Can you see the northern lights in West Des Moines in February?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 28 of 28 nights at West Des Moines have civil darkness, and 0% of past February days reached Kp 8.

How dark is West Des Moines in February?

West Des Moines averages 12.3 hours of civil night a night in February 2027, from 12 h 51 min on the 1st to 11 h 45 min on the last night.

How cloudy is West Des Moines in February?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives West Des Moines's 1 degree cell 64% mean cloud in February, against 57% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in February 2027 for aurora in West Des Moines?

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

Is February or March better in West Des Moines?

By civil night times the clear share, February scores 4.4 hours at West Des Moines and March 4.0. February comes out ahead.

West Des Moines · February 2027

Northern lights in West Des Moines in February 2027

Answer

February gives West Des Moines 12.3 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 4th darkest of its 12 months, under 64% mean cloud. 0% of February days since 1996 reached Kp 8, enough for the oval edge to reach West Des Moines.

12.3 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 41.58, -93.71; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

February against the rest of the year

4.7

4.4

4.0

3.8

3.2

3.4

4.3

4.7

5.9

5.6

4.9

February cloud at West Des Moines averages 64% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 7 points cloudier than its yearly mean. September is West Des Moines's clearest month at 44%. By civil night times clear sky, February scores 4.4 hours at West Des Moines, 7th of 12. Minneapolis, 380 km away, averages 61%, clearer by 3 points.

Civil night at West Des Moines starts February at 12 h 51 min and reaches 11 h 45 min by February 28, 1.1 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 10.2 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/Chicago dates. West Des Moines gets 181 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
17% lit
11.1 h
2
10% lit
11.8 h
3
5% lit
12.4 h
4
2% lit
12.8 h
5
0% lit
12.7 h
6
0% lit
12.7 h
New
7
2% lit
11.9 h
8
6% lit
10.8 h
9
12% lit
9.8 h
10
19% lit
8.7 h
11
28% lit
7.5 h
12
38% lit
6.3 h
13
49% lit
5.1 h
14
60% lit
3.9 h
15
71% lit
2.7 h
16
81% lit
1.8 h
17
90% lit
0.9 h
18
96% lit
0.3 h
19
99% lit
0.0 h
20
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
21
98% lit
0.8 h
22
93% lit
2.0 h
23
86% lit
3.2 h
24
78% lit
4.3 h
25
69% lit
5.5 h
26
60% lit
6.5 h
27
50% lit
7.6 h
28
40% lit
8.5 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

West Des Moines needs Kp 8 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, one of the three quietest months for that level; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 8%. West Des Moines sits at 50.1 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 8.

February across United States

West Des Moines ranks 11th in United States for civil night on February 15, behind Fairbanks at 13.5 hours. Coming from January (13.4 hours at West Des Moines), February loses darkness, and March brings shorter nights (11.1 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%
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%
West Des Moines	12.3 h	64%

Darkness and moon, every night

West Des Moines, 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	12 h 51 min	10 h 40 min	11 h 6 min	4 h	17%
Tue Feb 2	12 h 49 min	10 h 38 min	11 h 50 min	4 h	10%
Wed Feb 3	12 h 47 min	10 h 36 min	12 h 26 min	4 h	5%
Thu Feb 4	12 h 45 min	10 h 34 min	12 h 45 min	4 h	2%
Fri Feb 5	12 h 42 min	10 h 32 min	12 h 42 min	4 h	0%
Sat Feb 6	12 h 40 min	10 h 30 min	12 h 40 min	4 h	0%
Sun Feb 7	12 h 38 min	10 h 28 min	11 h 56 min	4 h	2%
Mon Feb 8	12 h 35 min	10 h 25 min	10 h 51 min	4 h	6%
Tue Feb 9	12 h 33 min	10 h 23 min	9 h 47 min	4 h	12%
Wed Feb 10	12 h 31 min	10 h 21 min	8 h 40 min	3 h 56 min	19%
Thu Feb 11	12 h 28 min	10 h 19 min	7 h 31 min	2 h 48 min	28%
Fri Feb 12	12 h 26 min	10 h 16 min	6 h 19 min	1 h 38 min	38%
Sat Feb 13	12 h 23 min	10 h 14 min	5 h 6 min	25 min	49%
Sun Feb 14	12 h 21 min	10 h 12 min	3 h 52 min	0 min	60%
Mon Feb 15	12 h 18 min	10 h 9 min	2 h 44 min	0 min	71%
Tue Feb 16	12 h 16 min	10 h 7 min	1 h 45 min	0 min	81%
Wed Feb 17	12 h 13 min	10 h 5 min	56 min	0 min	90%
Thu Feb 18	12 h 11 min	10 h 2 min	17 min	0 min	96%
Fri Feb 19	12 h 8 min	10 h	0 min	0 min	99%
Sat Feb 20	12 h 6 min	9 h 57 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Sun Feb 21	12 h 3 min	9 h 55 min	46 min	0 min	98%
Mon Feb 22	12 h 1 min	9 h 52 min	1 h 59 min	0 min	93%
Tue Feb 23	11 h 58 min	9 h 49 min	3 h 10 min	0 min	86%
Wed Feb 24	11 h 55 min	9 h 47 min	4 h 19 min	49 min	78%
Thu Feb 25	11 h 53 min	9 h 44 min	5 h 27 min	1 h 58 min	69%
Fri Feb 26	11 h 50 min	9 h 42 min	6 h 33 min	3 h 5 min	60%
Sat Feb 27	11 h 47 min	9 h 39 min	7 h 34 min	4 h	50%
Sun Feb 28	11 h 45 min	9 h 36 min	8 h 28 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 West Des Moines in February?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 28 of 28 nights at West Des Moines have civil darkness, and 0% of past February days reached Kp 8.
How dark is West Des Moines in February?: West Des Moines averages 12.3 hours of civil night a night in February 2027, from 12 h 51 min on the 1st to 11 h 45 min on the last night.
How cloudy is West Des Moines in February?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives West Des Moines's 1 degree cell 64% mean cloud in February, against 57% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in February 2027 for aurora in West Des Moines?: By darkness and moon alone, Feb 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at West Des Moines. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is February or March better in West Des Moines?: By civil night times the clear share, February scores 4.4 hours at West Des Moines and March 4.0. 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.