Where in Massachusetts is best for the aurora?

By geomagnetic latitude, Haverhill at 52.0°. No town sits at 60 degrees or more, so every town needs some activity.

Which town in Massachusetts has the longest December night?

Haverhill, with 13.8 hours of civil night on December 15.

Which town in Massachusetts has the clearest dark season?

Haverhill, with 59% 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 Massachusetts?

September for 6 of 12 towns, by civil night times the clear share of the sky. Each town page gives its own month.

Massachusetts aurora towns ranked: 29 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 Taunton and Fall River, 0.2 degrees. 11 neighbouring pairs sit within 0.5 degrees of each other, close enough that the order between them means little.

Of the 12 indexed towns in Massachusetts, 12 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	Haverhill	52.0°
2	Lowell	51.8°
3	Lynn	51.7°
4	Boston	51.6°
5	Framingham	51.5°
6	Worcester	51.5°
7	Weymouth	51.4°
8	Springfield	51.3°
9	Brockton	51.3°
10	Taunton	51.1°
11	Fall River	50.9°
12	New Bedford	50.8°

Ranked by December darkness

On December 15 the median town gets 13.8 hours of civil night, against 13.8 nationally. Haverhill has the most at 13.8 hours and Weymouth the least at 13.7. Every town keeps some civil darkness through the June solstice.

Civil night on December 15, longest first
Rank	Town	Value
1	Haverhill	13.8 h
2	Lowell	13.8 h
3	Lynn	13.8 h
4	Boston	13.8 h
5	Framingham	13.8 h
6	Worcester	13.8 h
7	Weymouth	13.7 h
8	Springfield	13.7 h
9	Brockton	13.7 h
10	Taunton	13.7 h
11	Fall River	13.7 h
12	New Bedford	13.7 h

Ranked by clear dark season

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology puts median cloud amount in the dark months at 60%, against 61% nationally. Haverhill is clearest at 59% and Springfield cloudiest at 61%. 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	Haverhill	59%
2	Lowell	59%
3	Boston	59%
4	Framingham	59%
5	Worcester	59%
6	Brockton	59%
7	New Bedford	60%
8	Lynn	60%
9	Weymouth	60%
10	Taunton	61%
11	Fall River	61%
12	Springfield	61%

Multiplying civil night by the clear share of the sky, September comes out best for 6 of the 12 towns and November for 6. SWPC notes a tendency toward larger storms near the equinoxes, which this score does not include.

Every town

29 towns in Massachusetts
Town	Dipole	Storm needed	Dec 15 night	Dark-month cloud	Best month
Haverhill	52.0°	G2 or more	13.8 h	59%	Nov
Methuen *	51.9°	G2 or more	13.8 h	59%	Nov
Lawrence *	51.9°	G2 or more	13.8 h	59%	Nov
Lowell	51.8°	G2 or more	13.8 h	59%	Nov
Peabody *	51.7°	G2 or more	13.8 h	60%	Sep
South Peabody *	51.7°	G2 or more	13.8 h	60%	Sep
Lynn	51.7°	G2 or more	13.8 h	60%	Sep
Malden *	51.6°	G2 or more	13.8 h	59%	Nov
Medford *	51.6°	G2 or more	13.8 h	59%	Nov
Revere *	51.6°	G2 or more	13.8 h	59%	Nov
Somerville *	51.6°	G2 or more	13.8 h	59%	Nov
Waltham *	51.6°	G2 or more	13.8 h	59%	Nov
Cambridge, Massachusetts *	51.6°	G2 or more	13.8 h	59%	Nov
Boston	51.6°	G2 or more	13.8 h	59%	Nov
Newton *	51.5°	G2 or more	13.8 h	59%	Nov
Brookline *	51.5°	G2 or more	13.8 h	59%	Nov
Framingham Center *	51.5°	G2 or more	13.8 h	59%	Nov
Dorchester *	51.5°	G2 or more	13.8 h	59%	Nov
Framingham	51.5°	G2 or more	13.8 h	59%	Nov
Worcester	51.5°	G2 or more	13.8 h	59%	Nov
Quincy *	51.5°	G2 or more	13.7 h	59%	Nov
Weymouth	51.4°	G2 or more	13.7 h	60%	Sep
North Chicopee *	51.4°	G2 or more	13.7 h	61%	Sep
Chicopee *	51.4°	G2 or more	13.7 h	61%	Sep
Springfield	51.3°	G2 or more	13.7 h	61%	Sep
Brockton	51.3°	G2 or more	13.7 h	59%	Nov
Taunton	51.1°	G2 or more	13.7 h	61%	Sep
Fall River	50.9°	G2 or more	13.7 h	61%	Sep
New Bedford	50.8°	G2 or more	13.7 h	60%	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 Massachusetts is best for the aurora?: By geomagnetic latitude, Haverhill at 52.0°. No town sits at 60 degrees or more, so every town needs some activity.
Which town in Massachusetts has the longest December night?: Haverhill, with 13.8 hours of civil night on December 15.
Which town in Massachusetts has the clearest dark season?: Haverhill, with 59% 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 Massachusetts?: September for 6 of 12 towns, by civil night times the clear share of the sky. Each town page gives its own month.

Top towns in Massachusetts

Other regions of United States

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.