February Weather in Olonkinbyen Svalbard & Jan Mayen

Daily high temperatures are around 28°F, rarely falling below 18°F or exceeding 36°F.

Daily low temperatures are around 21°F, rarely falling below 9°F or exceeding 32°F.

For reference, on August 5, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Olonkinbyen typically range from 41°F to 45°F, while on March 4, the coldest day of the year, they range from 21°F to 28°F.

The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average temperatures for the quarter of the year centered on February. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day.

King Cove, United States (3,640 miles away) and Diamond Ridge, United States (3,239 miles) are the far-away foreign places with temperatures most similar to Olonkinbyen (view comparison).

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The month of February in Olonkinbyen experiences essentially constant cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy remaining about 88% throughout the month.

The clearest day of the month is February 12, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 13% of the time.

For reference, on January 19, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 89%, while on May 25, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 26%.

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Olonkinbyen, the chance of a wet day over the course of February is essentially constant, remaining around 28% throughout.

For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 32% on November 4, and its lowest chance is 11% on June 16.

Over the course of February in Olonkinbyen, the chance of a day with only rain remains an essentially constant 9% throughout, the chance of a day with mixed snow and rain remains an essentially constant 8% throughout, and the chance of a day with only snow remains an essentially constant 11% throughout.

Rainfall

To show variation within the month and not just the monthly total, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day.

The average sliding 31-day rainfall during February in Olonkinbyen is essentially constant, remaining about 0.7 inches throughout, and rarely exceeding 1.5 inches or falling below 0.1 inches.

Snowfall

As with rainfall, we consider the snowfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day.

The average sliding 31-day snowfall during February in Olonkinbyen is gradually increasing, starting the month at 9.2 inches, when it rarely exceeds 19.3 inches or falls below 1.2 inches, and ending the month at 9.5 inches, when it rarely exceeds 20.2 inches or falls below 1.7 inches.

Due to its extreme latitude, Olonkinbyen experiences polar day (also known as the midnight Sun) during the summer and polar night during the winter. These are periods of time in which the sun is continuously above or below the horizon for more than one day. The precise start and end dates of polar day and night vary from year to year and depend on the precise location and elevation of the observer, and the local topography.

Neither polar day nor polar night occur during the month of February.

Over the course of February in Olonkinbyen, the length of the day is very rapidly increasing. From the start to the end of the month, the length of the day increases by 5 hours, 1 minute, implying an average daily increase of 10 minutes, 45 seconds, and weekly increase of 1 hour, 15 minutes, 17 seconds.

The shortest day of the month is February 1, with 4 hours, 18 minutes of daylight and the longest day is February 29, with 9 hours, 19 minutes of daylight.

The latest sunrise of the month in Olonkinbyen is 11:40 AM on February 1 and the earliest sunrise is 2 hours, 31 minutes earlier at 9:08 AM on February 29.

The earliest sunset is 3:57 PM on February 1 and the latest sunset is 2 hours, 30 minutes later at 6:27 PM on February 29.

Daylight saving time is observed in Olonkinbyen during 2024, but it neither starts nor ends during February, so the entire month is in daylight saving time.

The figure below presents a compact representation of the sun's elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon) and azimuth (its compass bearing) for every hour of every day in the reporting period. The horizontal axis is the day of the year and the vertical axis is the hour of the day. For a given day and hour of that day, the background color indicates the azimuth of the sun at that moment. The black isolines are contours of constant solar elevation.

The figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for February 2024. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases. The label associated with each bar indicates the date and time that the phase is obtained, and the companion time labels indicate the rise and set times of the Moon for the nearest time interval in which the moon is above the horizon.

We base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night.

The chance that a given day will be muggy in Olonkinbyen is essentially constant during February, remaining around 0% throughout.

This section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages.

The average hourly wind speed in Olonkinbyen is essentially constant during February, remaining within 0.2 miles per hour of 20.4 miles per hour throughout.

For reference, on January 23, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 21.2 miles per hour, while on July 19, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 11.1 miles per hour.

The hourly average wind direction in Olonkinbyen throughout February is predominantly from the north, with a peak proportion of 43% on February 17.

Olonkinbyen is located near a large body of water (e.g., ocean, sea, or large lake). This section reports on the wide-area average surface temperature of that water.

The average surface water temperature in Olonkinbyen is essentially constant during February, remaining around 33°F throughout.

Definitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere).

The growing season in Olonkinbyen typically lasts for 3.1 months (94 days), from around June 18 to around September 20, rarely starting before May 30 or after July 9, and rarely ending before September 2 or after October 8.

The month of February in Olonkinbyen is reliably fully outside of the growing season.

Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F.

The average accumulated growing degree days in Olonkinbyen are essentially constant during February, remaining around 0°F throughout.

This section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation.

The average daily incident shortwave solar energy in Olonkinbyen is essentially constant during February, remaining within 0.2 kWh of 0.2 kWh throughout.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Olonkinbyen are 70.922 deg latitude, -8.719 deg longitude, and 164 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Olonkinbyen contains very significant variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 1,765 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 519 feet. Within 10 miles contains very significant variations in elevation (2,513 feet). Within 50 miles contains large variations in elevation (7,454 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Olonkinbyen is covered by sparse vegetation (43%), water (35%), and snow and glaciers (20%), within 10 miles by water (77%) and snow and glaciers (11%), and within 50 miles by water (98%).