2%
Wed Aug 4	1 h 28 min	1 h 28 min	1 h 3 min	7%
Thu Aug 5	1 h 53 min	1 h 53 min	1 h 16 min	15%
Fri Aug 6	2 h 14 min	2 h 14 min	1 h 27 min	24%
Sat Aug 7	2 h 32 min	2 h 32 min	1 h 36 min	34%
Sun Aug 8	2 h 49 min	2 h 49 min	1 h 44 min	44%
Mon Aug 9	3 h 4 min	3 h 4 min	1 h 52 min	54%
Tue Aug 10	3 h 19 min	3 h 19 min	1 h 59 min	64%
Wed Aug 11	3 h 32 min	3 h 32 min	2 h 6 min	73%
Thu Aug 12	3 h 45 min	3 h 45 min	2 h 13 min	81%
Fri Aug 13	3 h 57 min	3 h 57 min	2 h 19 min	88%
Sat Aug 14	4 h 9 min	3 h 16 min	1 h 32 min	94%
Sun Aug 15	4 h 21 min	53 min	0 min	97%
Mon Aug 16	4 h 32 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Tue Aug 17	4 h 43 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Wed Aug 18	4 h 54 min	0 min	0 min	98%
Thu Aug 19	5 h 4 min	0 min	0 min	95%
Fri Aug 20	5 h 14 min	0 min	0 min	90%
Sat Aug 21	5 h 24 min	0 min	0 min	83%
Sun Aug 22	5 h 34 min	0 min	0 min	75%
Mon Aug 23	5 h 44 min	0 min	0 min	66%
Tue Aug 24	5 h 53 min	0 min	0 min	55%
Wed Aug 25	6 h 2 min	0 min	0 min	44%
Thu Aug 26	6 h 11 min	0 min	0 min	33%
Fri Aug 27	6 h 20 min	0 min	0 min	23%
Sat Aug 28	6 h 29 min	1 h 34 min	1 h 34 min	14%
Sun Aug 29	6 h 38 min	4 h 22 min	3 h 43 min	7%
Mon Aug 30	6 h 47 min	6 h 42 min	3 h 48 min	2%
Tue Aug 31	6 h 55 min	6 h 55 min	3 h 53 min	0%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Aykhal in August?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 29 of 31 nights at Aykhal have civil darkness, and 11% of past August days reached Kp 5.
How dark is Aykhal in August?: Aykhal averages 4.2 hours of civil night a night in August 2027, from 0 min on the 1st to 6 h 55 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Aykhal in August?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Aykhal's 1 degree cell 71% mean cloud in August, against 62% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in August 2027 for aurora in Aykhal?: By darkness and moon alone, Aug 31, with 3 h 53 min of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Aykhal. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is August or September better in Aykhal?: By civil night times the clear share, August scores 1.3 hours at Aykhal and September 2.1. September 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.