Can you see the northern lights in Tri-Cities in March?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Tri-Cities have civil darkness, and 1% of past March days reached Kp 7.

How dark is Tri-Cities in March?

Tri-Cities averages 10.9 hours of civil night a night in March 2027, from 11 h 45 min on the 1st to 10 h 6 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Tri-Cities in March?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Tri-Cities's 1 degree cell 69% mean cloud in March, against 56% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in March 2027 for aurora in Tri-Cities?

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

Is March or April better in Tri-Cities?

By civil night times the clear share, March scores 3.4 hours at Tri-Cities and April 3.6. April comes out ahead.

Tri-Cities · March 2027

Northern lights in Tri-Cities in March 2027

Answer

March gives Tri-Cities 11.0 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 6th darkest of its 12 months, under 69% mean cloud. 1% of March days since 1996 reached Kp 7, enough for the oval edge to reach Tri-Cities.

10.9 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 46.25, -119.20; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

March against the rest of the year

2.9

4.0

3.4

3.6

3.4

3.7

5.4

6.2

6.3

5.3

4.0

3.2

March cloud at Tri-Cities averages 69% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 13 points cloudier than its yearly mean. July is Tri-Cities's clearest month at 26%. By civil night times clear sky, March scores 3.4 hours at Tri-Cities, 9th of 12. Seattle, 282 km away, averages 79%, cloudier by 10 points.

Civil night at Tri-Cities starts March at 11 h 45 min and reaches 10 h 6 min by March 31, 1.6 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 8.6 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/Los_Angeles dates. Tri-Cities 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
9.7 h
2
22% lit
10.3 h
3
15% lit
10.8 h
4
9% lit
11.1 h
5
4% lit
11.4 h
6
1% lit
11.5 h
7
0% lit
11.4 h
8
1% lit
11.2 h
New
9
4% lit
10.0 h
10
9% lit
8.8 h
11
16% lit
7.5 h
12
25% lit
6.2 h
13
35% lit
4.9 h
14
46% lit
3.7 h
15
57% lit
2.7 h
16
68% lit
1.9 h
17
78% lit
1.3 h
18
87% lit
0.8 h
19
94% lit
0.4 h
20
98% lit
0.1 h
21
100% lit
0.0 h
22
99% lit
0.4 h
Full
23
96% lit
1.6 h
24
90% lit
2.9 h
25
83% lit
4.0 h
26
75% lit
5.2 h
27
67% lit
6.2 h
28
57% lit
7.0 h
29
48% lit
7.6 h
30
38% lit
8.1 h
31
29% lit
8.5 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

Tri-Cities needs Kp 7 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 8 of the 930 March days from 1996 to 2025 (1%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 9th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 12%. Tri-Cities sits at 52.1 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 7.

March across United States

No month-page town in United States has more civil night on March 15 than Tri-Cities; the national median is 11.0 hours. Coming from February (12.5 hours at Tri-Cities), March loses darkness, and April brings shorter nights (9.2 hours on the 15th). The March equinox falls on March 20, 13:25 Tri-Cities time, inside the weeks SWPC links with larger storms.

Civil night on March 15 and March cloud, month-page towns in United States
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Tri-Cities	11.0 h	69%
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

Tri-Cities, 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 45 min	9 h 26 min	9 h 42 min	4 h	31%
Tue Mar 2	11 h 42 min	9 h 23 min	10 h 17 min	4 h	22%
Wed Mar 3	11 h 39 min	9 h 20 min	10 h 45 min	4 h	15%
Thu Mar 4	11 h 36 min	9 h 16 min	11 h 7 min	4 h	9%
Fri Mar 5	11 h 32 min	9 h 13 min	11 h 25 min	4 h	4%
Sat Mar 6	11 h 29 min	9 h 10 min	11 h 29 min	4 h	1%
Sun Mar 7	11 h 26 min	9 h 6 min	11 h 26 min	4 h	0%
Mon Mar 8	11 h 23 min	9 h 3 min	11 h 12 min	4 h	1%
Tue Mar 9	11 h 19 min	8 h 59 min	10 h	4 h	4%
Wed Mar 10	11 h 16 min	8 h 56 min	8 h 46 min	4 h	9%
Thu Mar 11	11 h 13 min	8 h 52 min	7 h 29 min	3 h 47 min	16%
Fri Mar 12	11 h 10 min	8 h 49 min	6 h 11 min	2 h 30 min	25%
Sat Mar 13	11 h 6 min	8 h 45 min	4 h 54 min	15 min	35%
Sun Mar 14	11 h 3 min	8 h 42 min	3 h 43 min	0 min	46%
Mon Mar 15	11 h	8 h 38 min	2 h 43 min	0 min	57%
Tue Mar 16	10 h 56 min	8 h 35 min	1 h 56 min	0 min	68%
Wed Mar 17	10 h 53 min	8 h 31 min	1 h 19 min	0 min	78%
Thu Mar 18	10 h 50 min	8 h 27 min	49 min	0 min	87%
Fri Mar 19	10 h 46 min	8 h 24 min	25 min	0 min	94%
Sat Mar 20	10 h 43 min	8 h 20 min	3 min	0 min	98%
Sun Mar 21	10 h 40 min	8 h 16 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Mon Mar 22	10 h 36 min	8 h 12 min	22 min	0 min	99%
Tue Mar 23	10 h 33 min	8 h 8 min	1 h 37 min	0 min	96%
Wed Mar 24	10 h 30 min	8 h 5 min	2 h 51 min	39 min	90%
Thu Mar 25	10 h 26 min	8 h 1 min	4 h 3 min	1 h 52 min	83%
Fri Mar 26	10 h 23 min	7 h 57 min	5 h 10 min	3 h	75%
Sat Mar 27	10 h 19 min	7 h 53 min	6 h 9 min	4 h	67%
Sun Mar 28	10 h 16 min	7 h 49 min	6 h 58 min	4 h	57%
Mon Mar 29	10 h 13 min	7 h 45 min	7 h 37 min	4 h	48%
Tue Mar 30	10 h 9 min	7 h 41 min	8 h 8 min	4 h	38%
Wed Mar 31	10 h 6 min	7 h 37 min	8 h 32 min	4 h	29%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Tri-Cities in March?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Tri-Cities have civil darkness, and 1% of past March days reached Kp 7.
How dark is Tri-Cities in March?: Tri-Cities averages 10.9 hours of civil night a night in March 2027, from 11 h 45 min on the 1st to 10 h 6 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Tri-Cities in March?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Tri-Cities's 1 degree cell 69% mean cloud in March, against 56% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in March 2027 for aurora in Tri-Cities?: By darkness and moon alone, Mar 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Tri-Cities. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is March or April better in Tri-Cities?: By civil night times the clear share, March scores 3.4 hours at Tri-Cities and April 3.6. 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.