Northern lights in Alta in February
84%
of 4-night stays in February saw the northern lights at least once, by our estimate. On any one night the chance was 45%. February is the second-best month in Alta, after January (88%).
How long to stay in February
Chance of at least one good night, by length of stay, Alta in February, 2015–2025. 3 nights got you to about 3 in 4.
In a typical February, the longest run of nights without a single clear, dark hour was 5 nights. A stay shorter than that can fall entirely into one cloudy spell.
Week by week in February (4-night stay)
- 29 Jan – 4 Feb85%
- 5 Feb – 11 Feb85%
- 12 Feb – 18 Feb79%
- 19 Feb – 25 Feb85%
- 26 Feb – 3 Mar92%
February in Alta, year by year
Good nights in February, each year 2015–2025. The typical February had 14 good nights; the worst, 2016, had 6 and the best, 2025, had 19. 2023–2025, around the solar maximum, averaged 16 against 12 before.
A good night = at least one hour that was dark (sun below −12°), mostly clear (NASA POWER cloud data, calibrated on FMI weather stations) and had a Kp index at or above the Kp 0.9 that Alta needs (GFZ Potsdam). These are estimates, not sightings. How it works
Other destinations in February
Alta ranks 6th of 21 popular aurora destinations for February (4-night stays, 2015–2025).
Yellowknife
100%Churchill
99%Fairbanks
87%Kilpisjärvi
86%Abisko
84%Lofoten
81%Aurora tours in Alta in February
A guide with a car can drive to wherever the clouds break. With cloudy spells of 5 nights in a typical February, that matters here. Booking for your first night leaves the rest of the stay to try again if it's cloudy.
Alta in February: questions
February is the second-best month in Alta, after January (88%). In 2015–2025, 84% of 4-night stays in February saw the northern lights at least once, and an average February had 13 good nights (clear, dark and with auroras strong enough) out of 28. These are estimates from NASA cloud records and the Kp index, not sightings.
2 nights gave 66%, 4 nights gave 84%, 7 nights gave 96% odds of at least one good night in February (2015–2025). For about 3-in-4 odds, plan 3 nights or more. In a typical February, the longest run of nights without a single clear, dark hour was 5 nights. A stay shorter than that can fall entirely into one cloudy spell.
About 11.9 hours a night with the sun more than 12° below the horizon, which is dark enough for faint auroras. Of those, 3.1 hours a night were mostly clear on average, and 15 nights in an average February had at least one clear, dark hour.
Auroras can appear any time it's dark, but activity usually peaks around midnight, roughly 22:00 to 02:00. With about 11.9 hours of darkness a night in February, start looking as soon as it's dark and stay out past midnight if you can. The live forecast shows tonight's best hour.