Can you see the northern lights in Salekhard in March?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Salekhard have civil darkness, and 29% of past March days reached Kp 4.

How dark is Salekhard in March?

Salekhard averages 10.3 hours of civil night a night in March 2027, from 12 h 7 min on the 1st to 8 h 22 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Salekhard in March?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Salekhard's 1 degree cell 65% mean cloud in March, against 70% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

By darkness and moon alone, Mar 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 March or April better in Salekhard?

By civil night times the clear share, March scores 3.6 hours at Salekhard and April 2.0. March comes out ahead.

Salekhard · March 2027

Northern lights in Salekhard in March 2027

Answer

March gives Salekhard 10.4 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 6th darkest of its 12 months, under 65% mean cloud. 29% of March days since 1996 reached Kp 4, enough for the oval edge to reach Salekhard.

10.3 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 66.53, 66.61; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

March against the rest of the year

6.2

5.1

3.6

2.0

0.0

0.9

2.0

4.4

6.2

March cloud at Salekhard averages 65% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 5 points clearer than its yearly mean. January is Salekhard's clearest month at 63%. By civil night times clear sky, March scores 3.6 hours at Salekhard, 5th of 12. Vorkuta, 155 km away, averages 72%, cloudier by 7 points.

Civil night at Salekhard starts March at 12 h 7 min and reaches 8 h 22 min by March 31, 3.8 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 5.8 hours on the 15th.

March night by night

March opens toward a new moon on Mar 8, with full moon on Mar 22, in Asia/Yekaterinburg dates. Salekhard gets 186 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
12.1 h
2
27% lit
12.0 h
3
19% lit
11.9 h
4
12% lit
11.8 h
5
6% lit
11.6 h
6
3% lit
11.5 h
7
0% lit
11.4 h
8
0% lit
11.3 h
New
9
2% lit
10.2 h
10
6% lit
8.3 h
11
12% lit
6.3 h
12
20% lit
3.5 h
13
30% lit
0.0 h
14
40% lit
0.0 h
15
51% lit
0.0 h
16
63% lit
0.0 h
17
73% lit
0.0 h
18
83% lit
0.0 h
19
91% lit
0.0 h
20
96% lit
0.0 h
21
99% lit
0.0 h
22
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
23
98% lit
1.6 h
24
93% lit
3.8 h
25
87% lit
7.1 h
26
80% lit
9.0 h
27
71% lit
8.9 h
28
62% lit
8.8 h
29
52% lit
8.6 h
30
43% lit
8.5 h
31
34% lit
8.4 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

Salekhard 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%. 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.

March across Russia

Salekhard ranks 12th in Russia for civil night on March 15, behind Velikiy Novgorod at 10.8 hours. Coming from February (13.7 hours at Salekhard), March loses darkness, and April brings shorter nights (6.2 hours on the 15th). The March equinox falls on March 21, 01:25 Salekhard 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%
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%
Salekhard	10.4 h	65%

Darkness and moon, every night

Salekhard, 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	12 h 7 min	7 h 59 min	12 h 7 min	4 h	35%
Tue Mar 2	12 h	7 h 51 min	12 h	4 h	27%
Wed Mar 3	11 h 53 min	7 h 43 min	11 h 53 min	4 h	19%
Thu Mar 4	11 h 46 min	7 h 35 min	11 h 46 min	4 h	12%
Fri Mar 5	11 h 38 min	7 h 26 min	11 h 38 min	4 h	6%
Sat Mar 6	11 h 31 min	7 h 18 min	11 h 31 min	4 h	3%
Sun Mar 7	11 h 24 min	7 h 9 min	11 h 24 min	4 h	0%
Mon Mar 8	11 h 17 min	7 h	11 h 17 min	4 h	0%
Tue Mar 9	11 h 10 min	6 h 51 min	10 h 9 min	4 h	2%
Wed Mar 10	11 h 2 min	6 h 42 min	8 h 18 min	4 h	6%
Thu Mar 11	10 h 55 min	6 h 33 min	6 h 17 min	2 h 6 min	12%
Fri Mar 12	10 h 48 min	6 h 24 min	3 h 28 min	0 min	20%
Sat Mar 13	10 h 41 min	6 h 14 min	0 min	0 min	30%
Sun Mar 14	10 h 33 min	6 h 4 min	0 min	0 min	40%
Mon Mar 15	10 h 26 min	5 h 54 min	0 min	0 min	51%
Tue Mar 16	10 h 18 min	5 h 43 min	0 min	0 min	63%
Wed Mar 17	10 h 11 min	5 h 32 min	0 min	0 min	73%
Thu Mar 18	10 h 3 min	5 h 21 min	0 min	0 min	83%
Fri Mar 19	9 h 56 min	5 h 10 min	0 min	0 min	91%
Sat Mar 20	9 h 48 min	4 h 58 min	0 min	0 min	96%
Sun Mar 21	9 h 41 min	4 h 46 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Mon Mar 22	9 h 33 min	4 h 33 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Tue Mar 23	9 h 25 min	4 h 20 min	1 h 33 min	0 min	98%
Wed Mar 24	9 h 18 min	4 h 6 min	3 h 46 min	1 h 34 min	93%
Thu Mar 25	9 h 10 min	3 h 51 min	7 h 6 min	4 h	87%
Fri Mar 26	9 h 2 min	3 h 35 min	9 h 2 min	4 h	80%
Sat Mar 27	8 h 54 min	3 h 19 min	8 h 54 min	4 h	71%
Sun Mar 28	8 h 46 min	3 h	8 h 46 min	4 h	62%
Mon Mar 29	8 h 38 min	2 h 40 min	8 h 38 min	4 h	52%
Tue Mar 30	8 h 30 min	2 h 17 min	8 h 30 min	4 h	43%
Wed Mar 31	8 h 22 min	1 h 49 min	8 h 22 min	4 h	34%

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 March?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Salekhard have civil darkness, and 29% of past March days reached Kp 4.
How dark is Salekhard in March?: Salekhard averages 10.3 hours of civil night a night in March 2027, from 12 h 7 min on the 1st to 8 h 22 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Salekhard in March?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Salekhard's 1 degree cell 65% mean cloud in March, against 70% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in March 2027 for aurora in Salekhard?: By darkness and moon alone, Mar 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 March or April better in Salekhard?: By civil night times the clear share, March scores 3.6 hours at Salekhard and April 2.0. 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.