Can you see the northern lights in Salekhard in August?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 27 of 31 nights at Salekhard have civil darkness, and 23% of past August days reached Kp 4.

How dark is Salekhard in August?

Salekhard averages 3.8 hours of civil night a night in August 2027, from 0 min on the 1st to 6 h 47 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Salekhard in August?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Salekhard's 1 degree cell 77% mean cloud in August, against 70% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

By darkness and moon alone, Aug 30, 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 August or September better in Salekhard?

By civil night times the clear share, August scores 0.9 hours at Salekhard and September 2.0. September comes out ahead.

Salekhard · August 2027

Northern lights in Salekhard in August 2027

Answer

August gives Salekhard 4.1 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 9th darkest of its 12 months, under 77% mean cloud. 23% of August days since 1996 reached Kp 4, enough for the oval edge to reach Salekhard.

3.8 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 66.53, 66.61; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

August against the rest of the year

6.2

5.1

3.6

2.0

0.0

0.9

2.0

4.4

6.2

August cloud at Salekhard averages 77% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 7 points cloudier than its yearly mean. January is Salekhard's clearest month at 63%. By civil night times clear sky, August scores 0.9 hours at Salekhard, 9th of 12. Vorkuta, 155 km away, averages 81%, cloudier by 4 points.

Civil night at Salekhard starts August at 0 min and reaches 6 h 47 min by August 31 as the nights lengthen by 6.8 hours. 4 Salekhard nights this month have no civil darkness at all. The 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on 10 of 31 nights. The sun never reaches 18 degrees down, so Salekhard 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 Asia/Yekaterinburg dates. Salekhard gets 45 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 30 (4 h), Aug 31 (4 h), Aug 29 (3 h 49 min).

1
1% lit
no night
2
0% lit
no night
New
3
3% lit
no night
4
8% lit
no night
5
16% lit
0.8 h
6
25% lit
1.4 h
7
35% lit
1.9 h
8
46% lit
2.3 h
9
56% lit
2.6 h
10
66% lit
2.9 h
11
75% lit
3.1 h
12
83% lit
3.4 h
13
89% lit
3.6 h
14
94% lit
3.3 h
15
98% lit
0.6 h
16
100% lit
0.0 h
17
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
18
98% lit
0.0 h
19
94% lit
0.0 h
20
89% lit
0.0 h
21
82% lit
0.0 h
22
74% lit
0.0 h
23
64% lit
0.0 h
24
54% lit
0.0 h
25
43% lit
0.0 h
26
32% lit
0.0 h
27
21% lit
0.0 h
28
12% lit
1.6 h
29
6% lit
4.5 h
30
1% lit
6.6 h
31
0% lit
6.8 h
New

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

Salekhard needs Kp 4 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 215 of the 930 August days from 1996 to 2025 (23%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 7th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 11%. 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.

August across Russia

Salekhard ranks 12th in Russia for civil night on August 15, behind Velikiy Novgorod at 6.9 hours. Coming from July (0.0 hours at Salekhard), August adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into September (8.9 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on August 15 and August cloud, month-page towns in Russia
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Velikiy Novgorod	6.9 h	62%
Kolpino	6.6 h	64%
Saint Petersburg	6.5 h	64%
Syktyvkar	6.1 h	69%
Petrozavodsk	6.0 h	69%
Noyabrsk	5.6 h	71%
Ukhta	5.4 h	72%
Arkhangel'sk	5.1 h	70%
Severodvinsk	5.1 h	70%
Kostomuksha	5.1 h	71%
Anadyr	4.9 h	70%
Salekhard	4.1 h	77%

Darkness and moon, every night

Salekhard, August 2027: each night from local noon to the next noon
Night	Civil	Moon-free dark	Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM	Moon lit
Sun Aug 1	0 min	0 min	0 min	1%
Mon Aug 2	0 min	0 min	0 min	0%
Tue Aug 3	0 min	0 min	0 min	3%
Wed Aug 4	0 min	0 min	0 min	8%
Thu Aug 5	48 min	48 min	48 min	16%
Fri Aug 6	1 h 27 min	1 h 27 min	1 h 27 min	25%
Sat Aug 7	1 h 53 min	1 h 53 min	1 h 53 min	35%
Sun Aug 8	2 h 15 min	2 h 15 min	2 h 15 min	46%
Mon Aug 9	2 h 34 min	2 h 34 min	2 h 34 min	56%
Tue Aug 10	2 h 52 min	2 h 52 min	2 h 46 min	66%
Wed Aug 11	3 h 7 min	3 h 7 min	2 h 54 min	75%
Thu Aug 12	3 h 22 min	3 h 22 min	3 h 2 min	83%
Fri Aug 13	3 h 36 min	3 h 36 min	3 h 9 min	89%
Sat Aug 14	3 h 50 min	3 h 16 min	2 h 42 min	94%
Sun Aug 15	4 h 2 min	38 min	0 min	98%
Mon Aug 16	4 h 15 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Tue Aug 17	4 h 27 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Wed Aug 18	4 h 38 min	0 min	0 min	98%
Thu Aug 19	4 h 49 min	0 min	0 min	94%
Fri Aug 20	5 h	0 min	0 min	89%
Sat Aug 21	5 h 11 min	0 min	0 min	82%
Sun Aug 22	5 h 21 min	0 min	0 min	74%
Mon Aug 23	5 h 31 min	0 min	0 min	64%
Tue Aug 24	5 h 41 min	0 min	0 min	54%
Wed Aug 25	5 h 51 min	0 min	0 min	43%
Thu Aug 26	6 h 1 min	0 min	0 min	32%
Fri Aug 27	6 h 10 min	0 min	0 min	21%
Sat Aug 28	6 h 20 min	1 h 33 min	59 min	12%
Sun Aug 29	6 h 29 min	4 h 28 min	3 h 49 min	6%
Mon Aug 30	6 h 38 min	6 h 38 min	4 h	1%
Tue Aug 31	6 h 47 min	6 h 47 min	4 h	0%

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 August?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 27 of 31 nights at Salekhard have civil darkness, and 23% of past August days reached Kp 4.
How dark is Salekhard in August?: Salekhard averages 3.8 hours of civil night a night in August 2027, from 0 min on the 1st to 6 h 47 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Salekhard in August?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Salekhard's 1 degree cell 77% mean cloud in August, against 70% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in August 2027 for aurora in Salekhard?: By darkness and moon alone, Aug 30, 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 August or September better in Salekhard?: By civil night times the clear share, August scores 0.9 hours at Salekhard and September 2.0. 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.