Can you see the northern lights in Tri-Cities in February?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 28 of 28 nights at Tri-Cities have civil darkness, and 0% of past February days reached Kp 7.

How dark is Tri-Cities in February?

Tri-Cities averages 12.5 hours of civil night a night in February 2027, from 13 h 7 min on the 1st to 11 h 48 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Tri-Cities in February?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Tri-Cities's 1 degree cell 68% mean cloud in February, against 56% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in February 2027 for aurora in Tri-Cities?

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

Is February or March better in Tri-Cities?

By civil night times the clear share, February scores 4.0 hours at Tri-Cities and March 3.4. February comes out ahead.

Tri-Cities · February 2027

Northern lights in Tri-Cities in February 2027

Answer

February gives Tri-Cities 12.5 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 4th darkest of its 12 months, under 68% mean cloud. 0% of February days since 1996 reached Kp 7, enough for the oval edge to reach Tri-Cities.

12.5 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 46.25, -119.20; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

February against the rest of the year

2.9

4.0

3.4

3.6

3.4

3.7

5.4

6.2

6.3

5.3

4.0

3.2

February cloud at Tri-Cities averages 68% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 12 points cloudier than its yearly mean. July is Tri-Cities's clearest month at 26%. By civil night times clear sky, February scores 4.0 hours at Tri-Cities, 6th of 12. Seattle, 282 km away, averages 74%, cloudier by 6 points.

Civil night at Tri-Cities starts February at 13 h 7 min and reaches 11 h 48 min by February 28, 1.3 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 10.1 hours on the 15th.

February night by night

February opens toward a new moon on Feb 6, with full moon on Feb 20, in America/Los_Angeles dates. Tri-Cities gets 184 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
16% lit
11.7 h
2
10% lit
12.4 h
3
5% lit
12.9 h
4
2% lit
13.0 h
5
0% lit
12.9 h
6
0% lit
12.9 h
New
7
3% lit
12.1 h
8
7% lit
10.9 h
9
13% lit
9.8 h
10
20% lit
8.6 h
11
29% lit
7.4 h
12
39% lit
6.1 h
13
50% lit
4.8 h
14
61% lit
3.5 h
15
72% lit
2.4 h
16
82% lit
1.4 h
17
90% lit
0.7 h
18
96% lit
0.1 h
19
99% lit
0.0 h
20
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
21
97% lit
0.9 h
22
93% lit
2.2 h
23
86% lit
3.4 h
24
78% lit
4.7 h
25
68% lit
5.8 h
26
59% lit
7.0 h
27
49% lit
8.1 h
28
40% lit
8.9 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

Tri-Cities needs Kp 7 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 1 of the 848 February days from 1996 to 2025 (0%) 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%. Tri-Cities sits at 52.1 degrees geomagnetic. The lowest NOAA storm level whose typical viewing latitude reaches it is G3 (Kp = 7). By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead only at Kp 7.

February across United States

Tri-Cities ranks 5th in United States for civil night on February 15, behind Fairbanks at 13.5 hours. Coming from January (13.7 hours at Tri-Cities), February loses darkness, and March brings shorter nights (11.0 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on February 15 and February cloud, month-page towns in United States
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Fairbanks	13.5 h	59%
Anchorage	13.2 h	69%
Eagle River	13.2 h	69%
Juneau	13.0 h	75%
Tri-Cities	12.5 h	68%
Seattle	12.5 h	74%
Duluth	12.5 h	59%
Fargo	12.5 h	60%
Minneapolis	12.4 h	61%
Buffalo	12.4 h	82%
Portland, Maine	12.4 h	63%

Darkness and moon, every night

Tri-Cities, 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	13 h 7 min	10 h 45 min	11 h 41 min	4 h	16%
Tue Feb 2	13 h 4 min	10 h 43 min	12 h 22 min	4 h	10%
Wed Feb 3	13 h 2 min	10 h 40 min	12 h 54 min	4 h	5%
Thu Feb 4	12 h 59 min	10 h 38 min	12 h 59 min	4 h	2%
Fri Feb 5	12 h 57 min	10 h 35 min	12 h 57 min	4 h	0%
Sat Feb 6	12 h 54 min	10 h 33 min	12 h 54 min	4 h	0%
Sun Feb 7	12 h 51 min	10 h 30 min	12 h 4 min	4 h	3%
Mon Feb 8	12 h 48 min	10 h 28 min	10 h 55 min	4 h	7%
Tue Feb 9	12 h 46 min	10 h 25 min	9 h 46 min	4 h	13%
Wed Feb 10	12 h 43 min	10 h 23 min	8 h 35 min	4 h	20%
Thu Feb 11	12 h 40 min	10 h 20 min	7 h 22 min	2 h 51 min	29%
Fri Feb 12	12 h 37 min	10 h 17 min	6 h 5 min	1 h 36 min	39%
Sat Feb 13	12 h 34 min	10 h 14 min	4 h 47 min	19 min	50%
Sun Feb 14	12 h 31 min	10 h 12 min	3 h 31 min	0 min	61%
Mon Feb 15	12 h 28 min	10 h 9 min	2 h 22 min	0 min	72%
Tue Feb 16	12 h 25 min	10 h 6 min	1 h 25 min	0 min	82%
Wed Feb 17	12 h 22 min	10 h 3 min	41 min	0 min	90%
Thu Feb 18	12 h 19 min	10 h	7 min	0 min	96%
Fri Feb 19	12 h 16 min	9 h 57 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Sat Feb 20	12 h 13 min	9 h 54 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Sun Feb 21	12 h 10 min	9 h 51 min	54 min	0 min	97%
Mon Feb 22	12 h 7 min	9 h 48 min	2 h 11 min	0 min	93%
Tue Feb 23	12 h 4 min	9 h 45 min	3 h 26 min	0 min	86%
Wed Feb 24	12 h 1 min	9 h 42 min	4 h 39 min	48 min	78%
Thu Feb 25	11 h 58 min	9 h 39 min	5 h 51 min	2 h 2 min	68%
Fri Feb 26	11 h 55 min	9 h 36 min	7 h	3 h 12 min	59%
Sat Feb 27	11 h 52 min	9 h 33 min	8 h 3 min	4 h	49%
Sun Feb 28	11 h 48 min	9 h 29 min	8 h 57 min	4 h	40%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Tri-Cities in February?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 28 of 28 nights at Tri-Cities have civil darkness, and 0% of past February days reached Kp 7.
How dark is Tri-Cities in February?: Tri-Cities averages 12.5 hours of civil night a night in February 2027, from 13 h 7 min on the 1st to 11 h 48 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Tri-Cities in February?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Tri-Cities's 1 degree cell 68% mean cloud in February, against 56% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in February 2027 for aurora in Tri-Cities?: By darkness and moon alone, Feb 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Tri-Cities. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is February or March better in Tri-Cities?: By civil night times the clear share, February scores 4.0 hours at Tri-Cities 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.