What to look for in nature in Alaska this March

How much daylight does Alaska gain in March?

• Clocks spring forward

  2 a.m., Sunday, March 14 · All of Alaska (the western Aleutians keep their own zone, an hour behind)

  The first evening on daylight time feels like a gift in a state where the light is so unevenly shared: on March 14 Anchorage’s sunset leaps from 6:57 p.m. the night before to 7:59 p.m., and Fairbanks’ from 6:46 p.m. to 7:49 p.m. Sunrise jumps the same way, to 8:20 a.m. in Anchorage and 8:13 a.m. in Fairbanks, so school mornings are briefly dark again for a week or two.

• The equinox

  12:25 p.m. AKDT, Saturday, March 20 · Statewide

  The sun crosses the celestial equator at 20:25 universal time, which is 12:25 p.m. in Alaska on daylight time, according to the Naval Observatory. From this day Alaska’s daylight outweighs its darkness until the September equinox. Sunrise and sunset sit near true east and true west, which makes this a good day to mark compass directions from your own porch.

What big events mark March in Alaska?

• Iditarod ceremonial start and restart

  Ceremonial start in Anchorage on Saturday, March 6; restart at Willow the following day, per Visit Anchorage · Fourth Avenue and D Street, Anchorage, then an 11-mile route to Campbell Creek Science Center; the race continues to Nome

  The Iditarod Trail Committee’s website counts down to a race day of March 6, 2027, and Visit Anchorage describes the 55th race as starting in Anchorage that day with a restart at Willow the next. The Anchorage start is ceremonial, and the competitive restart comes at Willow. In a low-snow year the committee has shortened the Anchorage route, as it did in 2025, so check iditarod.com close to the date.

• Fur Rendezvous, the Rondy

  February 25 to March 7, 2027, per the festival’s website · Downtown Anchorage and around town

  Anchorage’s winter festival overlaps the first week of March. The festival’s own site lists these dates but had not yet posted a 2027 schedule of individual events, including the sled dog races it has traditionally hosted. Look for the schedule on the Fur Rondy site in the new year.

• World Ice Art Championships, Youth Classic

  Youth Classic registration March 8, carving March 9 to 11; single-block and Fairbanks Open classes February 28 to March 2, per the organizer’s 2027 competition schedule · Fairbanks

  Ice Alaska lists Youth Classic registration on Monday, March 8, carving from Tuesday, March 9, to Thursday, March 11, and awards on March 12, plus the single-block and Fairbanks Open divisions from February 28 to March 2. Public viewing hours and ticket prices were still unannounced when we checked, so ask Ice Alaska or watch its website.

• Nenana Ice Classic tickets

  Sold between February 1 and April 5 in 2026; check for the 2027 window · Alaska; the tripod stands on the Tanana River at Nenana

  Since 1917 Alaskans have bought $3 tickets guessing the minute the Tanana River ice will move the tripod at Nenana. In 2026 the ice went out on May 4 at 6:58 p.m. Alaska Standard Time, according to the Ice Classic. Ticket sales close in early April, so March is the time to put your guess in.

Is March still winter in Alaska, and what weather should I watch for?

• River ice weakens and breakup begins to be watched

  Spring, varying by river · Rivers and lakes statewide

  The Alaska-Pacific River Forecast Center, part of the Weather Service, posts a spring flood potential outlook, historic breakup dates, a village flood map and an interactive breakup map. Ice that held a truck in February can be unsafe weeks before it moves, especially where water flows beneath it, so treat every crossing as an open question as the days warm.

• Check the avalanche advisory

  March through April · Chugach, Kenai and Talkeetna mountains, Thompson Pass, the Alaska Range and Southeast mountains

  As days lengthen and the sun strengthens, snowpack can change quickly. The Chugach Avalanche Center and the Alaska Avalanche Information Center post daily advisories for the regions they cover; check the advisory for your area before skiing, snowmachining or climbing steep terrain, and carry a beacon, probe and shovel.

When is the last spring freeze in Alaska?

What is in the sky over Alaska in March 2027?

• Dark evenings around the new moon

  New moon at 12:29 a.m. AKST on Monday, March 8; roughly the evenings of March 5 to 12 · Away from town lights

  The days around the new moon are the best nights of the month for faint objects and for watching for aurora, with no moonlight to wash out the sky. Evening twilight stretches later every week, so the window for dark skies shifts later in the evening as March goes on.

• Northern lights near the equinox

  Any clear, dark night; strong storms tend to cluster near the March and September equinoxes · Interior and Arctic best; low in the north from the south coast

  The University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute posts a daily aurora forecast, and NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center expects the sun to remain fairly active, with its predicted smoothed sunspot number for March 2027 at about 86 (range roughly 66 to 99). Forecasts are no guarantee, but a clear sky and a new moon make this a good week to look. Check the cloud forecast before you drive out.

