Can you see the northern lights in Arendal in February?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 28 of 28 nights at Arendal have civil darkness, and 25% of past February days reached Kp 4.

How dark is Arendal in February?

Arendal averages 13.1 hours of civil night a night in February 2027, from 14 h 6 min on the 1st to 12 h 2 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Arendal in February?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Arendal's 1 degree cell 83% mean cloud in February, against 72% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

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

Is February or March better in Arendal?

By civil night times the clear share, February scores 2.2 hours at Arendal and March 2.9. March comes out ahead.

Arendal · February 2027

Northern lights in Arendal in February 2027

Answer

February gives Arendal 13.1 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 4th darkest of its 12 months, under 83% mean cloud. 25% of February days since 1996 reached Kp 4, enough for the oval edge to reach Arendal.

13.1 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 58.46, 8.77; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

February against the rest of the year

2.4

2.2

2.9

2.8

1.9

1.0

1.4

2.3

2.8

3.0

2.8

2.7

February cloud at Arendal averages 83% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 11 points cloudier than its yearly mean. May is Arendal's clearest month at 62%. By civil night times clear sky, February scores 2.2 hours at Arendal, 9th of 12. Kristiansand, 57 km away, averages 84%, cloudier by 1 points.

Civil night at Arendal starts February at 14 h 6 min and reaches 12 h 2 min by February 28, 2.1 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 10.0 hours on the 15th.

February night by night

February opens toward a new moon on Feb 6, with full moon on Feb 21, in Europe/Oslo dates. Arendal gets 196 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
19% lit
13.7 h
2
12% lit
14.0 h
3
7% lit
13.9 h
4
3% lit
13.9 h
5
0% lit
13.8 h
6
0% lit
13.8 h
New
7
2% lit
13.3 h
8
5% lit
11.9 h
9
10% lit
10.5 h
10
17% lit
9.1 h
11
26% lit
7.6 h
12
35% lit
6.0 h
13
46% lit
4.3 h
14
57% lit
2.7 h
15
68% lit
1.3 h
16
78% lit
0.4 h
17
87% lit
0.0 h
18
94% lit
0.0 h
19
99% lit
0.0 h
20
100% lit
0.0 h
21
99% lit
0.5 h
Full
22
95% lit
2.0 h
23
89% lit
3.6 h
24
81% lit
5.1 h
25
72% lit
6.6 h
26
62% lit
8.1 h
27
53% lit
9.5 h
28
43% lit
10.6 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

Arendal needs Kp 4 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 211 of the 848 February days from 1996 to 2025 (25%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 6th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 8%. Arendal sits at 58.6 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.

February across Norway

Arendal ranks 17th in Norway for civil night on February 15, behind Alta at 14.1 hours. Coming from January (15.1 hours at Arendal), February loses darkness, and March brings shorter nights (10.7 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on February 15 and February cloud, month-page towns in Norway
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Alta	14.1 h	79%
Tromsø	14.0 h	83%
Harstad	13.9 h	81%
Bodø	13.8 h	83%
Mo i Rana	13.7 h	80%
Trondheim	13.4 h	82%
Kristiansund	13.4 h	84%
Levanger	13.4 h	82%
Stjørdalshalsen	13.4 h	82%
Ålesund	13.3 h	85%
Molde	13.3 h	85%
Oslo	13.2 h	82%
Arendal	13.1 h	83%

Darkness and moon, every night

Arendal, 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 6 min	10 h 57 min	13 h 43 min	4 h	19%
Tue Feb 2	14 h 2 min	10 h 53 min	14 h 2 min	4 h	12%
Wed Feb 3	13 h 57 min	10 h 49 min	13 h 57 min	4 h	7%
Thu Feb 4	13 h 53 min	10 h 46 min	13 h 53 min	4 h	3%
Fri Feb 5	13 h 49 min	10 h 42 min	13 h 49 min	4 h	0%
Sat Feb 6	13 h 45 min	10 h 38 min	13 h 45 min	4 h	0%
Sun Feb 7	13 h 40 min	10 h 34 min	13 h 20 min	4 h	2%
Mon Feb 8	13 h 36 min	10 h 30 min	11 h 55 min	4 h	5%
Tue Feb 9	13 h 32 min	10 h 26 min	10 h 30 min	4 h	10%
Wed Feb 10	13 h 27 min	10 h 21 min	9 h 4 min	3 h 42 min	17%
Thu Feb 11	13 h 23 min	10 h 17 min	7 h 34 min	2 h 14 min	26%
Fri Feb 12	13 h 18 min	10 h 13 min	5 h 59 min	42 min	35%
Sat Feb 13	13 h 13 min	10 h 8 min	4 h 20 min	0 min	46%
Sun Feb 14	13 h 9 min	10 h 4 min	2 h 43 min	0 min	57%
Mon Feb 15	13 h 4 min	9 h 59 min	1 h 20 min	0 min	68%
Tue Feb 16	13 h	9 h 55 min	25 min	0 min	78%
Wed Feb 17	12 h 55 min	9 h 50 min	0 min	0 min	87%
Thu Feb 18	12 h 50 min	9 h 46 min	0 min	0 min	94%
Fri Feb 19	12 h 45 min	9 h 41 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Sat Feb 20	12 h 41 min	9 h 36 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Sun Feb 21	12 h 36 min	9 h 32 min	28 min	0 min	99%
Mon Feb 22	12 h 31 min	9 h 27 min	2 h 2 min	0 min	95%
Tue Feb 23	12 h 26 min	9 h 22 min	3 h 35 min	0 min	89%
Wed Feb 24	12 h 21 min	9 h 17 min	5 h 6 min	1 h 33 min	81%
Thu Feb 25	12 h 17 min	9 h 12 min	6 h 37 min	3 h 6 min	72%
Fri Feb 26	12 h 12 min	9 h 7 min	8 h 6 min	4 h	62%
Sat Feb 27	12 h 7 min	9 h 2 min	9 h 29 min	4 h	53%
Sun Feb 28	12 h 2 min	8 h 56 min	10 h 35 min	4 h	43%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Arendal in February?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 28 of 28 nights at Arendal have civil darkness, and 25% of past February days reached Kp 4.
How dark is Arendal in February?: Arendal averages 13.1 hours of civil night a night in February 2027, from 14 h 6 min on the 1st to 12 h 2 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Arendal in February?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Arendal's 1 degree cell 83% mean cloud in February, against 72% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in February 2027 for aurora in Arendal?: By darkness and moon alone, Feb 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Arendal. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is February or March better in Arendal?: By civil night times the clear share, February scores 2.2 hours at Arendal and March 2.9. 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.