Where in Quebec is best for the aurora?

By geomagnetic latitude, Sept-Îles at 59.3°. No town sits at 60 degrees or more, so every town needs some activity.

Which town in Quebec has the longest December night?

Sept-Îles, with 14.5 hours of civil night on December 15.

Which town in Quebec has the clearest dark season?

Saint-Jérôme, with 64% mean cloud amount in the months with at least 4 hours of civil night (NASA POWER, 2001 to 2020).

What is the best month for aurora in Quebec?

January for 15 of 31 towns, by civil night times the clear share of the sky. Each town page gives its own month.

Quebec aurora towns ranked: 51 places

Where the towns sit

60° geomagnetic or more, no storm needed55° to 60°, G1 or lessbelow 55°, storm needed

The widest gap in the dipole ranking falls between Rivière-du-Loup and Québec, 1.0 degrees. 27 neighbouring pairs sit within 0.5 degrees of each other, close enough that the order between them means little.

Of the 31 indexed towns in Quebec, 21 sit between 55 and 60 degrees, where G1 (Kp 5) or less usually brings aurora into view; 10 sit below 55 degrees and need a G2 or stronger storm by NOAA's typical latitudes.

Ranked by geomagnetic latitude

Dipole latitude, highest first
Rank	Town	Value
1	Sept-Îles	59.3°
2	Baie-Comeau	58.4°
3	Alma	57.8°
4	Amos	57.7°
5	Rimouski	57.6°
6	Saguenay	57.6°
7	Rouyn-Noranda	57.4°
8	Val-d'Or	57.3°
9	Rivière-du-Loup	57.0°
10	Québec	56.0°
11	Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures	55.9°
12	Shawinigan	55.8°
13	Trois-Rivières	55.6°
14	Saint-Georges	55.3°
15	Thetford-Mines	55.3°
16	Saint-Charles-Borromée	55.3°
17	Victoriaville	55.3°
18	Sorel-Tracy	55.3°
19	Joliette	55.2°
20	Drummondville	55.1°
21	Saint-Lin-Laurentides	55.1°
22	Saint-Jérôme	55.0°
23	Repentigny	55.0°
24	Saint-Louis-de-Terrebonne	54.9°
25	Saint-Hyacinthe	54.8°
26	Laval	54.8°
27	Montréal	54.7°
28	Pierrefonds-Roxboro	54.7°
29	Granby	54.6°
30	Sherbrooke	54.6°
31	Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu	54.5°

Ranked by December darkness

On December 15 the median town gets 14.1 hours of civil night, against 14.2 nationally. Sept-Îles has the most at 14.5 hours and Montréal the least at 14.0. Every town keeps some civil darkness through the June solstice.

Civil night on December 15, longest first
Rank	Town	Value
1	Sept-Îles	14.5 h
2	Baie-Comeau	14.4 h
3	Alma	14.4 h
4	Amos	14.4 h
5	Rimouski	14.3 h
6	Saguenay	14.3 h
7	Rouyn-Noranda	14.3 h
8	Val-d'Or	14.3 h
9	Rivière-du-Loup	14.3 h
10	Québec	14.2 h
11	Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures	14.2 h
12	Shawinigan	14.2 h
13	Trois-Rivières	14.1 h
14	Saint-Georges	14.1 h
15	Thetford-Mines	14.1 h
16	Saint-Charles-Borromée	14.1 h
17	Victoriaville	14.1 h
18	Sorel-Tracy	14.1 h
19	Joliette	14.1 h
20	Drummondville	14.1 h
21	Saint-Lin-Laurentides	14.1 h
22	Saint-Jérôme	14.1 h
23	Repentigny	14.1 h
24	Saint-Louis-de-Terrebonne	14.1 h
25	Saint-Hyacinthe	14.1 h
26	Laval	14.1 h
27	Montréal	14.0 h
28	Pierrefonds-Roxboro	14.0 h
29	Granby	14.0 h
30	Sherbrooke	14.0 h
31	Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu	14.0 h

Ranked by clear dark season

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology puts median cloud amount in the dark months at 65%, against 67% nationally. Saint-Jérôme is clearest at 64% and Rimouski cloudiest at 73%. These are all-hours averages for 1 degree cells, not forecasts.

Mean cloud amount in months with 4 hours or more of civil night, clearest first
Rank	Town	Value
1	Saint-Jérôme	64%
2	Shawinigan	65%
3	Trois-Rivières	65%
4	Saint-Charles-Borromée	65%
5	Sorel-Tracy	65%
6	Joliette	65%
7	Drummondville	65%
8	Saint-Lin-Laurentides	65%
9	Repentigny	65%
10	Saint-Louis-de-Terrebonne	65%
11	Saint-Hyacinthe	65%
12	Laval	65%
13	Montréal	65%
14	Pierrefonds-Roxboro	65%
15	Granby	65%
16	Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu	65%
17	Sept-Îles	66%
18	Québec	66%
19	Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures	66%
20	Saint-Georges	66%
21	Thetford-Mines	66%
22	Victoriaville	66%
23	Baie-Comeau	67%
24	Rivière-du-Loup	67%
25	Sherbrooke	68%
26	Amos	69%
27	Rouyn-Noranda	69%
28	Val-d'Or	70%
29	Alma	70%
30	Saguenay	70%
31	Rimouski	73%

Multiplying civil night by the clear share of the sky, January comes out best for 15 of the 31 towns and September for 13. SWPC notes a tendency toward larger storms near the equinoxes, which this score does not include.

