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Montréal-Nord · December 2026

Northern lights in Montréal-Nord in December 2026

Answer

December gives Montréal-Nord 14.1 hours of civil night on the 15th, the darkest month of its year, under 76% mean cloud. 1% of December days since 1996 reached Kp 6, enough for the oval edge to reach Montréal-Nord.
14.0 h
civil night, average night
SunCalc for 45.60, -73.63; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

December against the rest of the year

December cloud at Montréal-Nord averages 76% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 11 points cloudier than its yearly mean. September is Montréal-Nord's clearest month at 54%. By civil night times clear sky, December scores 3.4 hours at Montréal-Nord, 8th of 12. Trois-Rivières, 118 km away, averages 72%, clearer by 4 points.

Civil night at Montréal-Nord starts December at 13 h 50 min and reaches 14 h by December 31 as the nights lengthen by 0.2 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 11.6 hours on the 15th.

December night by night

December opens toward a new moon on Dec 8, with full moon on Dec 23, in America/Toronto dates. Montréal-Nord gets 233 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: Dec 3 (4 h), Dec 4 (4 h), Dec 5 (4 h).

  1. 1

    40% lit

    7.8 h

  2. 2

    30% lit

    9.0 h

  3. 3

    21% lit

    10.1 h

  4. 4

    14% lit

    11.3 h

  5. 5

    8% lit

    12.4 h

  6. 6

    3% lit

    13.6 h

  7. 7

    1% lit

    13.9 h

  8. 8

    0% lit

    14.0 h

  9. 9

    1% lit

    14.0 h

  10. 10

    4% lit

    13.6 h

  11. 11

    9% lit

    12.6 h

  12. 12

    15% lit

    11.5 h

  13. 13

    22% lit

    10.4 h

  14. 14

    31% lit

    9.3 h

  15. 15

    40% lit

    8.2 h

  16. 16

    50% lit

    7.1 h

  17. 17

    60% lit

    5.9 h

  18. 18

    70% lit

    4.7 h

  19. 19

    80% lit

    3.5 h

  20. 20

    88% lit

    2.1 h

  21. 21

    95% lit

    0.8 h

  22. 22

    99% lit

    0.0 h

  23. 23

    100% lit

    0.0 h

  24. 24

    98% lit

    0.1 h

  25. 25

    93% lit

    1.5 h

  26. 26

    86% lit

    2.9 h

  27. 27

    77% lit

    4.2 h

  28. 28

    67% lit

    5.5 h

  29. 29

    56% lit

    6.7 h

  30. 30

    46% lit

    7.8 h

  31. 31

    36% lit

    9.0 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 Decembers

Montréal-Nord needs Kp 6 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 11 of the 930 December days from 1996 to 2025 (1%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, one of the three quietest months for that level; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 5%. Montréal-Nord sits at 54.8 degrees geomagnetic. The lowest NOAA storm level whose typical viewing latitude reaches it is G3 (Kp = 7). By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead only at Kp 6.

December across Canada

Montréal-Nord ranks 21st in Canada for civil night on December 15, behind Yellowknife at 16.6 hours. Coming from November (13.4 hours at Montréal-Nord), December adds darkness, and January brings shorter nights (13.7 hours on the 15th). The December solstice falls on December 21, 15:49 Montréal-Nord time.

Civil night on December 15 and December cloud, month-page towns in Canada
TownCivil nightCloud
Yellowknife16.6 h58%
Whitehorse16.2 h68%
Fort McMurray15.4 h69%
Fort St. John15.4 h69%
Grande Prairie15.2 h71%
Edmonton15.0 h72%
Prince Albert14.9 h70%
Lloydminster14.9 h71%
Saskatoon14.8 h70%
Red Deer14.8 h74%
Calgary14.6 h68%
Regina14.6 h72%
Montréal-Nord14.1 h76%

Darkness and moon, every night

Montréal-Nord, December 2026: each night from local noon to the next noon
NightCivilAstronomicalMoon-free darkMoon-free, 10 PM to 2 AMMoon lit
Tue Dec 113 h 50 min11 h 25 min7 h 47 min2 h 36 min40%
Wed Dec 213 h 51 min11 h 26 min8 h 58 min3 h 47 min30%
Thu Dec 313 h 53 min11 h 27 min10 h 8 min4 h21%
Fri Dec 413 h 54 min11 h 28 min11 h 18 min4 h14%
Sat Dec 513 h 55 min11 h 29 min12 h 27 min4 h8%
Sun Dec 613 h 56 min11 h 30 min13 h 35 min4 h3%
Mon Dec 713 h 57 min11 h 31 min13 h 57 min4 h1%
Tue Dec 813 h 58 min11 h 32 min13 h 58 min4 h0%
Wed Dec 913 h 59 min11 h 33 min13 h 59 min4 h1%
Thu Dec 1014 h11 h 33 min13 h 36 min4 h4%
Fri Dec 1114 h 1 min11 h 34 min12 h 33 min4 h9%
Sat Dec 1214 h 1 min11 h 34 min11 h 28 min4 h15%
Sun Dec 1314 h 2 min11 h 35 min10 h 23 min4 h22%
Mon Dec 1414 h 2 min11 h 35 min9 h 17 min4 h31%
Tue Dec 1514 h 3 min11 h 36 min8 h 12 min3 h 20 min40%
Wed Dec 1614 h 3 min11 h 36 min7 h 5 min2 h 13 min50%
Thu Dec 1714 h 4 min11 h 36 min5 h 56 min1 h 3 min60%
Fri Dec 1814 h 4 min11 h 37 min4 h 44 min0 min70%
Sat Dec 1914 h 4 min11 h 37 min3 h 27 min0 min80%
Sun Dec 2014 h 4 min11 h 37 min2 h 6 min0 min88%
Mon Dec 2114 h 4 min11 h 37 min45 min0 min95%
Tue Dec 2214 h 4 min11 h 37 min0 min0 min99%
Wed Dec 2314 h 4 min11 h 37 min0 min0 min100%
Thu Dec 2414 h 4 min11 h 36 min3 min0 min98%
Fri Dec 2514 h 3 min11 h 36 min1 h 28 min0 min93%
Sat Dec 2614 h 3 min11 h 36 min2 h 52 min0 min86%
Sun Dec 2714 h 3 min11 h 36 min4 h 12 min0 min77%
Mon Dec 2814 h 2 min11 h 35 min5 h 28 min23 min67%
Tue Dec 2914 h 2 min11 h 35 min6 h 40 min1 h 36 min56%
Wed Dec 3014 h 1 min11 h 34 min7 h 50 min2 h 47 min46%
Thu Dec 3114 h11 h 33 min9 h3 h 57 min36%
Moon lit: SunCalc illuminated fraction at the middle of the 10 PM to 2 AM window.

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Montréal-Nord in December?
On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Montréal-Nord have civil darkness, and 1% of past December days reached Kp 6.
How dark is Montréal-Nord in December?
Montréal-Nord averages 14.0 hours of civil night a night in December 2026, from 13 h 50 min on the 1st to 14 h on the last night.
How cloudy is Montréal-Nord in December?
NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Montréal-Nord's 1 degree cell 76% mean cloud in December, against 65% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in December 2026 for aurora in Montréal-Nord?
By darkness and moon alone, Dec 3, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Montréal-Nord. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is December or January better in Montréal-Nord?
By civil night times the clear share, December scores 3.4 hours at Montréal-Nord and January 4.2. January comes out ahead.

Sources and verification

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.