Can you see the northern lights in Yellowknife in February?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 28 of 28 nights at Yellowknife have civil darkness, and 8% of past February days reached Kp 5.

How dark is Yellowknife in February?

Yellowknife averages 13.3 hours of civil night a night in February 2027, from 14 h 32 min on the 1st to 12 h 5 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Yellowknife in February?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Yellowknife's 1 degree cell 51% mean cloud in February, against 63% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

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

Is February or March better in Yellowknife?

By civil night times the clear share, February scores 6.5 hours at Yellowknife and March 5.4. February comes out ahead.

Yellowknife · February 2027

Northern lights in Yellowknife in February 2027

Answer

February gives Yellowknife 13.3 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 4th darkest of its 12 months, under 51% mean cloud. 8% of February days since 1996 reached storm level, Kp 5.

13.3 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 62.45, -114.37; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

February against the rest of the year

7.0

6.5

5.4

3.0

1.0

0.0

2.1

3.2

2.4

3.8

7.0

February cloud at Yellowknife averages 51% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 12 points clearer than its yearly mean. March is Yellowknife's clearest month at 49%. By civil night times clear sky, February scores 6.5 hours at Yellowknife, 3rd of 12. Fort McMurray, 659 km away, averages 66%, cloudier by 15 points.

Civil night at Yellowknife starts February at 14 h 32 min and reaches 12 h 5 min by February 28, 2.5 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 9.8 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/Edmonton dates. Yellowknife gets 202 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
14.5 h
2
10% lit
14.4 h
3
5% lit
14.4 h
4
2% lit
14.3 h
5
0% lit
14.2 h
6
0% lit
14.1 h
New
7
2% lit
13.2 h
8
6% lit
11.7 h
9
12% lit
10.1 h
10
19% lit
8.5 h
11
28% lit
6.8 h
12
38% lit
5.0 h
13
49% lit
3.0 h
14
60% lit
0.9 h
15
71% lit
0.0 h
16
81% lit
0.0 h
17
90% lit
0.0 h
18
96% lit
0.0 h
19
99% lit
0.0 h
20
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
21
98% lit
1.1 h
22
93% lit
2.8 h
23
86% lit
4.4 h
24
78% lit
6.1 h
25
69% lit
7.9 h
26
60% lit
9.8 h
27
50% lit
12.2 h
28
40% lit
12.1 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

Quiet activity already puts the oval edge over Yellowknife, so storm days matter more: 67 of the 848 February days from 1996 to 2025 (8%) reached Kp 5, one of the three quietest months for that level. Yellowknife sits at 68.5 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 0.

February across Canada

No month-page town in Canada has more civil night on February 15 than Yellowknife; the national median is 12.6 hours. Coming from January (15.8 hours at Yellowknife), February loses darkness, and March brings shorter nights (10.6 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on February 15 and February cloud, month-page towns in Canada
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Yellowknife	13.3 h	51%
Whitehorse	13.2 h	61%
Grande Prairie	12.9 h	68%
Fort McMurray	12.9 h	66%
Fort St. John	12.9 h	67%
Edmonton	12.8 h	69%
Prince Albert	12.8 h	68%
Lloydminster	12.8 h	66%
Calgary	12.7 h	69%
Saskatoon	12.7 h	66%
Red Deer	12.7 h	70%
Winnipeg	12.6 h	56%

Darkness and moon, every night

Yellowknife, 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 32 min	10 h 58 min	14 h 32 min	4 h	17%
Tue Feb 2	14 h 27 min	10 h 53 min	14 h 27 min	4 h	10%
Wed Feb 3	14 h 22 min	10 h 49 min	14 h 22 min	4 h	5%
Thu Feb 4	14 h 17 min	10 h 44 min	14 h 17 min	4 h	2%
Fri Feb 5	14 h 12 min	10 h 40 min	14 h 12 min	4 h	0%
Sat Feb 6	14 h 7 min	10 h 35 min	14 h 7 min	4 h	0%
Sun Feb 7	14 h 1 min	10 h 30 min	13 h 13 min	4 h	2%
Mon Feb 8	13 h 56 min	10 h 25 min	11 h 41 min	4 h	6%
Tue Feb 9	13 h 51 min	10 h 20 min	10 h 8 min	3 h 21 min	12%
Wed Feb 10	13 h 46 min	10 h 15 min	8 h 32 min	1 h 48 min	19%
Thu Feb 11	13 h 40 min	10 h 10 min	6 h 50 min	9 min	28%
Fri Feb 12	13 h 35 min	10 h 5 min	5 h 1 min	0 min	38%
Sat Feb 13	13 h 29 min	10 h	3 h 2 min	0 min	49%
Sun Feb 14	13 h 24 min	9 h 55 min	57 min	0 min	60%
Mon Feb 15	13 h 19 min	9 h 49 min	0 min	0 min	71%
Tue Feb 16	13 h 13 min	9 h 44 min	0 min	0 min	81%
Wed Feb 17	13 h 7 min	9 h 38 min	0 min	0 min	90%
Thu Feb 18	13 h 2 min	9 h 33 min	0 min	0 min	96%
Fri Feb 19	12 h 56 min	9 h 27 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Sat Feb 20	12 h 51 min	9 h 22 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Sun Feb 21	12 h 45 min	9 h 16 min	1 h 4 min	0 min	98%
Mon Feb 22	12 h 39 min	9 h 10 min	2 h 46 min	16 min	93%
Tue Feb 23	12 h 34 min	9 h 4 min	4 h 26 min	2 h	86%
Wed Feb 24	12 h 28 min	8 h 58 min	6 h 8 min	3 h 44 min	78%
Thu Feb 25	12 h 22 min	8 h 52 min	7 h 54 min	4 h	69%
Fri Feb 26	12 h 16 min	8 h 46 min	9 h 46 min	4 h	60%
Sat Feb 27	12 h 11 min	8 h 40 min	12 h 11 min	4 h	50%
Sun Feb 28	12 h 5 min	8 h 34 min	12 h 5 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 Yellowknife in February?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 28 of 28 nights at Yellowknife have civil darkness, and 8% of past February days reached Kp 5.
How dark is Yellowknife in February?: Yellowknife averages 13.3 hours of civil night a night in February 2027, from 14 h 32 min on the 1st to 12 h 5 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Yellowknife in February?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Yellowknife's 1 degree cell 51% mean cloud in February, against 63% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in February 2027 for aurora in Yellowknife?: By darkness and moon alone, Feb 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Yellowknife. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is February or March better in Yellowknife?: By civil night times the clear share, February scores 6.5 hours at Yellowknife and March 5.4. 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.