Every town

51 towns in Quebec
Town	Dipole	Storm needed	Dec 15 night	Dark-month cloud	Best month
Sept-Îles	59.3°	G1 or less	14.5 h	66%	Jan
Baie-Comeau	58.4°	G1 or less	14.4 h	67%	Jan
Alma	57.8°	G1 or less	14.4 h	70%	Jan
Amos	57.7°	G1 or less	14.4 h	69%	Mar
Rimouski	57.6°	G1 or less	14.3 h	73%	Sep
Saguenay	57.6°	G1 or less	14.3 h	70%	Jan
Rouyn-Noranda	57.4°	G1 or less	14.3 h	69%	Mar
Val-d'Or	57.3°	G1 or less	14.3 h	70%	Mar
Rivière-du-Loup	57.0°	G1 or less	14.3 h	67%	Jan
Neufchâtel-Est-Lebourgneuf *	56.1°	G1 or less	14.2 h	66%	Jan
Québec	56.0°	G1 or less	14.2 h	66%	Jan
Lévis *	56.0°	G1 or less	14.2 h	66%	Jan
L'Ancienne-Lorette *	56.0°	G1 or less	14.2 h	66%	Jan
Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures	55.9°	G1 or less	14.2 h	66%	Jan
Shawinigan	55.8°	G1 or less	14.2 h	65%	Jan
Trois-Rivières	55.6°	G1 or less	14.1 h	65%	Jan
Sainte-Catherine *	55.5°	G1 or less	14.1 h	65%	Jan
Saint-Georges	55.3°	G1 or less	14.1 h	66%	Jan
Thetford-Mines	55.3°	G1 or less	14.1 h	66%	Jan
Saint-Charles-Borromée	55.3°	G1 or less	14.1 h	65%	Jan
Victoriaville	55.3°	G1 or less	14.1 h	66%	Jan
Sorel-Tracy	55.3°	G1 or less	14.1 h	65%	Jan
Joliette	55.2°	G1 or less	14.1 h	65%	Jan
Drummondville	55.1°	G1 or less	14.1 h	65%	Sep
Saint-Lin-Laurentides	55.1°	G1 or less	14.1 h	65%	Sep
L'Assomption *	55.0°	G1 or less	14.1 h	65%	Sep
Saint-Jérôme	55.0°	G2 or more	14.1 h	64%	Sep
Repentigny	55.0°	G2 or more	14.1 h	65%	Sep
Saint-Louis-de-Terrebonne	54.9°	G2 or more	14.1 h	65%	Sep
Terrebonne *	54.9°	G2 or more	14.1 h	65%	Sep
Rivière-des-Prairies-Pointe-aux-Trembles *	54.9°	G2 or more	14.1 h	65%	Sep
Saint-Hyacinthe	54.8°	G2 or more	14.1 h	65%	Sep
Montréal-Nord *	54.8°	G2 or more	14.1 h	65%	Sep
Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve *	54.8°	G2 or more	14.1 h	65%	Sep
Laval	54.8°	G2 or more	14.1 h	65%	Sep
Saint-Michel *	54.8°	G2 or more	14.1 h	65%	Sep
Villeray-Saint-Michel-Parc-Extension *	54.8°	G2 or more	14.1 h	65%	Sep
Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie *	54.7°	G2 or more	14.1 h	65%	Sep
Le Plateau-Mont-Royal *	54.7°	G2 or more	14.0 h	65%	Sep
Longueuil *	54.7°	G2 or more	14.0 h	65%	Sep
Montréal	54.7°	G2 or more	14.0 h	65%	Sep
Pierrefonds-Roxboro	54.7°	G2 or more	14.0 h	65%	Sep
Ville-Marie *	54.7°	G2 or more	14.0 h	65%	Sep
Le Sud-Ouest *	54.7°	G2 or more	14.0 h	65%	Sep
Gatineau *	54.7°	G2 or more	14.0 h	64%	Sep
Pierrefonds *	54.7°	G2 or more	14.0 h	65%	Sep
Brossard *	54.7°	G2 or more	14.0 h	65%	Sep
Granby	54.6°	G2 or more	14.0 h	65%	Sep
Sherbrooke	54.6°	G2 or more	14.0 h	68%	Sep
Aylmer *	54.6°	G2 or more	14.0 h	64%	Sep
Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu	54.5°	G2 or more	14.0 h	65%	Sep

* Within 15 km of a larger town with the same rounded figures; its page points to that town. Cloud: NASA POWER mean for months with at least 4 hours of civil night.

Questions

Where in Quebec is best for the aurora?: By geomagnetic latitude, Sept-Îles at 59.3°. No town sits at 60 degrees or more, so every town needs some activity.
Which town in Quebec has the longest December night?: Sept-Îles, with 14.5 hours of civil night on December 15.
Which town in Quebec has the clearest dark season?: Saint-Jérôme, with 64% mean cloud amount in the months with at least 4 hours of civil night (NASA POWER, 2001 to 2020).
What is the best month for aurora in Quebec?: January for 15 of 31 towns, by civil night times the clear share of the sky. Each town page gives its own month.

Top towns in Quebec

Other regions of Canada

More

Sources and verification

GeoNames dump (CC BY 4.0)https://download.geonames.org/export/dump/
IGRF-14, NOAA NCEIhttps://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/IAGA/vmod/coeffs/igrf14coeffs.txt
NASA POWER climatologyhttps://power.larc.nasa.gov/docs/services/api/temporal/climatology/

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.