• Mercury in the dawn

  Greatest western elongation on March 17 (March 16 evening in Alaska time, 8:20 p.m. AKDT); best about March 8 to 25 · Low in the east-southeast just before sunrise

  Mercury is 27.6 degrees west of the sun on March 17, which makes it as high above the horizon as it gets in the morning sky this spring. At Alaska’s latitude the angle of the morning ecliptic is shallow, so the planet is harder to catch than in the lower 48: you will need a flat eastern horizon and a clear dawn. Bright Venus, farther above it, is the guide.

• Venus and a thin waning moon

  Mornings of Thursday, March 4 and Friday, March 5 · Low in the southeast before dawn

  Venus shines at about magnitude −4.1 in March, brilliant even in a pale dawn sky. By our calculation, a slim waning crescent moon, about 12 percent lit, hangs near it before dawn on March 4 and March 5, a good target for a photo.

• Jupiter, the Moon and Mars in the evening

  Moon near Jupiter on the evenings of March 18 and 19; Mars and Jupiter 4.3 degrees apart on the evening of Tuesday, March 30 · High in the south and southwest after dark

  Jupiter, still bright from its February opposition, stays up most of the night in March. By our calculation the 88 percent lit moon passes within 1 degree of it around 1:26 a.m. AKDT on March 19, so the pair looks close on both evenings. By the same calculation Mars shines about 4.3 degrees from Jupiter on March 30, high up after dark and easy to see with the unaided eye.

• The Worm Moon

  Full at 2:44 a.m. AKDT on Monday, March 22; best evening is Sunday, March 21 · Rises in the east at about 8:03 p.m. in Anchorage on the 21st

  March’s full moon is traditionally the Worm Moon, a name linked to ground thawing in the east; here the ground is still frozen solid, but the moon rides high over snow. Because the moment of full falls in the middle of the night, look on the evening of the 21st and again on the 22nd. No lunar eclipse occurs this month.

Which birds return or begin courting in Alaska in March?

• Golden eagles return to Denali

  Late March or early April, per the National Park Service · Foothills and cliffs of the Alaska Range in and around Denali National Park

  Denali’s golden eagles are migratory; young birds tracked from the park have wintered as far south as central Mexico. The National Park Service says the nesting adults return in late March or early April, with nest repairs starting as they settle in. Park researchers survey nearly 80 nesting territories every year, and nearly nine in ten are occupied. Eggs are laid around mid-April, on nests built on cliffs and rock outcrops. Watch for a large dark raptor with pale gold on the back of its head, soaring along ridgelines on rising air.

• Willow ptarmigan stake out ground

  Through March and April; permanent territories by late April or early May · Willow country and open tundra

  ADF&G notes that male willow ptarmigan grow steadily less tolerant of each other through March and April. On good days they defend small patches of ground; a spring snowstorm sends them back to the flock. The first eggs are not laid until late May. Look for white birds on snowy slopes; males gradually show rusty-brown on the head and neck as spring advances.

• Ptarmigan flocks on the move

  April and early May · River valleys and mountain passes

  ADF&G’s Wildlife Notebook says flocks of several thousand ptarmigan sometimes appear in purposeful movement back to their breeding grounds in April and early May, perhaps funneled together by river valleys and narrow passes. March is the time to learn the birds’ tracks and calls in advance.

• Boreal owls keep singing

  Calling late January or early February through late April · Boreal forest, especially the Interior

  ADF&G says boreal owls give their rapid, soft “po-po-po-po” from late January or early February until late April, so March is the middle of the singing season. The female lays three to seven eggs starting in April or May. On a still night the call carry as far as a mile and a half, and in spring people often mistake it for a snipe.

• Ravens at their nesting spots

  By mid-March in the Interior · Cliffs, trees and buildings

  Interior ravens start courtship displays in mid-January, according to ADF&G, and by mid-March the adult pairs are roosting near their nest sites. The female lays three to seven eggs. If you see two ravens tumbling together, wingtips touching, they are courting. For the display itself, see January in Alaska.

When do polar bears and other bears leave their dens in Alaska?

• Polar bear mothers and cubs emerge

  Mid-March to April; one study’s mean emergence was March 16 · Coastal dens along the southern Beaufort and Chukchi seas, including near Utqiagvik

  A study of polar bears in the southern Beaufort and Chukchi seas, listed by the U.S. Geological Survey, found a mean den emergence date of March 16 and a mean departure date of March 24. Mothers with cubs lingered near the den for about 7.9 days on average, much longer than the 1.9 days of females without cubs. The study estimated that litter survival in the following spring rose from about 0.5 to 0.9 when the stay near the den was about four days longer. Chukchi Sea dens were left later than Beaufort ones.

