Can you see the northern lights in Anchorage in February?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 28 of 28 nights at Anchorage have civil darkness, and 54% of past February days reached Kp 3.

How dark is Anchorage in February?

Anchorage averages 13.2 hours of civil night a night in February 2027, from 14 h 22 min on the 1st to 12 h 3 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Anchorage in February?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Anchorage's 1 degree cell 69% mean cloud in February, against 74% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in February 2027 for aurora in Anchorage?

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

Is February or March better in Anchorage?

By civil night times the clear share, February scores 4.1 hours at Anchorage and March 3.9. February comes out ahead.

Anchorage · February 2027

Northern lights in Anchorage in February 2027

Answer

February gives Anchorage 13.2 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 4th darkest of its 12 months, under 69% mean cloud. 54% of February days since 1996 reached Kp 3, enough for the oval edge to reach Anchorage.

13.2 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 61.22, -149.90; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

February against the rest of the year

5.4

4.1

3.9

2.1

0.8

0.0

0.4

1.3

2.1

2.9

4.5

4.6

February cloud at Anchorage averages 69% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 5 points clearer than its yearly mean. March is Anchorage's clearest month at 63%. By civil night times clear sky, February scores 4.1 hours at Anchorage, 4th of 12. Eagle River, 21 km away, averages the same 69%.

Civil night at Anchorage starts February at 14 h 22 min and reaches 12 h 3 min by February 28, 2.3 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 9.8 hours on the 15th.

February night by night

February opens toward a new moon on Feb 6, with full moon on Feb 20, in America/Anchorage dates. Anchorage gets 199 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: Feb 1 (4 h), Feb 2 (4 h), Feb 3 (4 h).

1
16% lit
14.4 h
2
10% lit
14.3 h
3
5% lit
14.2 h
4
2% lit
14.1 h
5
0% lit
14.1 h
6
0% lit
14.0 h
New
7
3% lit
12.9 h
8
7% lit
11.4 h
9
13% lit
9.9 h
10
21% lit
8.4 h
11
30% lit
6.8 h
12
40% lit
5.0 h
13
51% lit
3.1 h
14
62% lit
1.3 h
15
73% lit
0.1 h
16
82% lit
0.0 h
17
90% lit
0.0 h
18
96% lit
0.0 h
19
99% lit
0.0 h
20
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
21
97% lit
1.2 h
22
92% lit
2.9 h
23
85% lit
4.5 h
24
77% lit
6.1 h
25
68% lit
7.8 h
26
58% lit
9.5 h
27
49% lit
11.0 h
28
39% lit
12.1 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 Februarys

Anchorage needs Kp 3 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 455 of the 848 February days from 1996 to 2025 (54%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 5th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 8%. Anchorage sits at 61.9 degrees geomagnetic, inside SWPC's 60 to 75 degree band, where aurora can be seen on more than half of all nights. No storm is needed: by SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 3.

February across United States

Anchorage ranks 2nd in United States for civil night on February 15, behind Fairbanks at 13.5 hours. Coming from January (15.5 hours at Anchorage), February loses darkness, and March brings shorter nights (10.6 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on February 15 and February cloud, month-page towns in United States
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Fairbanks	13.5 h	59%
Anchorage	13.2 h	69%
Eagle River	13.2 h	69%
Juneau	13.0 h	75%
Seattle	12.5 h	74%
Duluth	12.5 h	59%
Fargo	12.5 h	60%
Minneapolis	12.4 h	61%
Buffalo	12.4 h	82%
Portland, Maine	12.4 h	63%

Darkness and moon, every night

Anchorage, February 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 Feb 1	14 h 22 min	10 h 57 min	14 h 22 min	4 h	16%
Tue Feb 2	14 h 18 min	10 h 53 min	14 h 18 min	4 h	10%
Wed Feb 3	14 h 13 min	10 h 48 min	14 h 13 min	4 h	5%
Thu Feb 4	14 h 8 min	10 h 44 min	14 h 8 min	4 h	2%
Fri Feb 5	14 h 3 min	10 h 40 min	14 h 3 min	4 h	0%
Sat Feb 6	13 h 58 min	10 h 35 min	13 h 58 min	4 h	0%
Sun Feb 7	13 h 53 min	10 h 31 min	12 h 57 min	4 h	3%
Mon Feb 8	13 h 48 min	10 h 26 min	11 h 27 min	4 h	7%
Tue Feb 9	13 h 43 min	10 h 21 min	9 h 56 min	3 h 52 min	13%
Wed Feb 10	13 h 38 min	10 h 16 min	8 h 23 min	2 h 21 min	21%
Thu Feb 11	13 h 33 min	10 h 12 min	6 h 45 min	45 min	30%
Fri Feb 12	13 h 28 min	10 h 7 min	4 h 59 min	0 min	40%
Sat Feb 13	13 h 23 min	10 h 2 min	3 h 8 min	0 min	51%
Sun Feb 14	13 h 18 min	9 h 57 min	1 h 20 min	0 min	62%
Mon Feb 15	13 h 13 min	9 h 52 min	7 min	0 min	73%
Tue Feb 16	13 h 8 min	9 h 47 min	0 min	0 min	82%
Wed Feb 17	13 h 2 min	9 h 42 min	0 min	0 min	90%
Thu Feb 18	12 h 57 min	9 h 36 min	0 min	0 min	96%
Fri Feb 19	12 h 52 min	9 h 31 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Sat Feb 20	12 h 46 min	9 h 26 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Sun Feb 21	12 h 41 min	9 h 20 min	1 h 13 min	0 min	97%
Mon Feb 22	12 h 36 min	9 h 15 min	2 h 52 min	0 min	92%
Tue Feb 23	12 h 30 min	9 h 9 min	4 h 29 min	1 h 26 min	85%
Wed Feb 24	12 h 25 min	9 h 4 min	6 h 7 min	3 h 7 min	77%
Thu Feb 25	12 h 19 min	8 h 58 min	7 h 47 min	4 h	68%
Fri Feb 26	12 h 14 min	8 h 52 min	9 h 28 min	4 h	58%
Sat Feb 27	12 h 8 min	8 h 46 min	11 h 2 min	4 h	49%
Sun Feb 28	12 h 3 min	8 h 40 min	12 h 3 min	4 h	39%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Anchorage in February?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 28 of 28 nights at Anchorage have civil darkness, and 54% of past February days reached Kp 3.
How dark is Anchorage in February?: Anchorage averages 13.2 hours of civil night a night in February 2027, from 14 h 22 min on the 1st to 12 h 3 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Anchorage in February?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Anchorage's 1 degree cell 69% mean cloud in February, against 74% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in February 2027 for aurora in Anchorage?: By darkness and moon alone, Feb 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Anchorage. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is February or March better in Anchorage?: By civil night times the clear share, February scores 4.1 hours at Anchorage and March 3.9. February 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.