Can you see the northern lights in Clay in February?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 28 of 28 nights at Clay have civil darkness, and 0% of past February days reached Kp 7.

How dark is Clay in February?

Clay averages 12.4 hours of civil night a night in February 2027, from 12 h 57 min on the 1st to 11 h 46 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Clay in February?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Clay's 1 degree cell 82% mean cloud in February, against 80% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

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

Is February or March better in Clay?

By civil night times the clear share, February scores 2.2 hours at Clay and March 2.3. March comes out ahead.

Clay · February 2027

Northern lights in Clay in February 2027

Answer

February gives Clay 12.4 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 4th darkest of its 12 months, under 82% mean cloud. 0% of February days since 1996 reached Kp 7, enough for the oval edge to reach Clay.

12.4 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 43.19, -76.17; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

February against the rest of the year

1.9

2.2

2.3

1.7

1.2

1.7

2.3

3.3

2.7

2.9

1.9

February cloud at Clay averages 82% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 2 points cloudier than its yearly mean. September is Clay's clearest month at 69%. By civil night times clear sky, February scores 2.2 hours at Clay, 6th of 12. Buffalo, 222 km away, averages the same 82%.

Civil night at Clay starts February at 12 h 57 min and reaches 11 h 46 min by February 28, 1.2 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 10.2 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/New_York dates. Clay gets 183 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
17% lit
11.2 h
2
10% lit
11.9 h
3
5% lit
12.6 h
4
2% lit
12.8 h
5
0% lit
12.8 h
6
0% lit
12.8 h
New
7
2% lit
12.1 h
8
6% lit
10.9 h
9
12% lit
9.8 h
10
19% lit
8.7 h
11
28% lit
7.5 h
12
38% lit
6.3 h
13
49% lit
5.1 h
14
60% lit
3.8 h
15
71% lit
2.7 h
16
81% lit
1.7 h
17
89% lit
0.9 h
18
96% lit
0.3 h
19
99% lit
0.0 h
20
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
21
98% lit
0.7 h
22
93% lit
1.9 h
23
87% lit
3.2 h
24
79% lit
4.3 h
25
70% lit
5.5 h
26
60% lit
6.6 h
27
50% lit
7.7 h
28
41% lit
8.6 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

Clay needs Kp 7 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 1 of the 848 February days from 1996 to 2025 (0%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, one of the three quietest months for that level; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 8%. Clay sits at 52.4 degrees geomagnetic. The lowest NOAA storm level whose typical viewing latitude reaches it is G3 (Kp = 7). By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead only at Kp 7.

February across United States

Clay ranks 8th in United States for civil night on February 15, behind Fairbanks at 13.5 hours. Coming from January (13.5 hours at Clay), February loses darkness, and March brings shorter nights (11.0 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%
Clay	12.4 h	82%
Minneapolis	12.4 h	61%
Buffalo	12.4 h	82%
Portland, Maine	12.4 h	63%

Darkness and moon, every night

Clay, 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	12 h 57 min	10 h 42 min	11 h 14 min	4 h	17%
Tue Feb 2	12 h 54 min	10 h 40 min	11 h 57 min	4 h	10%
Wed Feb 3	12 h 52 min	10 h 38 min	12 h 33 min	4 h	5%
Thu Feb 4	12 h 50 min	10 h 36 min	12 h 50 min	4 h	2%
Fri Feb 5	12 h 47 min	10 h 33 min	12 h 47 min	4 h	0%
Sat Feb 6	12 h 45 min	10 h 31 min	12 h 45 min	4 h	0%
Sun Feb 7	12 h 42 min	10 h 29 min	12 h 3 min	4 h	2%
Mon Feb 8	12 h 40 min	10 h 26 min	10 h 57 min	4 h	6%
Tue Feb 9	12 h 37 min	10 h 24 min	9 h 51 min	4 h	12%
Wed Feb 10	12 h 35 min	10 h 22 min	8 h 44 min	4 h	19%
Thu Feb 11	12 h 32 min	10 h 19 min	7 h 33 min	2 h 59 min	28%
Fri Feb 12	12 h 30 min	10 h 17 min	6 h 20 min	1 h 47 min	38%
Sat Feb 13	12 h 27 min	10 h 15 min	5 h 5 min	33 min	49%
Sun Feb 14	12 h 25 min	10 h 12 min	3 h 50 min	0 min	60%
Mon Feb 15	12 h 22 min	10 h 9 min	2 h 41 min	0 min	71%
Tue Feb 16	12 h 19 min	10 h 7 min	1 h 42 min	0 min	81%
Wed Feb 17	12 h 17 min	10 h 4 min	54 min	0 min	89%
Thu Feb 18	12 h 14 min	10 h 2 min	16 min	0 min	96%
Fri Feb 19	12 h 11 min	9 h 59 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Sat Feb 20	12 h 9 min	9 h 56 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Sun Feb 21	12 h 6 min	9 h 54 min	43 min	0 min	98%
Mon Feb 22	12 h 3 min	9 h 51 min	1 h 57 min	0 min	93%
Tue Feb 23	12 h	9 h 48 min	3 h 10 min	0 min	87%
Wed Feb 24	11 h 57 min	9 h 46 min	4 h 21 min	39 min	79%
Thu Feb 25	11 h 55 min	9 h 43 min	5 h 30 min	1 h 50 min	70%
Fri Feb 26	11 h 52 min	9 h 40 min	6 h 37 min	2 h 58 min	60%
Sat Feb 27	11 h 49 min	9 h 37 min	7 h 39 min	4 h	50%
Sun Feb 28	11 h 46 min	9 h 34 min	8 h 34 min	4 h	41%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Clay in February?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 28 of 28 nights at Clay have civil darkness, and 0% of past February days reached Kp 7.
How dark is Clay in February?: Clay averages 12.4 hours of civil night a night in February 2027, from 12 h 57 min on the 1st to 11 h 46 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Clay in February?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Clay's 1 degree cell 82% mean cloud in February, against 80% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in February 2027 for aurora in Clay?: By darkness and moon alone, Feb 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Clay. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is February or March better in Clay?: By civil night times the clear share, February scores 2.2 hours at Clay and March 2.3. 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.