Can you see the northern lights in Sligo in March?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Sligo have civil darkness, and 12% of past March days reached Kp 5.

How dark is Sligo in March?

Sligo averages 10.8 hours of civil night a night in March 2027, from 11 h 53 min on the 1st to 9 h 40 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Sligo in March?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Sligo's 1 degree cell 81% mean cloud in March, against 81% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

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

Is March or April better in Sligo?

By civil night times the clear share, March scores 2.1 hours at Sligo and April 2.0. March comes out ahead.

Sligo · March 2027

Northern lights in Sligo in March 2027

Answer

March gives Sligo 10.9 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 6th darkest of its 12 months, under 81% mean cloud. 12% of March days since 1996 reached Kp 5, enough for the oval edge to reach Sligo.

10.8 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 54.27, -8.47; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

March against the rest of the year

2.3

2.1

2.0

1.5

0.9

0.8

1.3

2.0

2.6

2.5

2.6

March cloud at Sligo averages 81% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, close to its yearly mean of 81%. May is Sligo's clearest month at 76%. By civil night times clear sky, March scores 2.1 hours at Sligo, 6th of 12. Belfast, 168 km away, averages 76%, clearer by 5 points.

Civil night at Sligo starts March at 11 h 53 min and reaches 9 h 40 min by March 31, 2.2 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 8.0 hours on the 15th.

March night by night

March opens toward a new moon on Mar 8, with full moon on Mar 22, in Europe/Dublin dates. Sligo gets 188 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
33% lit
10.5 h
2
25% lit
11.0 h
3
17% lit
11.3 h
4
11% lit
11.6 h
5
5% lit
11.6 h
6
2% lit
11.5 h
7
0% lit
11.4 h
8
0% lit
11.4 h
New
9
3% lit
10.2 h
10
7% lit
8.8 h
11
14% lit
7.4 h
12
22% lit
5.9 h
13
32% lit
4.4 h
14
42% lit
3.1 h
15
54% lit
2.0 h
16
65% lit
1.3 h
17
76% lit
0.8 h
18
85% lit
0.5 h
19
92% lit
0.2 h
20
97% lit
0.0 h
21
100% lit
0.0 h
22
99% lit
0.0 h
Full
23
97% lit
1.4 h
24
92% lit
2.8 h
25
86% lit
4.2 h
26
78% lit
5.5 h
27
69% lit
6.6 h
28
60% lit
7.5 h
29
51% lit
8.1 h
30
41% lit
8.5 h
31
32% lit
8.8 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

Sligo needs Kp 5 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 111 of the 930 March days from 1996 to 2025 (12%) 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%. Sligo sits at 57.3 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 5, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less.

March across Ireland

No month-page town in Ireland has more civil night on March 15 than Sligo; the national median is 10.9 hours. Coming from February (12.8 hours at Sligo), March loses darkness, and April brings shorter nights (8.5 hours on the 15th). The March equinox falls on March 20, 20:25 Sligo time, inside the weeks SWPC links with larger storms.

Civil night on March 15 and March cloud, month-page towns in Ireland
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Sligo	10.9 h	81%
Dublin	10.9 h	74%
Cork	10.9 h	70%
Limerick	10.9 h	74%

Darkness and moon, every night

Sligo, 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	11 h 53 min	9 h 7 min	10 h 28 min	4 h	33%
Tue Mar 2	11 h 49 min	9 h 3 min	10 h 59 min	4 h	25%
Wed Mar 3	11 h 44 min	8 h 58 min	11 h 19 min	4 h	17%
Thu Mar 4	11 h 40 min	8 h 54 min	11 h 33 min	4 h	11%
Fri Mar 5	11 h 36 min	8 h 49 min	11 h 36 min	4 h	5%
Sat Mar 6	11 h 31 min	8 h 45 min	11 h 31 min	4 h	2%
Sun Mar 7	11 h 27 min	8 h 40 min	11 h 27 min	4 h	0%
Mon Mar 8	11 h 23 min	8 h 35 min	11 h 23 min	4 h	0%
Tue Mar 9	11 h 18 min	8 h 31 min	10 h 13 min	4 h	3%
Wed Mar 10	11 h 14 min	8 h 26 min	8 h 50 min	4 h	7%
Thu Mar 11	11 h 10 min	8 h 21 min	7 h 23 min	3 h 5 min	14%
Fri Mar 12	11 h 5 min	8 h 16 min	5 h 54 min	1 h 38 min	22%
Sat Mar 13	11 h 1 min	8 h 11 min	4 h 26 min	12 min	32%
Sun Mar 14	10 h 57 min	8 h 6 min	3 h 6 min	0 min	42%
Mon Mar 15	10 h 52 min	8 h 2 min	2 h 3 min	0 min	54%
Tue Mar 16	10 h 48 min	7 h 56 min	1 h 18 min	0 min	65%
Wed Mar 17	10 h 43 min	7 h 51 min	48 min	0 min	76%
Thu Mar 18	10 h 39 min	7 h 46 min	27 min	0 min	85%
Fri Mar 19	10 h 34 min	7 h 41 min	11 min	0 min	92%
Sat Mar 20	10 h 30 min	7 h 36 min	0 min	0 min	97%
Sun Mar 21	10 h 25 min	7 h 31 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Mon Mar 22	10 h 21 min	7 h 25 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Tue Mar 23	10 h 16 min	7 h 20 min	1 h 25 min	0 min	97%
Wed Mar 24	10 h 12 min	7 h 15 min	2 h 50 min	23 min	92%
Thu Mar 25	10 h 7 min	7 h 9 min	4 h 12 min	1 h 48 min	86%
Fri Mar 26	10 h 3 min	7 h 4 min	5 h 30 min	3 h 8 min	78%
Sat Mar 27	9 h 58 min	6 h 58 min	6 h 37 min	3 h	69%
Sun Mar 28	9 h 54 min	6 h 52 min	7 h 29 min	4 h	60%
Mon Mar 29	9 h 49 min	6 h 47 min	8 h 6 min	4 h	51%
Tue Mar 30	9 h 45 min	6 h 41 min	8 h 30 min	4 h	41%
Wed Mar 31	9 h 40 min	6 h 35 min	8 h 46 min	4 h	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 Sligo in March?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Sligo have civil darkness, and 12% of past March days reached Kp 5.
How dark is Sligo in March?: Sligo averages 10.8 hours of civil night a night in March 2027, from 11 h 53 min on the 1st to 9 h 40 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Sligo in March?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Sligo's 1 degree cell 81% mean cloud in March, against 81% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in March 2027 for aurora in Sligo?: By darkness and moon alone, Mar 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Sligo. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is March or April better in Sligo?: By civil night times the clear share, March scores 2.1 hours at Sligo 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.