Can you see the southern lights in Queenstown in February?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 28 of 28 nights at Queenstown have civil darkness, and 0% of past February days reached Kp 9.

How dark is Queenstown in February?

Queenstown averages 8.9 hours of civil night a night in February 2027, from 8 h 13 min on the 1st to 9 h 40 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Queenstown in February?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Queenstown's 1 degree cell 66% mean cloud in February, against 67% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

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

Is February or March better in Queenstown?

By civil night times the clear share, February scores 3.1 hours at Queenstown and March 3.7. March comes out ahead.

Queenstown · February 2027

Southern lights in Queenstown in February 2027

Answer

February gives Queenstown 9.0 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 9th darkest of its 12 months, under 66% mean cloud. 0% of February days since 1996 reached Kp 9, enough for the oval edge to reach Queenstown.

8.9 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for -45.03, 168.66; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

February against the rest of the year

2.3

3.1

3.7

4.2

4.5

5.0

5.1

4.3

3.6

2.9

2.2

1.9

February cloud at Queenstown averages 66% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, close to its yearly mean of 67%. July is Queenstown's clearest month at 63%. By civil night times clear sky, February scores 3.1 hours at Queenstown, 8th of 12. Anadyr, 12,230 km away, averages 60%, clearer by 6 points.

Civil night at Queenstown starts February at 8 h 13 min and reaches 9 h 40 min by February 28 as the nights lengthen by 1.4 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 6.3 hours on the 15th.

February night by night

February opens toward a new moon on Feb 7, with full moon on Feb 21, in Pacific/Auckland dates. Queenstown gets 128 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 2 (4 h), Feb 3 (4 h), Feb 4 (4 h).

1
23% lit
4.1 h
2
15% lit
5.0 h
3
9% lit
6.0 h
4
4% lit
7.0 h
5
1% lit
8.2 h
6
0% lit
8.5 h
7
1% lit
8.5 h
New
8
3% lit
8.6 h
9
7% lit
8.4 h
10
13% lit
8.2 h
11
21% lit
7.9 h
12
30% lit
7.6 h
13
41% lit
7.2 h
14
52% lit
6.6 h
15
63% lit
5.9 h
16
73% lit
5.0 h
17
83% lit
3.8 h
18
91% lit
2.4 h
19
97% lit
1.0 h
20
100% lit
0.0 h
21
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
22
97% lit
0.0 h
23
92% lit
0.2 h
24
85% lit
0.6 h
25
76% lit
1.0 h
26
67% lit
1.5 h
27
58% lit
2.0 h
28
48% lit
2.8 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

Queenstown needs Kp 9 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 0 of the 848 February days from 1996 to 2025 (0%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 4th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 8%. Queenstown sits at 48.8 degrees geomagnetic. The lowest NOAA storm level whose typical viewing latitude reaches it is G4 (Kp = 8, including a 9-). By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead only at Kp 9.

February across New Zealand

Coming from January (7.5 hours at Queenstown), February adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into March (10.5 hours on the 15th).

Darkness and moon, every night

Queenstown, 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	8 h 13 min	5 h 12 min	4 h 5 min	3 h 58 min	23%
Tue Feb 2	8 h 16 min	5 h 17 min	4 h 57 min	4 h	15%
Wed Feb 3	8 h 19 min	5 h 21 min	5 h 57 min	4 h	9%
Thu Feb 4	8 h 22 min	5 h 26 min	7 h 2 min	4 h	4%
Fri Feb 5	8 h 25 min	5 h 30 min	8 h 9 min	4 h	1%
Sat Feb 6	8 h 29 min	5 h 35 min	8 h 29 min	4 h	0%
Sun Feb 7	8 h 32 min	5 h 39 min	8 h 32 min	4 h	1%
Mon Feb 8	8 h 35 min	5 h 44 min	8 h 35 min	4 h	3%
Tue Feb 9	8 h 38 min	5 h 48 min	8 h 26 min	4 h	7%
Wed Feb 10	8 h 41 min	5 h 53 min	8 h 11 min	3 h 50 min	13%
Thu Feb 11	8 h 44 min	5 h 57 min	7 h 54 min	3 h 32 min	21%
Fri Feb 12	8 h 47 min	6 h 1 min	7 h 34 min	3 h 10 min	30%
Sat Feb 13	8 h 51 min	6 h 6 min	7 h 9 min	2 h 44 min	41%
Sun Feb 14	8 h 54 min	6 h 10 min	6 h 37 min	2 h 11 min	52%
Mon Feb 15	8 h 57 min	6 h 15 min	5 h 54 min	1 h 26 min	63%
Tue Feb 16	9 h	6 h 19 min	4 h 57 min	27 min	73%
Wed Feb 17	9 h 4 min	6 h 23 min	3 h 46 min	0 min	83%
Thu Feb 18	9 h 7 min	6 h 27 min	2 h 25 min	0 min	91%
Fri Feb 19	9 h 10 min	6 h 32 min	1 h 1 min	0 min	97%
Sat Feb 20	9 h 14 min	6 h 36 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Sun Feb 21	9 h 17 min	6 h 40 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Mon Feb 22	9 h 20 min	6 h 45 min	0 min	0 min	97%
Tue Feb 23	9 h 23 min	6 h 49 min	12 min	0 min	92%
Wed Feb 24	9 h 27 min	6 h 53 min	35 min	0 min	85%
Thu Feb 25	9 h 30 min	6 h 57 min	1 h	13 min	76%
Fri Feb 26	9 h 33 min	7 h 1 min	1 h 29 min	40 min	67%
Sat Feb 27	9 h 37 min	7 h 5 min	2 h 3 min	1 h 13 min	58%
Sun Feb 28	9 h 40 min	7 h 9 min	2 h 45 min	1 h 53 min	48%

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

Questions

Can you see the southern lights in Queenstown in February?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 28 of 28 nights at Queenstown have civil darkness, and 0% of past February days reached Kp 9.
How dark is Queenstown in February?: Queenstown averages 8.9 hours of civil night a night in February 2027, from 8 h 13 min on the 1st to 9 h 40 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Queenstown in February?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Queenstown's 1 degree cell 66% mean cloud in February, against 67% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in February 2027 for aurora in Queenstown?: By darkness and moon alone, Feb 2, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Queenstown. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is February or March better in Queenstown?: By civil night times the clear share, February scores 3.1 hours at Queenstown and March 3.7. March 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.