Cork · March 2027
Northern lights in Cork in March 2027
Answer
March against the rest of the year
March cloud at Cork averages 70% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, close to its yearly mean of 70%. April is Cork's clearest month at 66%. By civil night times clear sky, March scores 3.3 hours at Cork, 5th of 12. Limerick, 86 km away, averages 74%, cloudier by 4 points.
Civil night at Cork starts March at 11 h 51 min and reaches 9 h 49 min by March 31, 2.0 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 8.2 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/Dublin dates. Cork gets 188 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
33% lit
10.1 h
- 2
25% lit
10.7 h
- 3
17% lit
11.1 h
- 4
11% lit
11.4 h
- 5
5% lit
11.6 h
- 6
2% lit
11.5 h
- 7
0% lit
11.4 h
- 8
0% lit
11.4 h
- 9
3% lit
10.3 h
- 10
7% lit
8.9 h
- 11
14% lit
7.5 h
- 12
22% lit
6.1 h
- 13
32% lit
4.7 h
- 14
42% lit
3.4 h
- 15
54% lit
2.4 h
- 16
65% lit
1.6 h
- 17
76% lit
1.0 h
- 18
85% lit
0.6 h
- 19
92% lit
0.3 h
- 20
97% lit
0.0 h
- 21
100% lit
0.0 h
- 22
99% lit
0.0 h
- 23
97% lit
1.4 h
- 24
92% lit
2.7 h
- 25
86% lit
4.0 h
- 26
78% lit
5.3 h
- 27
69% lit
6.3 h
- 28
60% lit
7.2 h
- 29
51% lit
7.9 h
- 30
41% lit
8.3 h
- 31
32% lit
8.7 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
Cork needs Kp 6 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 30 of the 930 March days from 1996 to 2025 (3%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 6th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 12%. Cork sits at 55.0 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 6, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less.
March across Ireland
No month-page town in Ireland has more civil night on March 15 than Cork; the national median is 10.9 hours. Coming from February (12.7 hours at Cork), March loses darkness, and April brings shorter nights (8.8 hours on the 15th). The March equinox falls on March 20, 20:25 Cork time, inside the weeks SWPC links with larger storms.
Darkness and moon, every night
| Night | Civil | Astronomical | Moon-free dark | Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM | Moon lit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon Mar 1 | 11 h 51 min | 9 h 14 min | 10 h 7 min | 4 h | 33% |
| Tue Mar 2 | 11 h 47 min | 9 h 10 min | 10 h 41 min | 4 h | 25% |
| Wed Mar 3 | 11 h 43 min | 9 h 6 min | 11 h 5 min | 4 h | 17% |
| Thu Mar 4 | 11 h 39 min | 9 h 2 min | 11 h 22 min | 4 h | 11% |
| Fri Mar 5 | 11 h 35 min | 8 h 58 min | 11 h 35 min | 4 h | 5% |
| Sat Mar 6 | 11 h 31 min | 8 h 54 min | 11 h 31 min | 4 h | 2% |
| Sun Mar 7 | 11 h 27 min | 8 h 50 min | 11 h 27 min | 4 h | 0% |
| Mon Mar 8 | 11 h 23 min | 8 h 45 min | 11 h 23 min | 4 h | 0% |
| Tue Mar 9 | 11 h 19 min | 8 h 41 min | 10 h 16 min | 4 h | 3% |
| Wed Mar 10 | 11 h 15 min | 8 h 37 min | 8 h 56 min | 4 h | 7% |
| Thu Mar 11 | 11 h 11 min | 8 h 33 min | 7 h 33 min | 3 h 14 min | 14% |
| Fri Mar 12 | 11 h 7 min | 8 h 28 min | 6 h 8 min | 1 h 51 min | 22% |
| Sat Mar 13 | 11 h 3 min | 8 h 24 min | 4 h 44 min | 29 min | 32% |
| Sun Mar 14 | 10 h 59 min | 8 h 19 min | 3 h 26 min | 0 min | 42% |
| Mon Mar 15 | 10 h 55 min | 8 h 15 min | 2 h 23 min | 0 min | 54% |
| Tue Mar 16 | 10 h 51 min | 8 h 10 min | 1 h 36 min | 0 min | 65% |
| Wed Mar 17 | 10 h 47 min | 8 h 6 min | 1 h 2 min | 0 min | 76% |
| Thu Mar 18 | 10 h 43 min | 8 h 1 min | 37 min | 0 min | 85% |
| Fri Mar 19 | 10 h 39 min | 7 h 56 min | 18 min | 0 min | 92% |
| Sat Mar 20 | 10 h 35 min | 7 h 52 min | 1 min | 0 min | 97% |
| Sun Mar 21 | 10 h 31 min | 7 h 47 min | 0 min | 0 min | 100% |
| Mon Mar 22 | 10 h 27 min | 7 h 42 min | 0 min | 0 min | 99% |
| Tue Mar 23 | 10 h 22 min | 7 h 37 min | 1 h 21 min | 0 min | 97% |
| Wed Mar 24 | 10 h 18 min | 7 h 33 min | 2 h 42 min | 13 min | 92% |
| Thu Mar 25 | 10 h 14 min | 7 h 28 min | 4 h 2 min | 1 h 34 min | 86% |
| Fri Mar 26 | 10 h 10 min | 7 h 23 min | 5 h 16 min | 2 h 50 min | 78% |
| Sat Mar 27 | 10 h 6 min | 7 h 18 min | 6 h 21 min | 3 h | 69% |
| Sun Mar 28 | 10 h 2 min | 7 h 13 min | 7 h 13 min | 4 h | 60% |
| Mon Mar 29 | 9 h 58 min | 7 h 8 min | 7 h 52 min | 4 h | 51% |
| Tue Mar 30 | 9 h 53 min | 7 h 3 min | 8 h 19 min | 4 h | 41% |
| Wed Mar 31 | 9 h 49 min | 6 h 57 min | 8 h 39 min | 4 h | 32% |
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Cork in March?
- On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Cork have civil darkness, and 3% of past March days reached Kp 6.
- How dark is Cork in March?
- Cork averages 10.8 hours of civil night a night in March 2027, from 11 h 51 min on the 1st to 9 h 49 min on the last night.
- How cloudy is Cork in March?
- NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Cork's 1 degree cell 70% mean cloud in March, against 70% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
- What is the best night in March 2027 for aurora in Cork?
- By darkness and moon alone, Mar 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Cork. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
- Is March or April better in Cork?
- By civil night times the clear share, March scores 3.3 hours at Cork and April 3.0. 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.