Can you see the northern lights in Salekhard in February?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 28 of 28 nights at Salekhard have civil darkness, and 25% of past February days reached Kp 4.

How dark is Salekhard in February?

Salekhard averages 13.7 hours of civil night a night in February 2027, from 15 h 12 min on the 1st to 12 h 14 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Salekhard in February?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Salekhard's 1 degree cell 63% mean cloud in February, against 70% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

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

Is February or March better in Salekhard?

By civil night times the clear share, February scores 5.1 hours at Salekhard and March 3.6. February comes out ahead.

Salekhard · February 2027

Northern lights in Salekhard in February 2027

Answer

February gives Salekhard 13.7 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 4th darkest of its 12 months, under 63% mean cloud. 25% of February days since 1996 reached Kp 4, enough for the oval edge to reach Salekhard.

13.7 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 66.53, 66.61; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

February against the rest of the year

6.2

5.1

3.6

2.0

0.0

0.9

2.0

4.4

6.2

February cloud at Salekhard averages 63% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 7 points clearer than its yearly mean. January is Salekhard's clearest month at 63%. By civil night times clear sky, February scores 5.1 hours at Salekhard, 3rd of 12. Vorkuta, 155 km away, averages 70%, cloudier by 7 points.

Civil night at Salekhard starts February at 15 h 12 min and reaches 12 h 14 min by February 28, 3.0 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 9.6 hours on the 15th.

February night by night

February opens toward a new moon on Feb 6, with full moon on Feb 21, in Asia/Yekaterinburg dates. Salekhard gets 210 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
20% lit
15.2 h
2
13% lit
15.1 h
3
7% lit
15.0 h
4
3% lit
14.9 h
5
1% lit
14.8 h
6
0% lit
14.7 h
New
7
1% lit
14.6 h
8
4% lit
12.9 h
9
9% lit
11.2 h
10
16% lit
9.4 h
11
24% lit
7.5 h
12
34% lit
5.5 h
13
44% lit
2.1 h
14
55% lit
0.0 h
15
66% lit
0.0 h
16
77% lit
0.0 h
17
86% lit
0.0 h
18
93% lit
0.0 h
19
98% lit
0.0 h
20
100% lit
0.0 h
21
99% lit
0.2 h
Full
22
95% lit
2.1 h
23
90% lit
4.0 h
24
82% lit
5.9 h
25
73% lit
8.5 h
26
64% lit
12.5 h
27
54% lit
12.3 h
28
45% 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

Salekhard needs Kp 4 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 211 of the 848 February days from 1996 to 2025 (25%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 6th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 8%. Salekhard sits at 59.0 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 4, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less.

February across Russia

Salekhard ranks 17th in Russia for civil night on February 15, behind Norilsk at 14.0 hours. Coming from January (16.7 hours at Salekhard), February loses darkness, and March brings shorter nights (10.4 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%
Salekhard	13.7 h	63%

Darkness and moon, every night

Salekhard, 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 12 min	11 h 1 min	15 h 12 min	4 h	20%
Tue Feb 2	15 h 6 min	10 h 56 min	15 h 6 min	4 h	13%
Wed Feb 3	15 h	10 h 50 min	15 h	4 h	7%
Thu Feb 4	14 h 54 min	10 h 45 min	14 h 54 min	4 h	3%
Fri Feb 5	14 h 48 min	10 h 39 min	14 h 48 min	4 h	1%
Sat Feb 6	14 h 41 min	10 h 34 min	14 h 41 min	4 h	0%
Sun Feb 7	14 h 35 min	10 h 28 min	14 h 35 min	4 h	1%
Mon Feb 8	14 h 28 min	10 h 22 min	12 h 52 min	4 h	4%
Tue Feb 9	14 h 22 min	10 h 16 min	11 h 9 min	4 h	9%
Wed Feb 10	14 h 16 min	10 h 10 min	9 h 23 min	3 h 29 min	16%
Thu Feb 11	14 h 9 min	10 h 4 min	7 h 32 min	1 h 41 min	24%
Fri Feb 12	14 h 2 min	9 h 58 min	5 h 27 min	0 min	34%
Sat Feb 13	13 h 56 min	9 h 52 min	2 h 6 min	0 min	44%
Sun Feb 14	13 h 49 min	9 h 45 min	0 min	0 min	55%
Mon Feb 15	13 h 43 min	9 h 39 min	0 min	0 min	66%
Tue Feb 16	13 h 36 min	9 h 32 min	0 min	0 min	77%
Wed Feb 17	13 h 29 min	9 h 26 min	0 min	0 min	86%
Thu Feb 18	13 h 23 min	9 h 19 min	0 min	0 min	93%
Fri Feb 19	13 h 16 min	9 h 12 min	0 min	0 min	98%
Sat Feb 20	13 h 9 min	9 h 5 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Sun Feb 21	13 h 2 min	8 h 58 min	10 min	0 min	99%
Mon Feb 22	12 h 55 min	8 h 51 min	2 h 5 min	0 min	95%
Tue Feb 23	12 h 48 min	8 h 44 min	3 h 57 min	19 min	90%
Wed Feb 24	12 h 42 min	8 h 37 min	5 h 54 min	2 h 18 min	82%
Thu Feb 25	12 h 35 min	8 h 29 min	8 h 30 min	4 h	73%
Fri Feb 26	12 h 28 min	8 h 22 min	12 h 28 min	4 h	64%
Sat Feb 27	12 h 21 min	8 h 14 min	12 h 21 min	4 h	54%
Sun Feb 28	12 h 14 min	8 h 7 min	12 h 14 min	4 h	45%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Salekhard in February?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 28 of 28 nights at Salekhard have civil darkness, and 25% of past February days reached Kp 4.
How dark is Salekhard in February?: Salekhard averages 13.7 hours of civil night a night in February 2027, from 15 h 12 min on the 1st to 12 h 14 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Salekhard in February?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Salekhard's 1 degree cell 63% mean cloud in February, against 70% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in February 2027 for aurora in Salekhard?: By darkness and moon alone, Feb 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Salekhard. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is February or March better in Salekhard?: By civil night times the clear share, February scores 5.1 hours at Salekhard and March 3.6. 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.