Can you see the northern lights in Nar'yan-Mar in April?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Nar'yan-Mar have civil darkness, and 56% of past April days reached Kp 3.

How dark is Nar'yan-Mar in April?

Nar'yan-Mar averages 5.5 hours of civil night a night in April 2027, from 8 h 1 min on the 1st to 2 h 20 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Nar'yan-Mar in April?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Nar'yan-Mar's 1 degree cell 77% mean cloud in April, against 77% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in April 2027 for aurora in Nar'yan-Mar?

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

Is April or May better in Nar'yan-Mar?

By civil night times the clear share, April scores 1.3 hours at Nar'yan-Mar and May 0.0. April comes out ahead.

Nar'yan-Mar · April 2027

Northern lights in Nar'yan-Mar in April 2027

Answer

April gives Nar'yan-Mar 5.8 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 8th darkest of its 12 months, under 77% mean cloud. 56% of April days since 1996 reached Kp 3, enough for the oval edge to reach Nar'yan-Mar.

5.5 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 67.64, 53.00; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

April against the rest of the year

5.1

3.9

2.7

1.3

0.0

0.7

1.8

1.5

2.9

3.8

April cloud at Nar'yan-Mar averages 77% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, close to its yearly mean of 77%. January is Nar'yan-Mar's clearest month at 70%. By civil night times clear sky, April scores 1.3 hours at Nar'yan-Mar, 8th of 12. Narian-Mar, 5 km away, averages the same 77%.

Civil night at Nar'yan-Mar starts April at 8 h 1 min and reaches 2 h 20 min by April 30, 5.7 hours shorter. The 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on 18 of 30 nights. The sun never reaches 18 degrees down, so Nar'yan-Mar gets no astronomical night in April.

April night by night

April opens toward a new moon on Apr 7, with full moon on Apr 21, in Europe/Moscow dates. Nar'yan-Mar gets 89 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: Apr 1 (4 h), Apr 2 (4 h), Apr 3 (4 h).

1
25% lit
8.0 h
2
17% lit
7.9 h
3
10% lit
7.7 h
4
5% lit
7.6 h
5
1% lit
7.4 h
6
0% lit
7.3 h
7
1% lit
6.5 h
New
8
4% lit
3.8 h
9
10% lit
0.0 h
10
18% lit
0.0 h
11
27% lit
0.0 h
12
38% lit
0.0 h
13
49% lit
0.0 h
14
61% lit
0.0 h
15
71% lit
0.0 h
16
81% lit
0.0 h
17
89% lit
0.0 h
18
95% lit
0.0 h
19
99% lit
0.0 h
20
100% lit
0.0 h
21
99% lit
1.7 h
Full
22
96% lit
4.5 h
23
91% lit
4.2 h
24
84% lit
4.0 h
25
77% lit
3.8 h
26
68% lit
3.5 h
27
59% lit
3.3 h
28
50% lit
3.0 h
29
40% lit
2.7 h
30
31% lit
2.3 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 Aprils

Nar'yan-Mar needs Kp 3 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 500 of the 900 April days from 1996 to 2025 (56%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, one of the three most active months for that level; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 12%. Nar'yan-Mar sits at 61.3 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 3.

April across Russia

Nar'yan-Mar ranks 13th in Russia for civil night on April 15, behind Velikiy Novgorod at 7.9 hours. Coming from March (10.3 hours at Nar'yan-Mar), April loses darkness, and May brings shorter nights (0.0 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on April 15 and April cloud, month-page towns in Russia
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Velikiy Novgorod	7.9 h	65%
Saint Petersburg	7.7 h	66%
Kolpino	7.7 h	66%
Petrozavodsk	7.4 h	73%
Syktyvkar	7.4 h	69%
Noyabrsk	7.1 h	69%
Ukhta	7.0 h	70%
Arkhangel'sk	6.7 h	72%
Severodvinsk	6.7 h	73%
Kostomuksha	6.7 h	72%
Anadyr	6.7 h	67%
Kandalaksha	5.9 h	77%
Nar'yan-Mar	5.8 h	77%

Darkness and moon, every night

Nar'yan-Mar, April 2027: each night from local noon to the next noon
Night	Civil	Moon-free dark	Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM	Moon lit
Thu Apr 1	8 h 1 min	8 h 1 min	4 h	25%
Fri Apr 2	7 h 52 min	7 h 52 min	4 h	17%
Sat Apr 3	7 h 43 min	7 h 43 min	4 h	10%
Sun Apr 4	7 h 34 min	7 h 34 min	4 h	5%
Mon Apr 5	7 h 25 min	7 h 25 min	4 h	1%
Tue Apr 6	7 h 16 min	7 h 16 min	4 h	0%
Wed Apr 7	7 h 7 min	6 h 33 min	4 h	1%
Thu Apr 8	6 h 57 min	3 h 49 min	3 h 7 min	4%
Fri Apr 9	6 h 48 min	0 min	0 min	10%
Sat Apr 10	6 h 38 min	0 min	0 min	18%
Sun Apr 11	6 h 28 min	0 min	0 min	27%
Mon Apr 12	6 h 18 min	0 min	0 min	38%
Tue Apr 13	6 h 8 min	0 min	0 min	49%
Wed Apr 14	5 h 58 min	0 min	0 min	61%
Thu Apr 15	5 h 47 min	0 min	0 min	71%
Fri Apr 16	5 h 37 min	0 min	0 min	81%
Sat Apr 17	5 h 26 min	0 min	0 min	89%
Sun Apr 18	5 h 15 min	0 min	0 min	95%
Mon Apr 19	5 h 3 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Tue Apr 20	4 h 51 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Wed Apr 21	4 h 39 min	1 h 43 min	50 min	99%
Thu Apr 22	4 h 27 min	4 h 27 min	3 h 39 min	96%
Fri Apr 23	4 h 14 min	4 h 14 min	3 h 33 min	91%
Sat Apr 24	4 h	4 h	3 h 26 min	84%
Sun Apr 25	3 h 46 min	3 h 46 min	3 h 18 min	77%
Mon Apr 26	3 h 31 min	3 h 31 min	3 h 11 min	68%
Tue Apr 27	3 h 15 min	3 h 15 min	3 h 3 min	59%
Wed Apr 28	2 h 59 min	2 h 59 min	2 h 54 min	50%
Thu Apr 29	2 h 40 min	2 h 40 min	2 h 40 min	40%
Fri Apr 30	2 h 20 min	2 h 20 min	2 h 20 min	31%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Nar'yan-Mar in April?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Nar'yan-Mar have civil darkness, and 56% of past April days reached Kp 3.
How dark is Nar'yan-Mar in April?: Nar'yan-Mar averages 5.5 hours of civil night a night in April 2027, from 8 h 1 min on the 1st to 2 h 20 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Nar'yan-Mar in April?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Nar'yan-Mar's 1 degree cell 77% mean cloud in April, against 77% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in April 2027 for aurora in Nar'yan-Mar?: By darkness and moon alone, Apr 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Nar'yan-Mar. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is April or May better in Nar'yan-Mar?: By civil night times the clear share, April scores 1.3 hours at Nar'yan-Mar and May 0.0. April 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.