• Brown and black bears wake with the food

  No fixed date; adult males first, mothers with newborn cubs last · Dens in mountains and hillsides statewide

  ADF&G says adult male brown bears enter dens later and emerge earlier than most other bears, and females with newborn cubs are the last to leave. On Kodiak, where winters are mild, some males stay active all winter. Black bears come out when food is available again, and black bear cubs leave the den in May. Bears weigh the least in spring, so they are hungry. Keep food, garbage and pet food locked away from now on.

• Wolverine kits in snow caves

  Litters born from February to April · Alpine and boreal Alaska, mostly in the Interior and North

  ADF&G reports that wolverines give birth between February and April, and that in the Interior and north most young are born in snow caves with tunnels up to 60 yards long. Males defend territories from February through July. A wolverine is rarely seen, and its den sites are poorly known, so count it a lucky day if you ever meet one.

Which Alaska mammals are breeding or shedding antlers in March?

• Lynx mating

  March and early April · Boreal forest and brushy country across the mainland

  ADF&G says lynx mate in March and early April, and kittens arrive about 63 days later under a fallen spruce, a rock ledge or a log jam. ADF&G describes the lynx’s large, broad feet as built-in snowshoes, and says kitten survival follows the snowshoe hare cycle.

• Caribou keep their antlers, bulls drop them

  Small bulls and non-pregnant cows shed in April; pregnant cows keep theirs until calving in late May or early June · Tundra and boreal winter ranges

  The big bulls dropped their antlers in late October, ADF&G says. Many of the caribou still carrying antlers now are pregnant cows, which keep them until calving; small bulls drop theirs this month.

• Young moose bulls with last antlers

  Mature bulls shed from November, mostly in December and January; some young bulls carry them as late as April · Willow flats and roadsides

  An antlered moose in March is probably a young bull, ADF&G’s Wildlife Notebook says. Moose spend the end of winter living on stored fat and twigs, so give them plenty of room on roads and trails.

When does the herring spawn in Sitka Sound, and when do gray whales pass Alaska?

• Herring spawn in Sitka Sound

  Typically late March into early April: first spawn seen March 23 in 2024, March 22 in 2025; main spawning began March 26 and March 27 · Sitka Sound, Southeast Alaska

  ADF&G flies aerial surveys of Sitka Sound each spring. In 2024 the department saw its first spawn on March 23, with the main event beginning March 26 and peaking March 29 at 26.2 nautical miles of active spawn. In 2025 the first spawn was seen on March 22, the main event began March 27 and peaked March 30 at 31.9 nautical miles. In 2026 the department’s updates counted spawn from March 30. Timing varies each year with water temperature. NOAA Fisheries says herring deposit their eggs on kelp, eelgrass and other structures along shallow shorelines, and ADF&G describes spawning as taking place in shallow, vegetated areas in spring.

• Eulachon, or hooligan

  Main run as early as April in Southeast; May in Southcentral and Western Alaska · Chilkat, Stikine, Taku, Copper, Kenai and Susitna rivers

  ADF&G says the main eulachon run can start as early as April in Southeast, and in some rivers there are winter runs in January and February. A host of animals follow the fish, among them eagles, ravens, crows, bears, seals, sea lions and whales.

• Gray whales head north

  From late February to May; into the Bering Sea mostly April and May · Waters along Alaska’s southern coast, then Unimak Pass into the Bering Sea

  ADF&G says the eastern Pacific gray whale begins its northward migration from late February to May and enters the Bering Sea mostly in April and May. NOAA Fisheries gives mid-February to May for the northbound pass along the U.S. West Coast. Look from headlands on calm days, and bring binoculars.

What is the sea ice doing in March?

• Arctic sea ice reaches its yearly maximum

  March · The Arctic Ocean, including the waters off Alaska’s north coast

  The sea ice desk at the Anchorage Weather Service office publishes ice analyses and forecasts, the right place to look before any travel on the ice. The sea ice desk’s maps show where the pack edge sits on a given day.

• Ringed seals and the bears that hunt them

  All winter and spring · Solid sea ice of the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort seas

  ADF&G says ringed seals live under solid ice, keeping breathing holes open with their claws, and make snow lairs over some of them to rest and give birth. Ringed seals are the most common prey of polar bears, which can locate lairs by smell. That is why polar bear mothers, fresh from their dens, head toward the ice.

What can families do outdoors in Alaska this March?

Safety notes for March in Alaska