Can you see the northern lights in Salekhard in April?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Salekhard have civil darkness, and 28% of past April days reached Kp 4.

How dark is Salekhard in April?

Salekhard averages 6.0 hours of civil night a night in April 2027, from 8 h 14 min on the 1st to 3 h 20 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Salekhard in April?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Salekhard's 1 degree cell 68% mean cloud in April, against 70% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in April 2027 for aurora in Salekhard?

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

Is April or May better in Salekhard?

By civil night times the clear share, April scores 2.0 hours at Salekhard and May 0.0. April comes out ahead.

Salekhard · April 2027

Northern lights in Salekhard in April 2027

Answer

April gives Salekhard 6.2 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 8th darkest of its 12 months, under 68% mean cloud. 28% of April days since 1996 reached Kp 4, enough for the oval edge to reach Salekhard.

6.0 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 66.53, 66.61; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

April against the rest of the year

6.2

5.1

3.6

2.0

0.0

0.9

2.0

4.4

6.2

April cloud at Salekhard averages 68% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 2 points clearer than its yearly mean. January is Salekhard's clearest month at 63%. By civil night times clear sky, April scores 2.0 hours at Salekhard, 7th of 12. Vorkuta, 155 km away, averages 75%, cloudier by 7 points.

Civil night at Salekhard starts April at 8 h 14 min and reaches 3 h 20 min by April 30, 4.9 hours shorter. The 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on 21 of 30 nights. The sun never reaches 18 degrees down, so Salekhard gets no astronomical night in April.

April night by night

April opens toward a new moon on Apr 7, with full moon on Apr 21, in Asia/Yekaterinburg dates. Salekhard gets 98 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: Apr 1 (4 h), Apr 2 (4 h), Apr 3 (4 h).

1
25% lit
8.2 h
2
17% lit
8.1 h
3
11% lit
8.0 h
4
5% lit
7.8 h
5
2% lit
7.7 h
6
0% lit
7.5 h
7
1% lit
6.9 h
New
8
4% lit
4.7 h
9
9% lit
0.0 h
10
17% lit
0.0 h
11
26% lit
0.0 h
12
37% lit
0.0 h
13
48% lit
0.0 h
14
60% lit
0.0 h
15
71% lit
0.0 h
16
80% lit
0.0 h
17
88% lit
0.0 h
18
94% lit
0.0 h
19
98% lit
0.0 h
20
100% lit
0.0 h
21
99% lit
1.2 h
Full
22
96% lit
5.0 h
23
91% lit
4.8 h
24
85% lit
4.6 h
25
77% lit
4.4 h
26
69% lit
4.2 h
27
60% lit
4.0 h
28
51% lit
3.8 h
29
41% lit
3.6 h
30
32% lit
3.3 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 Aprils

Salekhard needs Kp 4 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 251 of the 900 April days from 1996 to 2025 (28%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 4th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 12%. Salekhard sits at 59.0 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.

April across Russia

Salekhard ranks 12th in Russia for civil night on April 15, behind Velikiy Novgorod at 7.9 hours. Coming from March (10.4 hours at Salekhard), April loses darkness, and May brings shorter nights (0.0 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on April 15 and April cloud, month-page towns in Russia
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Velikiy Novgorod	7.9 h	65%
Saint Petersburg	7.7 h	66%
Kolpino	7.7 h	66%
Petrozavodsk	7.4 h	73%
Syktyvkar	7.4 h	69%
Noyabrsk	7.1 h	69%
Ukhta	7.0 h	70%
Arkhangel'sk	6.7 h	72%
Severodvinsk	6.7 h	73%
Kostomuksha	6.7 h	72%
Anadyr	6.7 h	67%
Salekhard	6.2 h	68%

Darkness and moon, every night

Salekhard, April 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
Thu Apr 1	8 h 14 min	1 h 12 min	8 h 14 min	4 h	25%
Fri Apr 2	8 h 6 min	0 min	8 h 6 min	4 h	17%
Sat Apr 3	7 h 57 min	0 min	7 h 57 min	4 h	11%
Sun Apr 4	7 h 49 min	0 min	7 h 49 min	4 h	5%
Mon Apr 5	7 h 41 min	0 min	7 h 41 min	4 h	2%
Tue Apr 6	7 h 32 min	0 min	7 h 32 min	4 h	0%
Wed Apr 7	7 h 23 min	0 min	6 h 56 min	4 h	1%
Thu Apr 8	7 h 15 min	0 min	4 h 40 min	2 h 29 min	4%
Fri Apr 9	7 h 6 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	9%
Sat Apr 10	6 h 57 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	17%
Sun Apr 11	6 h 48 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	26%
Mon Apr 12	6 h 39 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	37%
Tue Apr 13	6 h 30 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	48%
Wed Apr 14	6 h 20 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	60%
Thu Apr 15	6 h 11 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	71%
Fri Apr 16	6 h 1 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	80%
Sat Apr 17	5 h 52 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	88%
Sun Apr 18	5 h 42 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	94%
Mon Apr 19	5 h 31 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	98%
Tue Apr 20	5 h 21 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Wed Apr 21	5 h 11 min	0 min	1 h 12 min	1 h 2 min	99%
Thu Apr 22	5 h	0 min	5 h	3 h 58 min	96%
Fri Apr 23	4 h 49 min	0 min	4 h 49 min	3 h 53 min	91%
Sat Apr 24	4 h 37 min	0 min	4 h 37 min	3 h 48 min	85%
Sun Apr 25	4 h 26 min	0 min	4 h 26 min	3 h 42 min	77%
Mon Apr 26	4 h 14 min	0 min	4 h 14 min	3 h 36 min	69%
Tue Apr 27	4 h 1 min	0 min	4 h 1 min	3 h 30 min	60%
Wed Apr 28	3 h 48 min	0 min	3 h 48 min	3 h 24 min	51%
Thu Apr 29	3 h 35 min	0 min	3 h 35 min	3 h 17 min	41%
Fri Apr 30	3 h 20 min	0 min	3 h 20 min	3 h 10 min	32%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Salekhard in April?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Salekhard have civil darkness, and 28% of past April days reached Kp 4.
How dark is Salekhard in April?: Salekhard averages 6.0 hours of civil night a night in April 2027, from 8 h 14 min on the 1st to 3 h 20 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Salekhard in April?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Salekhard's 1 degree cell 68% mean cloud in April, against 70% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in April 2027 for aurora in Salekhard?: By darkness and moon alone, Apr 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Salekhard. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is April or May better in Salekhard?: By civil night times the clear share, April scores 2.0 hours at Salekhard and May 0.0. 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.