Sioux Falls · March 2027
Northern lights in Sioux Falls in March 2027
Answer
March against the rest of the year
March cloud at Sioux Falls averages 66% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 9 points cloudier than its yearly mean. July is Sioux Falls's clearest month at 44%. By civil night times clear sky, March scores 3.7 hours at Sioux Falls, 10th of 12. Minneapolis, 319 km away, averages 67%, cloudier by 1 points.
Civil night at Sioux Falls starts March at 11 h 43 min and reaches 10 h 13 min by March 31, 1.5 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 8.8 hours on the 15th.
March night by night
March opens toward a new moon on Mar 8, with full moon on Mar 22, in America/Chicago dates. Sioux Falls gets 187 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
9.4 h
- 2
23% lit
10.0 h
- 3
15% lit
10.5 h
- 4
9% lit
10.9 h
- 5
4% lit
11.3 h
- 6
1% lit
11.5 h
- 7
0% lit
11.4 h
- 8
1% lit
11.3 h
- 9
4% lit
10.1 h
- 10
9% lit
8.9 h
- 11
16% lit
7.7 h
- 12
24% lit
6.5 h
- 13
34% lit
5.2 h
- 14
45% lit
4.0 h
- 15
56% lit
3.0 h
- 16
67% lit
2.2 h
- 17
78% lit
1.5 h
- 18
87% lit
1.0 h
- 19
93% lit
0.5 h
- 20
98% lit
0.1 h
- 21
100% lit
0.0 h
- 22
99% lit
0.3 h
- 23
96% lit
1.5 h
- 24
91% lit
2.7 h
- 25
84% lit
3.8 h
- 26
76% lit
4.9 h
- 27
67% lit
5.9 h
- 28
58% lit
6.8 h
- 29
49% lit
7.4 h
- 30
39% lit
8.0 h
- 31
30% 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
Sioux Falls needs Kp 8 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 4 of the 930 March days from 1996 to 2025 (0%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 6th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 12%. Sioux Falls sits at 51.8 degrees geomagnetic. The lowest NOAA storm level whose typical viewing latitude reaches it is G3 (Kp = 7). By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead only at Kp 8.
March across United States
No month-page town in United States has more civil night on March 15 than Sioux Falls; the national median is 11.0 hours. Coming from February (12.4 hours at Sioux Falls), March loses darkness, and April brings shorter nights (9.5 hours on the 15th). The March equinox falls on March 20, 15:25 Sioux Falls time, inside the weeks SWPC links with larger storms.
| Town | Civil night | Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Sioux Falls | 11.0 h | 66% |
| Seattle | 11.0 h | 79% |
| Minneapolis | 11.0 h | 67% |
| Buffalo | 11.0 h | 74% |
| Duluth | 11.0 h | 62% |
| Portland, Maine | 11.0 h | 62% |
| Fargo | 11.0 h | 66% |
| Juneau | 10.7 h | 76% |
| Anchorage | 10.6 h | 63% |
| Eagle River | 10.6 h | 63% |
| Fairbanks | 10.4 h | 51% |
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 43 min | 9 h 31 min | 9 h 25 min | 4 h | 31% |
| Tue Mar 2 | 11 h 41 min | 9 h 28 min | 10 h 2 min | 4 h | 23% |
| Wed Mar 3 | 11 h 38 min | 9 h 25 min | 10 h 32 min | 4 h | 15% |
| Thu Mar 4 | 11 h 35 min | 9 h 22 min | 10 h 57 min | 4 h | 9% |
| Fri Mar 5 | 11 h 32 min | 9 h 19 min | 11 h 18 min | 4 h | 4% |
| Sat Mar 6 | 11 h 29 min | 9 h 16 min | 11 h 29 min | 4 h | 1% |
| Sun Mar 7 | 11 h 26 min | 9 h 13 min | 11 h 26 min | 4 h | 0% |
| Mon Mar 8 | 11 h 23 min | 9 h 10 min | 11 h 17 min | 4 h | 1% |
| Tue Mar 9 | 11 h 20 min | 9 h 7 min | 10 h 8 min | 4 h | 4% |
| Wed Mar 10 | 11 h 17 min | 9 h 3 min | 8 h 56 min | 4 h | 9% |
| Thu Mar 11 | 11 h 14 min | 9 h | 7 h 42 min | 3 h 29 min | 16% |
| Fri Mar 12 | 11 h 11 min | 8 h 57 min | 6 h 27 min | 2 h 15 min | 24% |
| Sat Mar 13 | 11 h 8 min | 8 h 54 min | 5 h 12 min | 2 min | 34% |
| Sun Mar 14 | 11 h 5 min | 8 h 51 min | 4 h 2 min | 0 min | 45% |
| Mon Mar 15 | 11 h 2 min | 8 h 47 min | 3 h 1 min | 0 min | 56% |
| Tue Mar 16 | 10 h 59 min | 8 h 44 min | 2 h 11 min | 0 min | 67% |
| Wed Mar 17 | 10 h 56 min | 8 h 41 min | 1 h 31 min | 0 min | 78% |
| Thu Mar 18 | 10 h 53 min | 8 h 38 min | 59 min | 0 min | 87% |
| Fri Mar 19 | 10 h 50 min | 8 h 34 min | 31 min | 0 min | 93% |
| Sat Mar 20 | 10 h 47 min | 8 h 31 min | 7 min | 0 min | 98% |
| Sun Mar 21 | 10 h 44 min | 8 h 28 min | 0 min | 0 min | 100% |
| Mon Mar 22 | 10 h 41 min | 8 h 24 min | 16 min | 0 min | 99% |
| Tue Mar 23 | 10 h 38 min | 8 h 21 min | 1 h 29 min | 0 min | 96% |
| Wed Mar 24 | 10 h 35 min | 8 h 17 min | 2 h 40 min | 56 min | 91% |
| Thu Mar 25 | 10 h 32 min | 8 h 14 min | 3 h 50 min | 2 h 7 min | 84% |
| Fri Mar 26 | 10 h 29 min | 8 h 11 min | 4 h 56 min | 3 h 13 min | 76% |
| Sat Mar 27 | 10 h 25 min | 8 h 7 min | 5 h 54 min | 4 h | 67% |
| Sun Mar 28 | 10 h 22 min | 8 h 4 min | 6 h 45 min | 4 h | 58% |
| Mon Mar 29 | 10 h 19 min | 8 h | 7 h 26 min | 4 h | 49% |
| Tue Mar 30 | 10 h 16 min | 7 h 56 min | 7 h 59 min | 4 h | 39% |
| Wed Mar 31 | 10 h 13 min | 7 h 53 min | 8 h 26 min | 4 h | 30% |
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Sioux Falls in March?
- On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Sioux Falls have civil darkness, and 0% of past March days reached Kp 8.
- How dark is Sioux Falls in March?
- Sioux Falls averages 11.0 hours of civil night a night in March 2027, from 11 h 43 min on the 1st to 10 h 13 min on the last night.
- How cloudy is Sioux Falls in March?
- NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Sioux Falls's 1 degree cell 66% mean cloud in March, against 57% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
- What is the best night in March 2027 for aurora in Sioux Falls?
- By darkness and moon alone, Mar 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Sioux Falls. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
- Is March or April better in Sioux Falls?
- By civil night times the clear share, March scores 3.7 hours at Sioux Falls and April 3.8. 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.