Northern lights in Fairbanks in March
74%
of 4-night stays in March saw the northern lights at least once, by our estimate. On any one night the chance was 41%. March is one of the weaker months in Fairbanks; January (89%) was much better.
How long to stay in March
Chance of at least one good night, by length of stay, Fairbanks in March, 2015–2025. 5 nights got you to about 3 in 4.
In a typical March, the longest run of nights without a single clear, dark hour was 4 nights. A stay shorter than that can fall entirely into one cloudy spell.
Week by week in March (4-night stay)
- 4 Mar – 10 Mar76%
- 11 Mar – 17 Mar76%
- 18 Mar – 24 Mar75%
- 25 Mar – 31 Mar64%
March in Fairbanks, year by year
Good nights in March, each year 2015–2025. The typical March had 11 good nights; the worst, 2020, had 5 and the best, 2025, had 22. 2023–2025, around the solar maximum, averaged 17 against 11 before.
A good night = at least one hour that was dark (sun below −12°), mostly clear (NASA POWER cloud data, calibrated on FMI weather stations) and had a Kp index at or above the Kp 1.8 that Fairbanks needs (GFZ Potsdam). These are estimates, not sightings. How it works
Other destinations in March
Fairbanks ranks 12th of 21 popular aurora destinations for March (4-night stays, 2015–2025).
Yellowknife
99%Churchill
98%Saariselkä
84%Kiruna
84%Jukkasjärvi
84%Abisko
83%Aurora tours in Fairbanks in March
A guide with a car can drive to wherever the clouds break. With cloudy spells of 4 nights in a typical March, that matters here. Booking for your first night leaves the rest of the stay to try again if it's cloudy.
Fairbanks in March: questions
March is one of the weaker months in Fairbanks; January (89%) was much better. In 2015–2025, 74% of 4-night stays in March saw the northern lights at least once, and an average March had 13 good nights (clear, dark and with auroras strong enough) out of 31. These are estimates from NASA cloud records and the Kp index, not sightings.
2 nights gave 55%, 4 nights gave 74%, 7 nights gave 87% odds of at least one good night in March (2015–2025). For about 3-in-4 odds, plan 5 nights or more. In a typical March, the longest run of nights without a single clear, dark hour was 4 nights. A stay shorter than that can fall entirely into one cloudy spell.
About 8.4 hours a night with the sun more than 12° below the horizon, which is dark enough for faint auroras. Of those, 4.8 hours a night were mostly clear on average, and 22 nights in an average March had at least one clear, dark hour.
Auroras can appear any time it's dark, but activity usually peaks around midnight, roughly 22:00 to 02:00. With about 8.4 hours of darkness a night in March, start looking as soon as it's dark and stay out past midnight if you can. The live forecast shows tonight's best hour.