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

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 23 of 31 nights at Nar'yan-Mar have civil darkness, and 48% of past August days reached Kp 3.

How dark is Nar'yan-Mar in August?

Nar'yan-Mar averages 3.1 hours of civil night a night in August 2027, from 0 min on the 1st to 6 h 28 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Nar'yan-Mar in August?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Nar'yan-Mar's 1 degree cell 79% mean cloud in August, against 77% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

By darkness and moon alone, Aug 30, 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 August or September better in Nar'yan-Mar?

By civil night times the clear share, August scores 0.7 hours at Nar'yan-Mar and September 1.8. September comes out ahead.

Nar'yan-Mar · August 2027

Northern lights in Nar'yan-Mar in August 2027

Answer

August gives Nar'yan-Mar 3.4 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 9th darkest of its 12 months, under 79% mean cloud. 48% of August days since 1996 reached Kp 3, enough for the oval edge to reach Nar'yan-Mar.

3.1 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 67.64, 53.00; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

August 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

August cloud at Nar'yan-Mar averages 79% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 2 points cloudier than its yearly mean. January is Nar'yan-Mar's clearest month at 70%. By civil night times clear sky, August scores 0.7 hours at Nar'yan-Mar, 9th of 12. Narian-Mar, 5 km away, averages the same 79%.

Civil night at Nar'yan-Mar starts August at 0 min and reaches 6 h 28 min by August 31 as the nights lengthen by 6.5 hours. 8 Nar'yan-Mar nights this month have no civil darkness at all. The 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on 9 of 31 nights. The sun never reaches 18 degrees down, so Nar'yan-Mar gets no astronomical night in August.

August night by night

August opens toward a new moon on Aug 2 and Aug 31, with full moon on Aug 17, in Europe/Moscow dates. Nar'yan-Mar gets 30 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 30 (4 h), Aug 31 (4 h), Aug 14 (3 h 2 min).

1
0% lit
no night
2
0% lit
no night
New
3
3% lit
no night
4
9% lit
no night
5
17% lit
no night
6
26% lit
no night
7
36% lit
no night
8
47% lit
no night
9
57% lit
0.9 h
10
67% lit
1.6 h
11
76% lit
2.0 h
12
83% lit
2.4 h
13
90% lit
2.7 h
14
95% lit
3.0 h
15
98% lit
0.5 h
16
100% lit
0.0 h
17
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
18
98% lit
0.0 h
19
94% lit
0.0 h
20
88% lit
0.0 h
21
81% lit
0.0 h
22
73% lit
0.0 h
23
63% lit
0.0 h
24
53% lit
0.0 h
25
42% lit
0.0 h
26
31% lit
0.0 h
27
21% lit
0.0 h
28
12% lit
0.0 h
29
5% lit
4.2 h
30
1% lit
6.3 h
31
0% lit
6.5 h
New

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

Nar'yan-Mar needs Kp 3 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 444 of the 930 August days from 1996 to 2025 (48%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 7th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 11%. 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.

August across Russia

Nar'yan-Mar ranks 15th in Russia for civil night on August 15, behind Velikiy Novgorod at 6.9 hours. Coming from July (0.0 hours at Nar'yan-Mar), August adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into September (8.7 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%
Kandalaksha	3.7 h	78%
Nar'yan-Mar	3.4 h	79%

Darkness and moon, every night

Nar'yan-Mar, 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	0%
Mon Aug 2	0 min	0 min	0 min	0%
Tue Aug 3	0 min	0 min	0 min	3%
Wed Aug 4	0 min	0 min	0 min	9%
Thu Aug 5	0 min	0 min	0 min	17%
Fri Aug 6	0 min	0 min	0 min	26%
Sat Aug 7	0 min	0 min	0 min	36%
Sun Aug 8	0 min	0 min	0 min	47%
Mon Aug 9	55 min	55 min	55 min	57%
Tue Aug 10	1 h 34 min	1 h 34 min	1 h 34 min	67%
Wed Aug 11	2 h 1 min	2 h 1 min	2 h 1 min	76%
Thu Aug 12	2 h 24 min	2 h 24 min	2 h 24 min	83%
Fri Aug 13	2 h 44 min	2 h 44 min	2 h 44 min	90%
Sat Aug 14	3 h 2 min	3 h 2 min	3 h 2 min	95%
Sun Aug 15	3 h 18 min	31 min	31 min	98%
Mon Aug 16	3 h 33 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Tue Aug 17	3 h 48 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Wed Aug 18	4 h 2 min	0 min	0 min	98%
Thu Aug 19	4 h 15 min	0 min	0 min	94%
Fri Aug 20	4 h 28 min	0 min	0 min	88%
Sat Aug 21	4 h 40 min	0 min	0 min	81%
Sun Aug 22	4 h 52 min	0 min	0 min	73%
Mon Aug 23	5 h 4 min	0 min	0 min	63%
Tue Aug 24	5 h 15 min	0 min	0 min	53%
Wed Aug 25	5 h 26 min	0 min	0 min	42%
Thu Aug 26	5 h 37 min	0 min	0 min	31%
Fri Aug 27	5 h 47 min	0 min	0 min	21%
Sat Aug 28	5 h 58 min	0 min	0 min	12%
Sun Aug 29	6 h 8 min	4 h 9 min	2 h 34 min	5%
Mon Aug 30	6 h 18 min	6 h 18 min	4 h	1%
Tue Aug 31	6 h 28 min	6 h 28 min	4 h	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 Nar'yan-Mar in August?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 23 of 31 nights at Nar'yan-Mar have civil darkness, and 48% of past August days reached Kp 3.
How dark is Nar'yan-Mar in August?: Nar'yan-Mar averages 3.1 hours of civil night a night in August 2027, from 0 min on the 1st to 6 h 28 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Nar'yan-Mar in August?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Nar'yan-Mar's 1 degree cell 79% mean cloud in August, against 77% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in August 2027 for aurora in Nar'yan-Mar?: By darkness and moon alone, Aug 30, 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 August or September better in Nar'yan-Mar?: By civil night times the clear share, August scores 0.7 hours at Nar'yan-Mar and September 1.8. 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.