Can you see the northern lights in Kotlas in February?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 28 of 28 nights at Kotlas have civil darkness, and 1% of past February days reached Kp 6.

How dark is Kotlas in February?

Kotlas averages 13.3 hours of civil night a night in February 2027, from 14 h 25 min on the 1st to 12 h 6 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Kotlas in February?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Kotlas's 1 degree cell 73% 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 Kotlas?

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

Is February or March better in Kotlas?

By civil night times the clear share, February scores 3.6 hours at Kotlas and March 2.7. February comes out ahead.

Kotlas · February 2027

Northern lights in Kotlas in February 2027

Answer

February gives Kotlas 13.2 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 4th darkest of its 12 months, under 73% mean cloud. 1% of February days since 1996 reached Kp 6, enough for the oval edge to reach Kotlas.

13.3 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 61.26, 46.65; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

February against the rest of the year

3.4

3.6

2.7

2.4

1.3

0.0

0.7

2.0

2.4

1.4

1.5

2.8

February cloud at Kotlas averages 73% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, close to its yearly mean of 74%. July is Kotlas's clearest month at 63%. That makes February the best month of Kotlas's year by civil night times clear sky, 3.6 hours. Syktyvkar, 226 km away, averages 70%, clearer by 3 points.

Civil night at Kotlas starts February at 14 h 25 min and reaches 12 h 6 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 9.9 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/Moscow dates. Kotlas gets 200 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
14.4 h
2
12% lit
14.3 h
3
7% lit
14.3 h
4
3% lit
14.2 h
5
1% lit
14.1 h
6
0% lit
14.0 h
New
7
1% lit
13.8 h
8
5% lit
12.3 h
9
10% lit
10.8 h
10
17% lit
9.3 h
11
25% lit
7.7 h
12
35% lit
6.0 h
13
45% lit
4.2 h
14
56% lit
2.3 h
15
67% lit
0.7 h
16
78% lit
0.0 h
17
87% lit
0.0 h
18
94% lit
0.0 h
19
98% lit
0.0 h
20
100% lit
0.0 h
21
99% lit
0.3 h
Full
22
95% lit
2.0 h
23
89% lit
3.6 h
24
81% lit
5.2 h
25
73% lit
6.9 h
26
63% lit
8.6 h
27
53% lit
10.2 h
28
44% lit
11.6 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

Kotlas needs Kp 6 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 11 of the 848 February days from 1996 to 2025 (1%) 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%. Kotlas sits at 55.9 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 6, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less.

February across Russia

Kotlas ranks 26th in Russia for civil night on February 15, behind Norilsk at 14.0 hours. Coming from January (15.6 hours at Kotlas), 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 Russia
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Norilsk	14.0 h	60%
Talnakh	14.0 h	60%
Severomorsk	14.0 h	82%
Kayyerkan	14.0 h	62%
Dudinka	14.0 h	62%
Zapolyarnyy	14.0 h	80%
Nikel	14.0 h	80%
Murmansk	13.9 h	77%
Olenegorsk	13.9 h	77%
Vorkuta	13.8 h	70%
Apatity	13.8 h	76%
Monchegorsk	13.8 h	76%
Kotlas	13.2 h	73%

Darkness and moon, every night

Kotlas, 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 25 min	10 h 59 min	14 h 25 min	4 h	19%
Tue Feb 2	14 h 20 min	10 h 55 min	14 h 20 min	4 h	12%
Wed Feb 3	14 h 16 min	10 h 51 min	14 h 16 min	4 h	7%
Thu Feb 4	14 h 11 min	10 h 46 min	14 h 11 min	4 h	3%
Fri Feb 5	14 h 6 min	10 h 42 min	14 h 6 min	4 h	1%
Sat Feb 6	14 h 1 min	10 h 37 min	14 h 1 min	4 h	0%
Sun Feb 7	13 h 56 min	10 h 33 min	13 h 47 min	4 h	1%
Mon Feb 8	13 h 51 min	10 h 28 min	12 h 16 min	4 h	5%
Tue Feb 9	13 h 46 min	10 h 24 min	10 h 46 min	4 h	10%
Wed Feb 10	13 h 41 min	10 h 19 min	9 h 15 min	4 h	17%
Thu Feb 11	13 h 36 min	10 h 14 min	7 h 39 min	2 h 44 min	25%
Fri Feb 12	13 h 31 min	10 h 9 min	5 h 57 min	1 h 5 min	35%
Sat Feb 13	13 h 26 min	10 h 5 min	4 h 9 min	0 min	45%
Sun Feb 14	13 h 21 min	10 h	2 h 17 min	0 min	56%
Mon Feb 15	13 h 16 min	9 h 55 min	40 min	0 min	67%
Tue Feb 16	13 h 11 min	9 h 49 min	0 min	0 min	78%
Wed Feb 17	13 h 5 min	9 h 44 min	0 min	0 min	87%
Thu Feb 18	13 h	9 h 39 min	0 min	0 min	94%
Fri Feb 19	12 h 55 min	9 h 34 min	0 min	0 min	98%
Sat Feb 20	12 h 49 min	9 h 28 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Sun Feb 21	12 h 44 min	9 h 23 min	18 min	0 min	99%
Mon Feb 22	12 h 39 min	9 h 18 min	1 h 58 min	0 min	95%
Tue Feb 23	12 h 33 min	9 h 12 min	3 h 36 min	0 min	89%
Wed Feb 24	12 h 28 min	9 h 6 min	5 h 14 min	1 h 6 min	81%
Thu Feb 25	12 h 22 min	9 h 1 min	6 h 53 min	2 h 48 min	73%
Fri Feb 26	12 h 17 min	8 h 55 min	8 h 34 min	4 h	63%
Sat Feb 27	12 h 11 min	8 h 49 min	10 h 13 min	4 h	53%
Sun Feb 28	12 h 6 min	8 h 43 min	11 h 37 min	4 h	44%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Kotlas in February?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 28 of 28 nights at Kotlas have civil darkness, and 1% of past February days reached Kp 6.
How dark is Kotlas in February?: Kotlas averages 13.3 hours of civil night a night in February 2027, from 14 h 25 min on the 1st to 12 h 6 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Kotlas in February?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Kotlas's 1 degree cell 73% 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 Kotlas?: By darkness and moon alone, Feb 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Kotlas. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is February or March better in Kotlas?: By civil night times the clear share, February scores 3.6 hours at Kotlas and March 2.7. 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.