Can you see the northern lights in Kiruna in February?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 28 of 28 nights at Kiruna have civil darkness, and 8% of past February days reached Kp 5.

How dark is Kiruna in February?

Kiruna averages 13.9 hours of civil night a night in February 2027, from 15 h 27 min on the 1st to 12 h 15 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Kiruna in February?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Kiruna's 1 degree cell 74% mean cloud in February, against 75% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

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

Is February or March better in Kiruna?

By civil night times the clear share, February scores 3.6 hours at Kiruna and March 3.3. February comes out ahead.

Kiruna · February 2027

Northern lights in Kiruna in February 2027

Answer

February gives Kiruna 13.8 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 4th darkest of its 12 months, under 74% mean cloud. 8% of February days since 1996 reached storm level, Kp 5.

13.9 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 67.86, 20.23; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

February against the rest of the year

4.1

3.6

3.3

1.7

0.0

0.8

2.1

2.6

3.9

3.7

February cloud at Kiruna averages 74% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, close to its yearly mean of 75%. March is Kiruna's clearest month at 68%. By civil night times clear sky, February scores 3.6 hours at Kiruna, 4th of 12. Harstad, 184 km away, averages 81%, cloudier by 7 points.

Civil night at Kiruna starts February at 15 h 27 min and reaches 12 h 15 min by February 28, 3.2 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 9.5 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/Stockholm dates. Kiruna gets 212 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
15.4 h
2
12% lit
15.3 h
3
7% lit
15.2 h
4
3% lit
15.1 h
5
0% lit
15.0 h
6
0% lit
14.9 h
New
7
2% lit
14.7 h
8
5% lit
12.8 h
9
10% lit
11.0 h
10
17% lit
9.2 h
11
26% lit
7.2 h
12
35% lit
4.5 h
13
46% lit
0.0 h
14
57% lit
0.0 h
15
68% lit
0.0 h
16
78% lit
0.0 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
0.4 h
Full
22
95% lit
2.4 h
23
89% lit
4.3 h
24
81% lit
6.8 h
25
72% lit
10.3 h
26
62% lit
12.5 h
27
53% lit
12.4 h
28
43% lit
12.3 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

Quiet activity already puts the oval edge over Kiruna, so storm days matter more: 67 of the 848 February days from 1996 to 2025 (8%) reached Kp 5, one of the three quietest months for that level. Kiruna sits at 65.7 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 1.

February across Sweden

No month-page town in Sweden has more civil night on February 15 than Kiruna; the national median is 13.3 hours. Coming from January (17.1 hours at Kiruna), February loses darkness, and March brings shorter nights (10.3 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on February 15 and February cloud, month-page towns in Sweden
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Kiruna	13.8 h	74%
Luleå	13.6 h	77%
Piteå	13.6 h	72%
Boden	13.6 h	72%
Skellefteå	13.5 h	74%
Umeå	13.4 h	80%
Östersund	13.4 h	76%
Örnsköldsvik	13.4 h	74%
Sundsvall	13.3 h	75%
Härnösand	13.3 h	75%
Hudiksvall	13.3 h	78%
Stockholm	13.1 h	86%

Darkness and moon, every night

Kiruna, 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	15 h 27 min	11 h	15 h 27 min	4 h	19%
Tue Feb 2	15 h 20 min	10 h 55 min	15 h 20 min	4 h	12%
Wed Feb 3	15 h 13 min	10 h 49 min	15 h 13 min	4 h	7%
Thu Feb 4	15 h 7 min	10 h 43 min	15 h 7 min	4 h	3%
Fri Feb 5	15 h	10 h 37 min	15 h	4 h	0%
Sat Feb 6	14 h 53 min	10 h 31 min	14 h 53 min	4 h	0%
Sun Feb 7	14 h 46 min	10 h 25 min	14 h 39 min	4 h	2%
Mon Feb 8	14 h 39 min	10 h 19 min	12 h 48 min	4 h	5%
Tue Feb 9	14 h 32 min	10 h 12 min	11 h	4 h	10%
Wed Feb 10	14 h 25 min	10 h 6 min	9 h 10 min	4 h	17%
Thu Feb 11	14 h 18 min	9 h 59 min	7 h 11 min	2 h 10 min	26%
Fri Feb 12	14 h 11 min	9 h 53 min	4 h 27 min	0 min	35%
Sat Feb 13	14 h 4 min	9 h 46 min	0 min	0 min	46%
Sun Feb 14	13 h 57 min	9 h 39 min	0 min	0 min	57%
Mon Feb 15	13 h 50 min	9 h 32 min	0 min	0 min	68%
Tue Feb 16	13 h 43 min	9 h 25 min	0 min	0 min	78%
Wed Feb 17	13 h 36 min	9 h 18 min	0 min	0 min	87%
Thu Feb 18	13 h 29 min	9 h 11 min	0 min	0 min	94%
Fri Feb 19	13 h 21 min	9 h 4 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Sat Feb 20	13 h 14 min	8 h 56 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Sun Feb 21	13 h 7 min	8 h 49 min	25 min	0 min	99%
Mon Feb 22	12 h 59 min	8 h 41 min	2 h 24 min	0 min	95%
Tue Feb 23	12 h 52 min	8 h 33 min	4 h 21 min	0 min	89%
Wed Feb 24	12 h 45 min	8 h 25 min	6 h 46 min	1 h 54 min	81%
Thu Feb 25	12 h 37 min	8 h 17 min	10 h 15 min	4 h	72%
Fri Feb 26	12 h 30 min	8 h 9 min	12 h 30 min	4 h	62%
Sat Feb 27	12 h 23 min	8 h 1 min	12 h 23 min	4 h	53%
Sun Feb 28	12 h 15 min	7 h 53 min	12 h 15 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 Kiruna in February?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 28 of 28 nights at Kiruna have civil darkness, and 8% of past February days reached Kp 5.
How dark is Kiruna in February?: Kiruna averages 13.9 hours of civil night a night in February 2027, from 15 h 27 min on the 1st to 12 h 15 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Kiruna in February?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Kiruna's 1 degree cell 74% mean cloud in February, against 75% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in February 2027 for aurora in Kiruna?: By darkness and moon alone, Feb 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Kiruna. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is February or March better in Kiruna?: By civil night times the clear share, February scores 3.6 hours at Kiruna and March 3.3. 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.