Nuuk · August 2027
Northern lights in Nuuk in August 2027
Answer
August against the rest of the year
August cloud at Nuuk averages 67% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 6 points clearer than its yearly mean. July is Nuuk's clearest month at 67%. By civil night times clear sky, August scores 1.7 hours at Nuuk, 8th of 12. Reykjanesbær, 1,405 km away, averages 81%, cloudier by 14 points.
Civil night at Nuuk starts August at 2 h 43 min and reaches 7 h 24 min by August 31 as the nights lengthen by 4.7 hours. No night keeps the 10 PM to 2 AM window fully dark at Nuuk. The sun never reaches 18 degrees down, so Nuuk 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 America/Nuuk dates. Nuuk gets 77 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 14 min), Aug 30 (3 h 10 min), Aug 29 (3 h 6 min).
- 1
0% lit
2.7 h
- 2
1% lit
3.0 h
- 3
4% lit
3.1 h
- 4
10% lit
3.4 h
- 5
18% lit
3.5 h
- 6
28% lit
3.7 h
- 7
38% lit
3.9 h
- 8
48% lit
4.1 h
- 9
59% lit
4.3 h
- 10
68% lit
4.4 h
- 11
77% lit
4.6 h
- 12
84% lit
4.8 h
- 13
91% lit
3.9 h
- 14
95% lit
1.8 h
- 15
99% lit
0.1 h
- 16
100% lit
0.0 h
- 17
99% lit
0.0 h
- 18
97% lit
0.0 h
- 19
93% lit
0.0 h
- 20
87% lit
0.0 h
- 21
80% lit
0.0 h
- 22
71% lit
0.0 h
- 23
61% lit
0.0 h
- 24
51% lit
0.0 h
- 25
40% lit
0.0 h
- 26
29% lit
0.0 h
- 27
19% lit
1.1 h
- 28
11% lit
3.7 h
- 29
4% lit
5.9 h
- 30
1% lit
7.3 h
- 31
0% lit
7.4 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
Quiet activity already puts the oval edge over Nuuk, so storm days matter more: 99 of the 930 August days from 1996 to 2025 (11%) reached Kp 5, 5th of 12 months. Nuuk sits at 72.5 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 0.
August across Greenland
Coming from July (0.0 hours at Nuuk), August adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into September (9.2 hours on the 15th).
Darkness and moon, every night
| Night | Civil | Astronomical | Moon-free dark | Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM | Moon lit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun Aug 1 | 2 h 43 min | 0 min | 2 h 43 min | 48 min | 0% |
| Mon Aug 2 | 2 h 57 min | 0 min | 2 h 57 min | 55 min | 1% |
| Tue Aug 3 | 3 h 9 min | 0 min | 3 h 9 min | 1 h 1 min | 4% |
| Wed Aug 4 | 3 h 21 min | 0 min | 3 h 21 min | 1 h 7 min | 10% |
| Thu Aug 5 | 3 h 33 min | 0 min | 3 h 33 min | 1 h 13 min | 18% |
| Fri Aug 6 | 3 h 44 min | 0 min | 3 h 44 min | 1 h 19 min | 28% |
| Sat Aug 7 | 3 h 55 min | 0 min | 3 h 55 min | 1 h 24 min | 38% |
| Sun Aug 8 | 4 h 6 min | 0 min | 4 h 6 min | 1 h 30 min | 48% |
| Mon Aug 9 | 4 h 16 min | 0 min | 4 h 16 min | 1 h 35 min | 59% |
| Tue Aug 10 | 4 h 26 min | 0 min | 4 h 26 min | 1 h 40 min | 68% |
| Wed Aug 11 | 4 h 36 min | 0 min | 4 h 36 min | 1 h 45 min | 77% |
| Thu Aug 12 | 4 h 45 min | 0 min | 4 h 45 min | 1 h 50 min | 84% |
| Fri Aug 13 | 4 h 55 min | 0 min | 3 h 55 min | 55 min | 91% |
| Sat Aug 14 | 5 h 4 min | 0 min | 1 h 50 min | 0 min | 95% |
| Sun Aug 15 | 5 h 13 min | 0 min | 8 min | 0 min | 99% |
| Mon Aug 16 | 5 h 22 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 100% |
| Tue Aug 17 | 5 h 31 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 99% |
| Wed Aug 18 | 5 h 39 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 97% |
| Thu Aug 19 | 5 h 48 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 93% |
| Fri Aug 20 | 5 h 56 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 87% |
| Sat Aug 21 | 6 h 5 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 80% |
| Sun Aug 22 | 6 h 13 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 71% |
| Mon Aug 23 | 6 h 21 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 61% |
| Tue Aug 24 | 6 h 29 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 51% |
| Wed Aug 25 | 6 h 37 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 40% |
| Thu Aug 26 | 6 h 45 min | 0 min | 0 min | 0 min | 29% |
| Fri Aug 27 | 6 h 53 min | 0 min | 1 h 9 min | 1 h 9 min | 19% |
| Sat Aug 28 | 7 h 1 min | 0 min | 3 h 40 min | 3 h 2 min | 11% |
| Sun Aug 29 | 7 h 9 min | 0 min | 5 h 55 min | 3 h 6 min | 4% |
| Mon Aug 30 | 7 h 16 min | 0 min | 7 h 16 min | 3 h 10 min | 1% |
| Tue Aug 31 | 7 h 24 min | 0 min | 7 h 24 min | 3 h 14 min | 0% |
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Nuuk in August?
- On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Nuuk have civil darkness, and 11% of past August days reached Kp 5.
- How dark is Nuuk in August?
- Nuuk averages 5.3 hours of civil night a night in August 2027, from 2 h 43 min on the 1st to 7 h 24 min on the last night.
- How cloudy is Nuuk in August?
- NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Nuuk's 1 degree cell 67% mean cloud in August, against 73% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
- What is the best night in August 2027 for aurora in Nuuk?
- By darkness and moon alone, Aug 31, with 3 h 14 min of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Nuuk. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
- Is August or September better in Nuuk?
- By civil night times the clear share, August scores 1.7 hours at Nuuk and September 2.7. 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.