Can you see the northern lights in Piteå in February?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 28 of 28 nights at Piteå have civil darkness, and 83% of past February days reached Kp 2.

How dark is Piteå in February?

Piteå averages 13.6 hours of civil night a night in February 2027, from 14 h 59 min on the 1st to 12 h 11 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Piteå in February?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Piteå's 1 degree cell 72% mean cloud in February, against 71% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

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

Is February or March better in Piteå?

By civil night times the clear share, February scores 3.8 hours at Piteå and March 3.4. February comes out ahead.

Piteå · February 2027

Northern lights in Piteå in February 2027

Answer

February gives Piteå 13.6 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 4th darkest of its 12 months, under 72% mean cloud. 83% of February days since 1996 reached Kp 2, enough for the oval edge to reach Piteå.

13.6 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 65.32, 21.48; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

February against the rest of the year

3.9

3.8

3.4

2.1

0.0

1.5

2.8

3.3

4.1

4.3

February cloud at Piteå averages 72% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, close to its yearly mean of 71%. July is Piteå's clearest month at 66%. By civil night times clear sky, February scores 3.8 hours at Piteå, 4th of 12. Luleå, 43 km away, averages 77%, cloudier by 5 points.

Civil night at Piteå starts February at 14 h 59 min and reaches 12 h 11 min by February 28, 2.8 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 9.7 hours on the 15th.

February night by night

February opens toward a new moon on Feb 6, with full moon on Feb 21, in Europe/Stockholm dates. Piteå gets 208 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
15.0 h
2
12% lit
14.9 h
3
7% lit
14.8 h
4
3% lit
14.7 h
5
0% lit
14.6 h
6
0% lit
14.5 h
New
7
2% lit
14.2 h
8
5% lit
12.5 h
9
10% lit
10.8 h
10
17% lit
9.2 h
11
26% lit
7.3 h
12
35% lit
5.4 h
13
46% lit
2.9 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
2.3 h
23
89% lit
4.1 h
24
81% lit
5.9 h
25
72% lit
8.1 h
26
62% lit
12.4 h
27
53% lit
12.3 h
28
43% lit
12.2 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

Piteå needs Kp 2 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 703 of the 848 February days from 1996 to 2025 (83%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, one of the three most active months for that level; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 8%. Piteå sits at 63.1 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 2.

February across Sweden

Piteå ranks 2nd in Sweden for civil night on February 15, behind Kiruna at 13.8 hours. Coming from January (16.4 hours at Piteå), February loses darkness, and March brings shorter nights (10.5 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%
Piteå	13.6 h	72%
Luleå	13.6 h	77%
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

Piteå, 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 59 min	11 h	14 h 59 min	4 h	19%
Tue Feb 2	14 h 53 min	10 h 55 min	14 h 53 min	4 h	12%
Wed Feb 3	14 h 48 min	10 h 50 min	14 h 48 min	4 h	7%
Thu Feb 4	14 h 42 min	10 h 45 min	14 h 42 min	4 h	3%
Fri Feb 5	14 h 36 min	10 h 40 min	14 h 36 min	4 h	0%
Sat Feb 6	14 h 30 min	10 h 34 min	14 h 30 min	4 h	0%
Sun Feb 7	14 h 24 min	10 h 29 min	14 h 13 min	4 h	2%
Mon Feb 8	14 h 18 min	10 h 23 min	12 h 31 min	4 h	5%
Tue Feb 9	14 h 12 min	10 h 18 min	10 h 51 min	4 h	10%
Wed Feb 10	14 h 6 min	10 h 12 min	9 h 9 min	4 h	17%
Thu Feb 11	14 h	10 h 6 min	7 h 21 min	2 h 34 min	26%
Fri Feb 12	13 h 54 min	10 h 1 min	5 h 22 min	38 min	35%
Sat Feb 13	13 h 47 min	9 h 55 min	2 h 56 min	0 min	46%
Sun Feb 14	13 h 41 min	9 h 49 min	0 min	0 min	57%
Mon Feb 15	13 h 35 min	9 h 43 min	0 min	0 min	68%
Tue Feb 16	13 h 29 min	9 h 36 min	0 min	0 min	78%
Wed Feb 17	13 h 22 min	9 h 30 min	0 min	0 min	87%
Thu Feb 18	13 h 16 min	9 h 24 min	0 min	0 min	94%
Fri Feb 19	13 h 10 min	9 h 18 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Sat Feb 20	13 h 3 min	9 h 11 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Sun Feb 21	12 h 57 min	9 h 5 min	25 min	0 min	99%
Mon Feb 22	12 h 50 min	8 h 58 min	2 h 15 min	0 min	95%
Tue Feb 23	12 h 44 min	8 h 51 min	4 h 4 min	0 min	89%
Wed Feb 24	12 h 37 min	8 h 44 min	5 h 55 min	1 h 23 min	81%
Thu Feb 25	12 h 31 min	8 h 37 min	8 h 4 min	3 h 27 min	72%
Fri Feb 26	12 h 24 min	8 h 30 min	12 h 24 min	4 h	62%
Sat Feb 27	12 h 18 min	8 h 23 min	12 h 18 min	4 h	53%
Sun Feb 28	12 h 11 min	8 h 16 min	12 h 11 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 Piteå in February?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 28 of 28 nights at Piteå have civil darkness, and 83% of past February days reached Kp 2.
How dark is Piteå in February?: Piteå averages 13.6 hours of civil night a night in February 2027, from 14 h 59 min on the 1st to 12 h 11 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Piteå in February?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Piteå's 1 degree cell 72% mean cloud in February, against 71% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in February 2027 for aurora in Piteå?: By darkness and moon alone, Feb 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Piteå. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is February or March better in Piteå?: By civil night times the clear share, February scores 3.8 hours at Piteå and March 3.4. 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.