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

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 3 of 31 nights at Nar'yan-Mar have civil darkness, and 47% of past May days reached Kp 3.

How dark is Nar'yan-Mar in May?

Nar'yan-Mar averages 0.1 hours of civil night a night in May 2027, from 1 h 56 min on the 1st to 0 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Nar'yan-Mar in May?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Nar'yan-Mar's 1 degree cell 78% mean cloud in May, against 77% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

By darkness and moon alone, May 1, with 1 h 56 min 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 May or June better in Nar'yan-Mar?

By civil night times the clear share, May scores 0.0 hours at Nar'yan-Mar and June 0.0. They are level.

Nar'yan-Mar · May 2027

Northern lights in Nar'yan-Mar in May 2027

Answer

May gives Nar'yan-Mar 0.0 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 10th darkest of its 12 months, under 78% mean cloud. 47% of May days since 1996 reached Kp 3, enough for the oval edge to reach Nar'yan-Mar.

0.1 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 67.64, 53.00; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

May 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

May cloud at Nar'yan-Mar averages 78% 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, May scores 0.0 hours at Nar'yan-Mar, 10th of 12. Narian-Mar, 5 km away, averages the same 78%.

Civil night at Nar'yan-Mar starts May at 1 h 56 min and reaches 0 min by May 31, 1.9 hours shorter. 28 Nar'yan-Mar nights this month have no civil darkness at all. No night keeps the 10 PM to 2 AM window fully dark at Nar'yan-Mar. The sun never reaches 18 degrees down, so Nar'yan-Mar gets no astronomical night in May.

May night by night

May opens toward a new moon on May 6, with full moon on May 20, in Europe/Moscow dates. Nar'yan-Mar gets 4 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: May 1 (1 h 56 min), May 2 (1 h 26 min), May 3 (40 min).

1
22% lit
1.9 h
2
15% lit
1.4 h
3
8% lit
0.7 h
4
3% lit
no night
5
1% lit
no night
6
0% lit
no night
New
7
3% lit
no night
8
8% lit
no night
9
15% lit
no night
10
25% lit
no night
11
35% lit
no night
12
46% lit
no night
13
58% lit
no night
14
69% lit
no night
15
78% lit
no night
16
86% lit
no night
17
93% lit
no night
18
97% lit
no night
19
99% lit
no night
20
100% lit
no night
Full
21
98% lit
no night
22
94% lit
no night
23
89% lit
no night
24
82% lit
no night
25
75% lit
no night
26
66% lit
no night
27
57% lit
no night
28
47% lit
no night
29
38% lit
no night
30
28% lit
no night
31
19% lit
no night

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 Mays

Nar'yan-Mar needs Kp 3 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 436 of the 930 May days from 1996 to 2025 (47%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 9th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 10%. 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.

May across Russia

Nar'yan-Mar ranks 8th in Russia for civil night on May 15, behind Velikiy Novgorod at 5.0 hours. Coming from April (5.8 hours at Nar'yan-Mar), May loses darkness, and June holds about the same.

Civil night on May 15 and May cloud, month-page towns in Russia
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Velikiy Novgorod	5.0 h	61%
Saint Petersburg	4.5 h	63%
Kolpino	4.5 h	63%
Syktyvkar	3.6 h	66%
Petrozavodsk	3.5 h	73%
Noyabrsk	2.5 h	74%
Ukhta	2.1 h	68%
Nar'yan-Mar	0.0 h	78%
Arkhangel'sk	0.0 h	70%
Murmansk	0.0 h	81%
Severodvinsk	0.0 h	71%
Norilsk	0.0 h	68%

Darkness and moon, every night

Nar'yan-Mar, May 2027: each night from local noon to the next noon
Night	Civil	Moon-free dark	Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM	Moon lit
Sat May 1	1 h 56 min	1 h 56 min	1 h 56 min	22%
Sun May 2	1 h 26 min	1 h 26 min	1 h 26 min	15%
Mon May 3	40 min	40 min	40 min	8%
Tue May 4	0 min	0 min	0 min	3%
Wed May 5	0 min	0 min	0 min	1%
Thu May 6	0 min	0 min	0 min	0%
Fri May 7	0 min	0 min	0 min	3%
Sat May 8	0 min	0 min	0 min	8%
Sun May 9	0 min	0 min	0 min	15%
Mon May 10	0 min	0 min	0 min	25%
Tue May 11	0 min	0 min	0 min	35%
Wed May 12	0 min	0 min	0 min	46%
Thu May 13	0 min	0 min	0 min	58%
Fri May 14	0 min	0 min	0 min	69%
Sat May 15	0 min	0 min	0 min	78%
Sun May 16	0 min	0 min	0 min	86%
Mon May 17	0 min	0 min	0 min	93%
Tue May 18	0 min	0 min	0 min	97%
Wed May 19	0 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Thu May 20	0 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Fri May 21	0 min	0 min	0 min	98%
Sat May 22	0 min	0 min	0 min	94%
Sun May 23	0 min	0 min	0 min	89%
Mon May 24	0 min	0 min	0 min	82%
Tue May 25	0 min	0 min	0 min	75%
Wed May 26	0 min	0 min	0 min	66%
Thu May 27	0 min	0 min	0 min	57%
Fri May 28	0 min	0 min	0 min	47%
Sat May 29	0 min	0 min	0 min	38%
Sun May 30	0 min	0 min	0 min	28%
Mon May 31	0 min	0 min	0 min	19%

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 May?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 3 of 31 nights at Nar'yan-Mar have civil darkness, and 47% of past May days reached Kp 3.
How dark is Nar'yan-Mar in May?: Nar'yan-Mar averages 0.1 hours of civil night a night in May 2027, from 1 h 56 min on the 1st to 0 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Nar'yan-Mar in May?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Nar'yan-Mar's 1 degree cell 78% mean cloud in May, against 77% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in May 2027 for aurora in Nar'yan-Mar?: By darkness and moon alone, May 1, with 1 h 56 min 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 May or June better in Nar'yan-Mar?: By civil night times the clear share, May scores 0.0 hours at Nar'yan-Mar and June 0.0. They are level.

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.