Red Deer · March 2027
Northern lights in Red Deer in March 2027
Answer
March against the rest of the year
March cloud at Red Deer averages 73% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 6 points cloudier than its yearly mean. July is Red Deer's clearest month at 53%. By civil night times clear sky, March scores 2.9 hours at Red Deer, 8th of 12. Calgary, 137 km away, averages 72%, clearer by 1 points.
Civil night at Red Deer starts March at 11 h 50 min and reaches 9 h 47 min by March 31, 2.0 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 8.2 hours on the 15th.
March night by night
March opens toward a new moon on Mar 8, with full moon on Mar 22, in America/Edmonton dates. Red Deer gets 188 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
31% lit
10.3 h
- 2
23% lit
10.8 h
- 3
15% lit
11.2 h
- 4
9% lit
11.5 h
- 5
4% lit
11.6 h
- 6
1% lit
11.5 h
- 7
0% lit
11.4 h
- 8
1% lit
11.2 h
- 9
4% lit
9.9 h
- 10
9% lit
8.5 h
- 11
16% lit
7.1 h
- 12
24% lit
5.7 h
- 13
34% lit
4.3 h
- 14
45% lit
3.0 h
- 15
57% lit
2.1 h
- 16
68% lit
1.4 h
- 17
78% lit
0.9 h
- 18
87% lit
0.5 h
- 19
94% lit
0.2 h
- 20
98% lit
0.0 h
- 21
100% lit
0.0 h
- 22
99% lit
0.4 h
- 23
96% lit
1.8 h
- 24
91% lit
3.1 h
- 25
84% lit
4.4 h
- 26
76% lit
5.6 h
- 27
67% lit
6.7 h
- 28
58% lit
7.5 h
- 29
48% lit
8.1 h
- 30
39% lit
8.4 h
- 31
30% lit
8.8 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
Red Deer needs Kp 4 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 268 of the 930 March days from 1996 to 2025 (29%) 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%. Red Deer sits at 58.7 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 4, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less.
March across Canada
Red Deer ranks 8th in Canada for civil night on March 15, behind Québec at 11.0 hours. Coming from February (12.7 hours at Red Deer), March loses darkness, and April brings shorter nights (8.7 hours on the 15th). The March equinox falls on March 20, 14:25 Red Deer time, inside the weeks SWPC links with larger storms.
| Town | Civil night | Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Québec | 11.0 h | 63% |
| Greater Sudbury | 11.0 h | 60% |
| Saguenay | 11.0 h | 66% |
| Trois-Rivières | 11.0 h | 62% |
| St. John's | 11.0 h | 80% |
| Thunder Bay | 11.0 h | 67% |
| Sydney | 11.0 h | 77% |
| Red Deer | 10.9 h | 73% |
| Calgary | 10.9 h | 72% |
| Edmonton | 10.9 h | 72% |
| Winnipeg | 10.9 h | 61% |
| Saskatoon | 10.9 h | 68% |
Darkness and moon, every night
| Night | Civil | Astronomical | Moon-free dark | Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM | Moon lit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon Mar 1 | 11 h 50 min | 9 h 12 min | 10 h 21 min | 4 h | 31% |
| Tue Mar 2 | 11 h 46 min | 9 h 8 min | 10 h 51 min | 4 h | 23% |
| Wed Mar 3 | 11 h 42 min | 9 h 4 min | 11 h 12 min | 4 h | 15% |
| Thu Mar 4 | 11 h 38 min | 9 h | 11 h 28 min | 4 h | 9% |
| Fri Mar 5 | 11 h 34 min | 8 h 56 min | 11 h 34 min | 4 h | 4% |
| Sat Mar 6 | 11 h 30 min | 8 h 51 min | 11 h 30 min | 4 h | 1% |
| Sun Mar 7 | 11 h 26 min | 8 h 47 min | 11 h 26 min | 4 h | 0% |
| Mon Mar 8 | 11 h 22 min | 8 h 43 min | 11 h 11 min | 4 h | 1% |
| Tue Mar 9 | 11 h 18 min | 8 h 38 min | 9 h 53 min | 4 h | 4% |
| Wed Mar 10 | 11 h 14 min | 8 h 34 min | 8 h 31 min | 3 h 9 min | 9% |
| Thu Mar 11 | 11 h 10 min | 8 h 30 min | 7 h 7 min | 1 h 47 min | 16% |
| Fri Mar 12 | 11 h 6 min | 8 h 25 min | 5 h 41 min | 24 min | 24% |
| Sat Mar 13 | 11 h 2 min | 8 h 21 min | 4 h 17 min | 0 min | 34% |
| Sun Mar 14 | 10 h 58 min | 8 h 16 min | 3 h 3 min | 0 min | 45% |
| Mon Mar 15 | 10 h 54 min | 8 h 12 min | 2 h 5 min | 0 min | 57% |
| Tue Mar 16 | 10 h 49 min | 8 h 7 min | 1 h 22 min | 0 min | 68% |
| Wed Mar 17 | 10 h 45 min | 8 h 2 min | 52 min | 0 min | 78% |
| Thu Mar 18 | 10 h 41 min | 7 h 58 min | 30 min | 0 min | 87% |
| Fri Mar 19 | 10 h 37 min | 7 h 53 min | 12 min | 0 min | 94% |
| Sat Mar 20 | 10 h 33 min | 7 h 48 min | 0 min | 0 min | 98% |
| Sun Mar 21 | 10 h 29 min | 7 h 43 min | 0 min | 0 min | 100% |
| Mon Mar 22 | 10 h 25 min | 7 h 38 min | 24 min | 0 min | 99% |
| Tue Mar 23 | 10 h 20 min | 7 h 33 min | 1 h 46 min | 17 min | 96% |
| Wed Mar 24 | 10 h 16 min | 7 h 29 min | 3 h 7 min | 1 h 40 min | 91% |
| Thu Mar 25 | 10 h 12 min | 7 h 24 min | 4 h 26 min | 3 h | 84% |
| Fri Mar 26 | 10 h 8 min | 7 h 19 min | 5 h 38 min | 4 h | 76% |
| Sat Mar 27 | 10 h 4 min | 7 h 13 min | 6 h 40 min | 4 h | 67% |
| Sun Mar 28 | 9 h 59 min | 7 h 8 min | 7 h 28 min | 4 h | 58% |
| Mon Mar 29 | 9 h 55 min | 7 h 3 min | 8 h 3 min | 4 h | 48% |
| Tue Mar 30 | 9 h 51 min | 6 h 58 min | 8 h 27 min | 4 h | 39% |
| Wed Mar 31 | 9 h 47 min | 6 h 53 min | 8 h 45 min | 4 h | 30% |
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Red Deer in March?
- On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Red Deer have civil darkness, and 29% of past March days reached Kp 4.
- How dark is Red Deer in March?
- Red Deer averages 10.8 hours of civil night a night in March 2027, from 11 h 50 min on the 1st to 9 h 47 min on the last night.
- How cloudy is Red Deer in March?
- NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Red Deer's 1 degree cell 73% mean cloud in March, against 67% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
- What is the best night in March 2027 for aurora in Red Deer?
- By darkness and moon alone, Mar 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Red Deer. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
- Is March or April better in Red Deer?
- By civil night times the clear share, March scores 2.9 hours at Red Deer and April 2.5. 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.