Rolleston · March 2027
Southern lights in Rolleston in March 2027
Answer
March against the rest of the year
March cloud at Rolleston averages 65% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, close to its yearly mean of 66%. July is Rolleston's clearest month at 63%. By civil night times clear sky, March scores 3.7 hours at Rolleston, 7th of 12. Seattle, 11,982 km away, averages 79%, cloudier by 14 points.
Civil night at Rolleston starts March at 9 h 48 min and reaches 11 h 20 min by March 31 as the nights lengthen by 1.5 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 8.3 hours on the 15th.
March night by night
March opens toward a new moon on Mar 8, with full moon on Mar 22, in Pacific/Auckland dates. Rolleston gets 163 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 3 (4 h), Mar 4 (4 h), Mar 5 (4 h).
- 1
38% lit
3.7 h
- 2
29% lit
4.7 h
- 3
21% lit
5.7 h
- 4
14% lit
6.8 h
- 5
8% lit
7.9 h
- 6
4% lit
9.1 h
- 7
1% lit
10.1 h
- 8
0% lit
10.2 h
- 9
1% lit
10.2 h
- 10
5% lit
10.3 h
- 11
10% lit
10.1 h
- 12
17% lit
9.7 h
- 13
26% lit
9.2 h
- 14
36% lit
8.5 h
- 15
48% lit
7.7 h
- 16
59% lit
6.6 h
- 17
70% lit
5.3 h
- 18
80% lit
4.0 h
- 19
88% lit
2.7 h
- 20
95% lit
1.4 h
- 21
99% lit
0.2 h
- 22
100% lit
0.0 h
- 23
99% lit
0.0 h
- 24
95% lit
0.0 h
- 25
89% lit
0.4 h
- 26
82% lit
0.9 h
- 27
74% lit
1.6 h
- 28
65% lit
2.4 h
- 29
56% lit
3.3 h
- 30
46% lit
4.3 h
- 31
37% lit
5.4 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 Marchs
No whole Kp puts the average oval edge over Rolleston by SWPC's rule, so the GFZ record has no threshold to count for March. Rolleston sits at 46.8 degrees geomagnetic. The lowest NOAA storm level whose typical viewing latitude reaches it is G4 (Kp = 8, including a 9-). Even Kp 9 does not put the average oval edge overhead by SWPC's rule.
March across New Zealand
Coming from February (9.1 hours at Rolleston), March adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into April (12.1 hours on the 15th). The March equinox falls on March 21, 09:25 Rolleston time, inside the weeks SWPC links with larger storms.
Darkness and moon, every night
| Night | Civil | Astronomical | Moon-free dark | Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM | Moon lit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon Mar 1 | 9 h 48 min | 7 h 23 min | 3 h 44 min | 2 h 33 min | 38% |
| Tue Mar 2 | 9 h 51 min | 7 h 27 min | 4 h 41 min | 3 h 28 min | 29% |
| Wed Mar 3 | 9 h 54 min | 7 h 31 min | 5 h 44 min | 4 h | 21% |
| Thu Mar 4 | 9 h 58 min | 7 h 34 min | 6 h 49 min | 4 h | 14% |
| Fri Mar 5 | 10 h 1 min | 7 h 38 min | 7 h 56 min | 4 h | 8% |
| Sat Mar 6 | 10 h 4 min | 7 h 42 min | 9 h 3 min | 4 h | 4% |
| Sun Mar 7 | 10 h 7 min | 7 h 46 min | 10 h 7 min | 4 h | 1% |
| Mon Mar 8 | 10 h 10 min | 7 h 49 min | 10 h 10 min | 4 h | 0% |
| Tue Mar 9 | 10 h 13 min | 7 h 53 min | 10 h 13 min | 4 h | 1% |
| Wed Mar 10 | 10 h 16 min | 7 h 56 min | 10 h 16 min | 4 h | 5% |
| Thu Mar 11 | 10 h 19 min | 8 h | 10 h 7 min | 4 h | 10% |
| Fri Mar 12 | 10 h 23 min | 8 h 4 min | 9 h 42 min | 4 h | 17% |
| Sat Mar 13 | 10 h 26 min | 8 h 7 min | 9 h 11 min | 4 h | 26% |
| Sun Mar 14 | 10 h 29 min | 8 h 11 min | 8 h 31 min | 3 h 36 min | 36% |
| Mon Mar 15 | 10 h 32 min | 8 h 14 min | 7 h 39 min | 2 h 43 min | 48% |
| Tue Mar 16 | 10 h 35 min | 8 h 18 min | 6 h 34 min | 1 h 37 min | 59% |
| Wed Mar 17 | 10 h 38 min | 8 h 21 min | 5 h 20 min | 22 min | 70% |
| Thu Mar 18 | 10 h 41 min | 8 h 24 min | 4 h 1 min | 0 min | 80% |
| Fri Mar 19 | 10 h 44 min | 8 h 28 min | 2 h 42 min | 0 min | 88% |
| Sat Mar 20 | 10 h 47 min | 8 h 31 min | 1 h 25 min | 0 min | 95% |
| Sun Mar 21 | 10 h 50 min | 8 h 35 min | 10 min | 0 min | 99% |
| Mon Mar 22 | 10 h 53 min | 8 h 38 min | 0 min | 0 min | 100% |
| Tue Mar 23 | 10 h 56 min | 8 h 41 min | 0 min | 0 min | 99% |
| Wed Mar 24 | 10 h 59 min | 8 h 44 min | 0 min | 0 min | 95% |
| Thu Mar 25 | 11 h 2 min | 8 h 48 min | 23 min | 0 min | 89% |
| Fri Mar 26 | 11 h 5 min | 8 h 51 min | 57 min | 0 min | 82% |
| Sat Mar 27 | 11 h 8 min | 8 h 54 min | 1 h 37 min | 0 min | 74% |
| Sun Mar 28 | 11 h 11 min | 8 h 57 min | 2 h 25 min | 25 min | 65% |
| Mon Mar 29 | 11 h 14 min | 9 h | 3 h 20 min | 1 h 18 min | 56% |
| Tue Mar 30 | 11 h 17 min | 9 h 3 min | 4 h 21 min | 2 h 17 min | 46% |
| Wed Mar 31 | 11 h 20 min | 9 h 7 min | 5 h 25 min | 3 h 20 min | 37% |
Questions
- Can you see the southern lights in Rolleston in March?
- On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Rolleston have civil darkness.
- How dark is Rolleston in March?
- Rolleston averages 10.6 hours of civil night a night in March 2027, from 9 h 48 min on the 1st to 11 h 20 min on the last night.
- How cloudy is Rolleston in March?
- NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Rolleston's 1 degree cell 65% mean cloud in March, against 66% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
- What is the best night in March 2027 for aurora in Rolleston?
- By darkness and moon alone, Mar 3, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Rolleston. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
- Is March or April better in Rolleston?
- By civil night times the clear share, March scores 3.7 hours at Rolleston and April 4.1. April 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.