Longyearbyen · February 2027
Northern lights in Longyearbyen in February 2027
Answer
February against the rest of the year
February cloud at Longyearbyen averages 72% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 4 points clearer than its yearly mean. April is Longyearbyen's clearest month at 67%. By civil night times clear sky, February scores 4.5 hours at Longyearbyen, 4th of 12. Alta, 945 km away, averages 79%, cloudier by 7 points.
Civil night at Longyearbyen starts February at 20 h 17 min and reaches 12 h 44 min by February 28, 7.5 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 7.7 hours on the 15th.
February night by night
February opens toward a new moon on Feb 6, with full moon on Feb 21, in Arctic/Longyearbyen dates. Longyearbyen gets 248 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
20.3 h
- 2
12% lit
19.9 h
- 3
7% lit
19.5 h
- 4
3% lit
19.2 h
- 5
0% lit
18.8 h
- 6
0% lit
18.5 h
- 7
2% lit
18.2 h
- 8
5% lit
14.9 h
- 9
10% lit
10.9 h
- 10
17% lit
6.3 h
- 11
26% lit
0.0 h
- 12
35% lit
0.0 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
0.3 h
- 22
95% lit
4.7 h
- 23
89% lit
10.7 h
- 24
81% lit
13.7 h
- 25
72% lit
13.5 h
- 26
62% lit
13.2 h
- 27
53% lit
13.0 h
- 28
43% lit
12.7 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 Longyearbyen, 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. Longyearbyen sits at 75.3 degrees geomagnetic, poleward of SWPC's 60 to 75 degree band. The quiet oval can lie south of the town, so aurora often shows low in the southern sky, and storms push the oval farther south.
February across Svalbard and Jan Mayen
Coming from January (24.0 hours at Longyearbyen), February loses darkness, and March brings shorter nights (8.9 hours on the 15th).
Darkness and moon, every night
| Night | Civil | Astronomical | Moon-free dark | Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM | Moon lit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon Feb 1 | 20 h 17 min | 10 h 45 min | 20 h 17 min | 4 h | 19% |
| Tue Feb 2 | 19 h 53 min | 10 h 34 min | 19 h 53 min | 4 h | 12% |
| Wed Feb 3 | 19 h 31 min | 10 h 23 min | 19 h 31 min | 4 h | 7% |
| Thu Feb 4 | 19 h 10 min | 10 h 11 min | 19 h 10 min | 4 h | 3% |
| Fri Feb 5 | 18 h 50 min | 9 h 59 min | 18 h 50 min | 4 h | 0% |
| Sat Feb 6 | 18 h 30 min | 9 h 47 min | 18 h 30 min | 4 h | 0% |
| Sun Feb 7 | 18 h 12 min | 9 h 35 min | 18 h 12 min | 4 h | 2% |
| Mon Feb 8 | 17 h 54 min | 9 h 22 min | 14 h 55 min | 4 h | 5% |
| Tue Feb 9 | 17 h 36 min | 9 h 9 min | 10 h 52 min | 4 h | 10% |
| Wed Feb 10 | 17 h 19 min | 8 h 56 min | 6 h 20 min | 2 h 19 min | 17% |
| Thu Feb 11 | 17 h 2 min | 8 h 43 min | 0 min | 0 min | 26% |
| Fri Feb 12 | 16 h 46 min | 8 h 29 min | 0 min | 0 min | 35% |
| Sat Feb 13 | 16 h 30 min | 8 h 15 min | 0 min | 0 min | 46% |
| Sun Feb 14 | 16 h 14 min | 8 h | 0 min | 0 min | 57% |
| Mon Feb 15 | 15 h 58 min | 7 h 45 min | 0 min | 0 min | 68% |
| Tue Feb 16 | 15 h 43 min | 7 h 30 min | 0 min | 0 min | 78% |
| Wed Feb 17 | 15 h 27 min | 7 h 14 min | 0 min | 0 min | 87% |
| Thu Feb 18 | 15 h 12 min | 6 h 57 min | 0 min | 0 min | 94% |
| Fri Feb 19 | 14 h 57 min | 6 h 40 min | 0 min | 0 min | 99% |
| Sat Feb 20 | 14 h 42 min | 6 h 22 min | 0 min | 0 min | 100% |
| Sun Feb 21 | 14 h 27 min | 6 h 4 min | 18 min | 0 min | 99% |
| Mon Feb 22 | 14 h 12 min | 5 h 44 min | 4 h 44 min | 0 min | 95% |
| Tue Feb 23 | 13 h 57 min | 5 h 23 min | 10 h 40 min | 2 h 36 min | 89% |
| Wed Feb 24 | 13 h 43 min | 5 h 2 min | 13 h 43 min | 4 h | 81% |
| Thu Feb 25 | 13 h 28 min | 4 h 38 min | 13 h 28 min | 4 h | 72% |
| Fri Feb 26 | 13 h 13 min | 4 h 13 min | 13 h 13 min | 4 h | 62% |
| Sat Feb 27 | 12 h 59 min | 3 h 44 min | 12 h 59 min | 4 h | 53% |
| Sun Feb 28 | 12 h 44 min | 3 h 12 min | 12 h 44 min | 4 h | 43% |
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Longyearbyen in February?
- On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 28 of 28 nights at Longyearbyen have civil darkness, and 8% of past February days reached Kp 5.
- How dark is Longyearbyen in February?
- Longyearbyen averages 16.2 hours of civil night a night in February 2027, from 20 h 17 min on the 1st to 12 h 44 min on the last night.
- How cloudy is Longyearbyen in February?
- NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Longyearbyen's 1 degree cell 72% mean cloud in February, against 76% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
- What is the best night in February 2027 for aurora in Longyearbyen?
- By darkness and moon alone, Feb 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Longyearbyen. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
- Is February or March better in Longyearbyen?
- By civil night times the clear share, February scores 4.5 hours at Longyearbyen 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.