Quebec, Canada
Northern lights in Québec
Answer
Tonight
Waiting on darkness
It is not civil-dark yet. The next dusk is listed below.
Observed 11:55 UTC, forecast 13:26 UTC, 91 min lead
Clock times in America/Toronto
Storm level needed
Québec sits at 46.81N 71.21W in Quebec, Canada. The IGRF-14 centered dipole puts Québec at 56.0 degrees geomagnetic latitude, 9.2 degrees closer to the magnetic pole than its map latitude suggests. Québec sits at 56.0 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 5, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less.
"aurora is commonly visible at high latitudes (northern Michigan and Maine)"
The nearest other Glow towns are Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures (20 km), Thetford-Mines (80 km), Saint-Georges (88 km). Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures sits 0.1 degrees lower on the dipole, Kp 6 against 5 here.
Approximate: SWPC calls its Kp to latitude rule an average, and a centered dipole can differ by a degree from fuller field models. How the storm level is matched
The year in darkness
Every night of 2026 at Québec has some civil darkness; the shortest month sample still has 6.7 hours. Every evening of the year at Québec clears Glow's dark-season bar of 4 hours of civil night between 18:00 and 06:00. Québec's longest night of the year, Dec 16, has 14 h 11 min of civil night.
Solar midnight at Québec, when the sun is lowest, falls at 23:40 on local clocks on December 15 and 00:45 on June 15. That is 20 min before midnight in December and 45 min after midnight in June, the gap set by daylight saving and the equation of time. So at Québec the darkest hour sits near the middle of SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window in winter.
Month by month
| Month | Night | Civil | Cloud | Clear dark | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 13.8 h | 11.3 h | 67% | 4.6 hbest | |
| Feb | 12.5 h | 10.1 h | 66% | 4.3 h | |
| Mar | 11.0 h | 8.6 h | 63% | 4.1 h | |
| Apr | 9.2 h | 6.5 h | 67% | 3.0 h | |
| May | 7.6 h | 4.1 h | 69% | 2.4 h | |
| Jun | 6.7 h | 2.0 h | 65% | 2.3 h | |
| Jul | 7.2 h | 3.2 h | 62% | 2.7 h | |
| Aug | 8.6 h | 5.7 h | 60% | 3.4 h | |
| Sep | 10.3 h | 7.9 h | 57% | 4.5 h | |
| Oct | 12.0 h | 9.7 h | 70% | 3.6 h | |
| Nov | 13.4 h | 11.0 h | 74% | 3.5 h | |
| Dec | 14.2 h | 11.7 h | 74% | 3.7 h |
By the 15th-of-the-month sample, December is the darkest month at Québec with 14.2 hours of civil night and June the lightest at 6.7. Across the year Québec gets 3,844 hours of civil night. Astronomical night at Québec, the sun 18 degrees or more below the horizon, lasts 11.7 hours on December 15.
NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology puts mean cloud amount for the 1 degree cell around Québec at 66% across the year, from 57% in September to 74% in November. In the months with at least 4 hours of civil night Québec averages 66%, against a median of 67% for Glow towns in Canada.
Multiplying civil night by the clear share of the sky gives January the best score, 4.6 hours, ahead of September at 4.5. Québec's equinox months score 4.1 in March and 4.5 in September, the weeks SWPC links with larger storms.
Kp history
From 1996 to 2025, the GFZ Potsdam record shows a 3-hour Kp of 5 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge over Québec, on 10% of days. At Québec's level the share runs from 5% in December to 14% in September, while storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 10%.
Share of UTC days in each calendar month whose highest 3-hour Kp reached Kp 5. Kp history by year
Moon, next 30 nights
Over the 30 nights from Oct 1, the new moon falls on Oct 10 and the full moon on Oct 26, in America/Toronto dates. 15 of the 30 nights at Québec have at least 2 moon-free dark hours inside 10 PM to 2 AM, and Oct 6 has the most at 4 h. Tonight Québec has 11 h 14 min of civil night, 2 h 1 min of it with the moon down.
- 1
66% lit
2.0 h
- 2
55% lit
3.1 h
- 3
43% lit
4.4 h
- 4
32% lit
5.8 h
- 5
22% lit
7.2 h
- 6
14% lit
8.5 h
- 7
7% lit
9.8 h
- 8
3% lit
11.1 h
- 9
0% lit
11.7 h
- 10
0% lit
11.7 h
- 11
3% lit
11.8 h
- 12
7% lit
11.8 h
- 13
12% lit
11.6 h
- 14
19% lit
10.9 h
- 15
27% lit
10.2 h
- 16
36% lit
9.3 h
- 17
45% lit
8.3 h
- 18
55% lit
7.2 h
- 19
64% lit
6.1 h
- 20
73% lit
4.9 h
- 21
82% lit
3.8 h
- 22
89% lit
2.6 h
- 23
95% lit
1.4 h
- 24
99% lit
0.1 h
- 25
100% lit
0.0 h
- 26
98% lit
0.0 h
- 27
94% lit
0.0 h
- 28
88% lit
0.7 h
- 29
79% lit
1.8 h
- 30
69% lit
3.0 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.
Within Canada
Among the 31 Glow towns in Quebec, Québec ranks 10th by dipole latitude against a regional median of 55.3 degrees; Sept-Îles sits highest at 59.3. Among the 130 Glow towns in Canada, Québec ranks 53rd by dipole latitude against a national median of 55.3 degrees; Yellowknife sits highest at 68.5. On December 15 Québec gets 14.2 hours of civil night, 63rd longest of 130 in Canada, where the median is 14.2.
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Québec?
- Québec sits at 56.0 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 5, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less. Clear, dark sky over Québec still decides it.
- When is it dark enough in Québec?
- Every night at Québec has civil darkness. Tonight has 11 h 14 min, and December 15 has 14.2 hours.
- What is the best month for aurora in Québec?
- January, by civil night at Québec times the clear share of the sky from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 average.
- How cloudy is Québec in the dark months?
- About 66% mean cloud amount over Québec in the months with at least 4 hours of civil night, from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology.
- How often is activity high enough for Québec?
- A 3-hour Kp of 5 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge overhead, occurred on 10% of days from 1996 to 2025 in the GFZ Potsdam record.
Nearby and related
Nearest Glow towns
Québec by month
Region and comparisons