Can you see the northern lights in Otradnoye in March?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Otradnoye have civil darkness, and 12% of past March days reached Kp 5.

How dark is Otradnoye in March?

Otradnoye averages 10.6 hours of civil night a night in March 2027, from 11 h 58 min on the 1st to 9 h 13 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Otradnoye in March?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Otradnoye's 1 degree cell 71% mean cloud in March, against 74% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in March 2027 for aurora in Otradnoye?

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

Is March or April better in Otradnoye?

By civil night times the clear share, March scores 3.1 hours at Otradnoye and April 2.6. March comes out ahead.

Otradnoye · March 2027

Northern lights in Otradnoye in March 2027

Answer

March gives Otradnoye 10.7 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 6th darkest of its 12 months, under 71% mean cloud. 12% of March days since 1996 reached Kp 5, enough for the oval edge to reach Otradnoye.

10.6 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 59.78, 30.82; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

March against the rest of the year

2.4

2.5

3.1

2.6

1.7

0.4

1.1

2.4

2.9

2.5

1.9

March cloud at Otradnoye averages 71% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 3 points clearer than its yearly mean. May is Otradnoye's clearest month at 63%. That makes March the best month of Otradnoye's year by civil night times clear sky, 3.1 hours. Kolpino, 13 km away, averages the same 71%.

Civil night at Otradnoye starts March at 11 h 58 min and reaches 9 h 13 min by March 31, 2.8 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 7.3 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/Moscow dates. Otradnoye gets 190 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
35% lit
11.7 h
2
26% lit
11.9 h
3
18% lit
11.8 h
4
11% lit
11.7 h
5
6% lit
11.6 h
6
2% lit
11.5 h
7
0% lit
11.4 h
8
0% lit
11.3 h
New
9
2% lit
10.2 h
10
7% lit
8.7 h
11
13% lit
7.1 h
12
21% lit
5.3 h
13
30% lit
3.6 h
14
41% lit
2.1 h
15
52% lit
1.0 h
16
64% lit
0.4 h
17
74% lit
0.1 h
18
84% lit
0.0 h
19
91% lit
0.0 h
20
97% lit
0.0 h
21
100% lit
0.0 h
22
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
23
97% lit
1.4 h
24
93% lit
3.0 h
25
87% lit
4.6 h
26
79% lit
6.2 h
27
70% lit
7.5 h
28
61% lit
8.4 h
29
52% lit
8.9 h
30
42% lit
9.1 h
31
33% lit
9.1 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

Otradnoye needs Kp 5 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 111 of the 930 March days from 1996 to 2025 (12%) 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%. Otradnoye sits at 56.5 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 5, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less.

March across Russia

Otradnoye ranks 2nd in Russia for civil night on March 15, behind Velikiy Novgorod at 10.8 hours. Coming from February (13.1 hours at Otradnoye), March loses darkness, and April brings shorter nights (7.7 hours on the 15th). The March equinox falls on March 20, 23:25 Otradnoye time, inside the weeks SWPC links with larger storms.

Civil night on March 15 and March cloud, month-page towns in Russia
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Velikiy Novgorod	10.8 h	70%
Otradnoye	10.7 h	71%
Saint Petersburg	10.7 h	71%
Kolpino	10.7 h	71%
Petrozavodsk	10.6 h	72%
Syktyvkar	10.6 h	75%
Noyabrsk	10.6 h	68%
Ukhta	10.6 h	72%
Arkhangel'sk	10.5 h	76%
Severodvinsk	10.5 h	76%
Kostomuksha	10.5 h	73%
Anadyr	10.5 h	59%

Darkness and moon, every night

Otradnoye, March 2027: each night from local noon to the next noon
Night	Civil	Astronomical	Moon-free dark	Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM	Moon lit
Mon Mar 1	11 h 58 min	8 h 45 min	11 h 39 min	4 h	35%
Tue Mar 2	11 h 53 min	8 h 40 min	11 h 53 min	4 h	26%
Wed Mar 3	11 h 48 min	8 h 34 min	11 h 48 min	4 h	18%
Thu Mar 4	11 h 43 min	8 h 28 min	11 h 43 min	4 h	11%
Fri Mar 5	11 h 37 min	8 h 22 min	11 h 37 min	4 h	6%
Sat Mar 6	11 h 32 min	8 h 17 min	11 h 32 min	4 h	2%
Sun Mar 7	11 h 27 min	8 h 11 min	11 h 27 min	4 h	0%
Mon Mar 8	11 h 21 min	8 h 5 min	11 h 21 min	4 h	0%
Tue Mar 9	11 h 16 min	7 h 59 min	10 h 14 min	4 h	2%
Wed Mar 10	11 h 11 min	7 h 53 min	8 h 41 min	3 h 59 min	7%
Thu Mar 11	11 h 5 min	7 h 46 min	7 h 4 min	2 h 25 min	13%
Fri Mar 12	11 h	7 h 40 min	5 h 21 min	46 min	21%
Sat Mar 13	10 h 54 min	7 h 34 min	3 h 37 min	0 min	30%
Sun Mar 14	10 h 49 min	7 h 27 min	2 h 4 min	0 min	41%
Mon Mar 15	10 h 43 min	7 h 21 min	59 min	0 min	52%
Tue Mar 16	10 h 38 min	7 h 14 min	25 min	0 min	64%
Wed Mar 17	10 h 32 min	7 h 8 min	7 min	0 min	74%
Thu Mar 18	10 h 27 min	7 h 1 min	0 min	0 min	84%
Fri Mar 19	10 h 21 min	6 h 54 min	0 min	0 min	91%
Sat Mar 20	10 h 16 min	6 h 47 min	0 min	0 min	97%
Sun Mar 21	10 h 10 min	6 h 40 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Mon Mar 22	10 h 5 min	6 h 33 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Tue Mar 23	9 h 59 min	6 h 26 min	1 h 26 min	0 min	97%
Wed Mar 24	9 h 53 min	6 h 18 min	3 h 1 min	1 h 7 min	93%
Thu Mar 25	9 h 48 min	6 h 11 min	4 h 37 min	2 h 45 min	87%
Fri Mar 26	9 h 42 min	6 h 3 min	6 h 10 min	4 h	79%
Sat Mar 27	9 h 36 min	5 h 55 min	7 h 31 min	4 h	70%
Sun Mar 28	9 h 31 min	5 h 48 min	8 h 26 min	4 h	61%
Mon Mar 29	9 h 25 min	5 h 39 min	8 h 53 min	4 h	52%
Tue Mar 30	9 h 19 min	5 h 31 min	9 h 4 min	4 h	42%
Wed Mar 31	9 h 13 min	5 h 23 min	9 h 8 min	4 h	33%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Otradnoye in March?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Otradnoye have civil darkness, and 12% of past March days reached Kp 5.
How dark is Otradnoye in March?: Otradnoye averages 10.6 hours of civil night a night in March 2027, from 11 h 58 min on the 1st to 9 h 13 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Otradnoye in March?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Otradnoye's 1 degree cell 71% mean cloud in March, against 74% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in March 2027 for aurora in Otradnoye?: By darkness and moon alone, Mar 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Otradnoye. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is March or April better in Otradnoye?: By civil night times the clear share, March scores 3.1 hours at Otradnoye and April 2.6. 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.