Can you see the northern lights in Valkeakoski in March?

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

How dark is Valkeakoski in March?

Valkeakoski averages 10.6 hours of civil night a night in March 2027, from 12 h on the 1st to 9 h 4 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Valkeakoski in March?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Valkeakoski's 1 degree cell 72% mean cloud in March, against 75% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

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

Is March or April better in Valkeakoski?

By civil night times the clear share, March scores 3.0 hours at Valkeakoski and April 2.0. March comes out ahead.

Valkeakoski · March 2027

Northern lights in Valkeakoski in March 2027

Answer

March gives Valkeakoski 10.7 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 6th darkest of its 12 months, under 72% mean cloud. 29% of March days since 1996 reached Kp 4, enough for the oval edge to reach Valkeakoski.

10.6 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 61.26, 24.03; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

March against the rest of the year

2.8

3.0

2.0

1.2

0.0

0.6

2.0

2.9

2.5

1.9

2.4

March cloud at Valkeakoski averages 72% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 3 points clearer than its yearly mean. August is Valkeakoski's clearest month at 67%. That makes March the best month of Valkeakoski's year by civil night times clear sky, 3.0 hours. Tampere, 29 km away, averages 69%, clearer by 3 points.

Civil night at Valkeakoski starts March at 12 h and reaches 9 h 4 min by March 31, 2.9 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 7.1 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/Helsinki dates. Valkeakoski gets 190 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
34% lit
12.0 h
2
26% lit
11.9 h
3
18% lit
11.8 h
4
11% lit
11.7 h
5
6% lit
11.6 h
6
2% lit
11.5 h
7
0% lit
11.4 h
8
0% lit
11.3 h
New
9
3% lit
10.2 h
10
7% lit
8.6 h
11
13% lit
6.9 h
12
21% lit
5.1 h
13
31% lit
3.2 h
14
41% lit
1.5 h
15
53% lit
0.5 h
16
64% lit
0.0 h
17
75% lit
0.0 h
18
84% lit
0.0 h
19
92% lit
0.0 h
20
97% lit
0.0 h
21
100% lit
0.0 h
22
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
23
97% lit
1.5 h
24
93% lit
3.2 h
25
86% lit
4.9 h
26
79% lit
6.6 h
27
70% lit
8.1 h
28
61% lit
9.0 h
29
52% lit
9.3 h
30
42% lit
9.2 h
31
33% lit
9.1 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

Valkeakoski 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%. Valkeakoski sits at 58.9 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 Finland

No month-page town in Finland has more civil night on March 15 than Valkeakoski; the national median is 10.6 hours. Coming from February (13.2 hours at Valkeakoski), March loses darkness, and April brings shorter nights (7.5 hours on the 15th). The March equinox falls on March 20, 22:25 Valkeakoski time, inside the weeks SWPC links with larger storms.

Civil night on March 15 and March cloud, month-page towns in Finland
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Valkeakoski	10.7 h	72%
Helsinki	10.7 h	69%
Espoo	10.7 h	69%
Vantaa	10.7 h	69%
Turku	10.7 h	70%
Lahti	10.7 h	69%
Tampere	10.6 h	69%
Jyväskylä	10.6 h	70%
Kuopio	10.6 h	71%
Vaasa	10.6 h	74%
Seinäjoki	10.6 h	71%
Siilinjärvi	10.6 h	70%

Darkness and moon, every night

Valkeakoski, 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	8 h 37 min	12 h	4 h	34%
Tue Mar 2	11 h 54 min	8 h 31 min	11 h 54 min	4 h	26%
Wed Mar 3	11 h 49 min	8 h 25 min	11 h 49 min	4 h	18%
Thu Mar 4	11 h 43 min	8 h 19 min	11 h 43 min	4 h	11%
Fri Mar 5	11 h 37 min	8 h 13 min	11 h 37 min	4 h	6%
Sat Mar 6	11 h 32 min	8 h 6 min	11 h 32 min	4 h	2%
Sun Mar 7	11 h 26 min	8 h	11 h 26 min	4 h	0%
Mon Mar 8	11 h 20 min	7 h 54 min	11 h 20 min	4 h	0%
Tue Mar 9	11 h 15 min	7 h 47 min	10 h 9 min	4 h	3%
Wed Mar 10	11 h 9 min	7 h 40 min	8 h 33 min	4 h	7%
Thu Mar 11	11 h 3 min	7 h 34 min	6 h 52 min	2 h 47 min	13%
Fri Mar 12	10 h 58 min	7 h 27 min	5 h 4 min	1 h 2 min	21%
Sat Mar 13	10 h 52 min	7 h 20 min	3 h 12 min	0 min	31%
Sun Mar 14	10 h 46 min	7 h 13 min	1 h 30 min	0 min	41%
Mon Mar 15	10 h 40 min	7 h 6 min	27 min	0 min	53%
Tue Mar 16	10 h 34 min	6 h 59 min	2 min	0 min	64%
Wed Mar 17	10 h 28 min	6 h 52 min	0 min	0 min	75%
Thu Mar 18	10 h 22 min	6 h 44 min	0 min	0 min	84%
Fri Mar 19	10 h 17 min	6 h 37 min	0 min	0 min	92%
Sat Mar 20	10 h 11 min	6 h 29 min	0 min	0 min	97%
Sun Mar 21	10 h 5 min	6 h 21 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Mon Mar 22	9 h 59 min	6 h 14 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Tue Mar 23	9 h 53 min	6 h 6 min	1 h 31 min	0 min	97%
Wed Mar 24	9 h 47 min	5 h 57 min	3 h 10 min	46 min	93%
Thu Mar 25	9 h 41 min	5 h 49 min	4 h 52 min	2 h 31 min	86%
Fri Mar 26	9 h 35 min	5 h 41 min	6 h 34 min	4 h	79%
Sat Mar 27	9 h 29 min	5 h 32 min	8 h 6 min	4 h	70%
Sun Mar 28	9 h 23 min	5 h 23 min	9 h 2 min	4 h	61%
Mon Mar 29	9 h 16 min	5 h 14 min	9 h 16 min	4 h	52%
Tue Mar 30	9 h 10 min	5 h 5 min	9 h 10 min	4 h	42%
Wed Mar 31	9 h 4 min	4 h 55 min	9 h 4 min	4 h	33%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Valkeakoski in March?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Valkeakoski have civil darkness, and 29% of past March days reached Kp 4.
How dark is Valkeakoski in March?: Valkeakoski averages 10.6 hours of civil night a night in March 2027, from 12 h on the 1st to 9 h 4 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Valkeakoski in March?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Valkeakoski's 1 degree cell 72% mean cloud in March, against 75% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in March 2027 for aurora in Valkeakoski?: By darkness and moon alone, Mar 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Valkeakoski. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is March or April better in Valkeakoski?: By civil night times the clear share, March scores 3.0 hours at Valkeakoski 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.