Can you see the northern lights in Federal Way in August?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Federal Way have civil darkness, and 1% of past August days reached Kp 7.

How dark is Federal Way in August?

Federal Way averages 8.6 hours of civil night a night in August 2027, from 7 h 48 min on the 1st to 9 h 27 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Federal Way in August?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Federal Way's 1 degree cell 48% mean cloud in August, against 68% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in August 2027 for aurora in Federal Way?

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

Is August or September better in Federal Way?

By civil night times the clear share, August scores 4.5 hours at Federal Way and September 4.8. September comes out ahead.

Federal Way · August 2027

Northern lights in Federal Way in August 2027

Answer

August gives Federal Way 8.6 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 9th darkest of its 12 months, under 48% mean cloud. 1% of August days since 1996 reached Kp 7, enough for the oval edge to reach Federal Way.

8.6 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 47.32, -122.31; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

August against the rest of the year

2.8

3.3

2.3

2.1

3.8

4.5

4.8

3.8

3.1

3.0

August cloud at Federal Way averages 48% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 20 points clearer than its yearly mean. July is Federal Way's clearest month at 47%. By civil night times clear sky, August scores 4.5 hours at Federal Way, 2nd of 12. Seattle, 32 km away, averages the same 48%.

Civil night at Federal Way starts August at 7 h 48 min and reaches 9 h 27 min by August 31 as the nights lengthen by 1.6 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 5.6 hours on the 15th.

August night by night

August opens toward a new moon on Aug 2 and Aug 31, with full moon on Aug 17, in America/Los_Angeles dates. Federal Way gets 134 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: Aug 1 (4 h), Aug 2 (4 h), Aug 3 (4 h).

1
0% lit
7.8 h
2
1% lit
7.8 h
New
3
5% lit
7.9 h
4
12% lit
7.6 h
5
20% lit
7.3 h
6
30% lit
7.0 h
7
41% lit
6.7 h
8
51% lit
6.3 h
9
61% lit
5.8 h
10
71% lit
5.1 h
11
79% lit
4.3 h
12
86% lit
3.4 h
13
92% lit
2.3 h
14
96% lit
1.2 h
15
99% lit
0.1 h
16
100% lit
0.0 h
17
99% lit
0.0 h
Full
18
96% lit
0.0 h
19
92% lit
0.1 h
20
86% lit
0.4 h
21
78% lit
0.7 h
22
69% lit
1.1 h
23
59% lit
1.6 h
24
48% lit
2.3 h
25
37% lit
3.1 h
26
26% lit
4.3 h
27
17% lit
5.6 h
28
9% lit
7.0 h
29
3% lit
8.5 h
30
0% lit
9.4 h
31
1% lit
9.4 h
New

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 Augusts

Federal Way needs Kp 7 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 12 of the 930 August days from 1996 to 2025 (1%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 6th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 11%. Federal Way sits at 52.8 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.

August across United States

Federal Way ranks 4th in United States for civil night on August 15, behind Buffalo at 9.0 hours. Coming from July (7.1 hours at Federal Way), August adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into September (10.3 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on August 15 and August cloud, month-page towns in United States
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Buffalo	9.0 h	56%
Portland, Maine	8.9 h	52%
Minneapolis	8.8 h	49%
Federal Way	8.6 h	48%
Duluth	8.6 h	52%
Fargo	8.6 h	49%
Seattle	8.5 h	48%
Juneau	6.9 h	79%
Anchorage	6.3 h	79%
Eagle River	6.2 h	79%
Fairbanks	5.0 h	75%

Darkness and moon, every night

Federal Way, August 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
Sun Aug 1	7 h 48 min	4 h 24 min	7 h 48 min	4 h	0%
Mon Aug 2	7 h 51 min	4 h 29 min	7 h 51 min	4 h	1%
Tue Aug 3	7 h 54 min	4 h 34 min	7 h 54 min	4 h	5%
Wed Aug 4	7 h 57 min	4 h 39 min	7 h 38 min	4 h	12%
Thu Aug 5	8 h	4 h 44 min	7 h 20 min	4 h	20%
Fri Aug 6	8 h 3 min	4 h 49 min	7 h 2 min	3 h 45 min	30%
Sat Aug 7	8 h 6 min	4 h 54 min	6 h 41 min	3 h 22 min	41%
Sun Aug 8	8 h 10 min	4 h 59 min	6 h 16 min	2 h 56 min	51%
Mon Aug 9	8 h 13 min	5 h 4 min	5 h 45 min	2 h 23 min	61%
Tue Aug 10	8 h 16 min	5 h 9 min	5 h 6 min	1 h 43 min	71%
Wed Aug 11	8 h 19 min	5 h 14 min	4 h 17 min	53 min	79%
Thu Aug 12	8 h 23 min	5 h 19 min	3 h 21 min	0 min	86%
Fri Aug 13	8 h 26 min	5 h 24 min	2 h 18 min	0 min	92%
Sat Aug 14	8 h 29 min	5 h 28 min	1 h 13 min	0 min	96%
Sun Aug 15	8 h 33 min	5 h 33 min	7 min	0 min	99%
Mon Aug 16	8 h 36 min	5 h 38 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Tue Aug 17	8 h 39 min	5 h 43 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Wed Aug 18	8 h 43 min	5 h 48 min	0 min	0 min	96%
Thu Aug 19	8 h 46 min	5 h 52 min	4 min	0 min	92%
Fri Aug 20	8 h 49 min	5 h 57 min	22 min	0 min	86%
Sat Aug 21	8 h 53 min	6 h 2 min	43 min	0 min	78%
Sun Aug 22	8 h 56 min	6 h 6 min	1 h 7 min	0 min	69%
Mon Aug 23	9 h	6 h 11 min	1 h 37 min	19 min	59%
Tue Aug 24	9 h 3 min	6 h 15 min	2 h 16 min	57 min	48%
Wed Aug 25	9 h 7 min	6 h 20 min	3 h 9 min	1 h 47 min	37%
Thu Aug 26	9 h 10 min	6 h 25 min	4 h 15 min	2 h 52 min	26%
Fri Aug 27	9 h 13 min	6 h 29 min	5 h 35 min	4 h	17%
Sat Aug 28	9 h 17 min	6 h 34 min	7 h 2 min	4 h	9%
Sun Aug 29	9 h 20 min	6 h 38 min	8 h 31 min	4 h	3%
Mon Aug 30	9 h 24 min	6 h 42 min	9 h 24 min	4 h	0%
Tue Aug 31	9 h 27 min	6 h 47 min	9 h 27 min	4 h	1%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Federal Way in August?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Federal Way have civil darkness, and 1% of past August days reached Kp 7.
How dark is Federal Way in August?: Federal Way averages 8.6 hours of civil night a night in August 2027, from 7 h 48 min on the 1st to 9 h 27 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Federal Way in August?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Federal Way's 1 degree cell 48% mean cloud in August, against 68% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in August 2027 for aurora in Federal Way?: By darkness and moon alone, Aug 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Federal Way. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is August or September better in Federal Way?: By civil night times the clear share, August scores 4.5 hours at Federal Way and September 4.8. September 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.