Northern lights in Yellowknife in March
99%
of 4-night stays in March saw the northern lights at least once, by our estimate. On any one night the chance was 82%. March is about as good as any month in Yellowknife; the best was February (100%).
How long to stay in March
Chance of at least one good night, by length of stay, Yellowknife in March, 2015–2025. 1 night got you to about 3 in 4.
Long cloudy spells are rare here in March: in a typical year the longest run of fully cloudy nights was one night.
Week by week in March (4-night stay)
- 4 Mar – 10 Mar100%
- 11 Mar – 17 Mar100%
- 18 Mar – 24 Mar99%
- 25 Mar – 31 Mar98%
March in Yellowknife, year by year
Good nights in March, each year 2015–2025. The typical March had 26 good nights; the worst, 2017, had 22 and the best, 2015, had 30.
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 0.4 that Yellowknife needs (GFZ Potsdam). These are estimates, not sightings. How it works
Other destinations in March
Yellowknife ranks 1st of 21 popular aurora destinations for March (4-night stays, 2015–2025).
Churchill
98%Saariselkä
84%Kiruna
84%Jukkasjärvi
84%Abisko
83%Inari
83%Aurora tours in Yellowknife in March
A guide with a car can drive to wherever the clouds break. Booking for your first night leaves the rest of the stay to try again if it's cloudy.
Yellowknife in March: questions
March is about as good as any month in Yellowknife; the best was February (100%). In 2015–2025, 99% of 4-night stays in March saw the northern lights at least once, and an average March had 25 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 96%, 4 nights gave 99%, 7 nights gave 100% odds of at least one good night in March (2015–2025). For about 3-in-4 odds, plan 1 night or more. Long cloudy spells are rare here in March: in a typical year the longest run of fully cloudy nights was one night.
About 8.7 hours a night with the sun more than 12° below the horizon, which is dark enough for faint auroras. Of those, 6.1 hours a night were mostly clear on average, and 27 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 8.7 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.