Saint-Charles-Borromée · December 2026
Northern lights in Saint-Charles-Borromée in December 2026
Answer
December against the rest of the year
December cloud at Saint-Charles-Borromée averages 72% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 7 points cloudier than its yearly mean. September is Saint-Charles-Borromée's clearest month at 56%. By civil night times clear sky, December scores 3.9 hours at Saint-Charles-Borromée, 5th of 12. Trois-Rivières, 78 km away, averages the same 72%.
Civil night at Saint-Charles-Borromée starts December at 13 h 53 min and reaches 14 h 3 min 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. Saint-Charles-Borromée gets 234 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
40% lit
7.8 h
- 2
30% lit
9.0 h
- 3
21% lit
10.2 h
- 4
14% lit
11.3 h
- 5
8% lit
12.5 h
- 6
3% lit
13.6 h
- 7
1% lit
14.0 h
- 8
0% lit
14.0 h
- 9
1% lit
14.0 h
- 10
4% lit
13.7 h
- 11
9% lit
12.6 h
- 12
15% lit
11.5 h
- 13
22% lit
10.4 h
- 14
31% lit
9.3 h
- 15
40% lit
8.2 h
- 16
50% lit
7.1 h
- 17
60% lit
6.0 h
- 18
70% lit
4.7 h
- 19
80% lit
3.5 h
- 20
88% lit
2.1 h
- 21
95% lit
0.7 h
- 22
99% lit
0.0 h
- 23
100% lit
0.0 h
- 24
98% lit
0.0 h
- 25
93% lit
1.4 h
- 26
86% lit
2.9 h
- 27
77% lit
4.2 h
- 28
67% lit
5.5 h
- 29
56% lit
6.7 h
- 30
46% lit
7.9 h
- 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
Saint-Charles-Borromée 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%. Saint-Charles-Borromée sits at 55.3 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 6, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less.
December across Canada
Saint-Charles-Borromée ranks 21st in Canada for civil night on December 15, behind Yellowknife at 16.6 hours. Coming from November (13.4 hours at Saint-Charles-Borromée), December adds darkness, and January brings shorter nights (13.7 hours on the 15th). The December solstice falls on December 21, 15:49 Saint-Charles-Borromée time.
| Town | Civil night | Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Yellowknife | 16.6 h | 58% |
| Whitehorse | 16.2 h | 68% |
| Fort McMurray | 15.4 h | 69% |
| Fort St. John | 15.4 h | 69% |
| Grande Prairie | 15.2 h | 71% |
| Edmonton | 15.0 h | 72% |
| Prince Albert | 14.9 h | 70% |
| Lloydminster | 14.9 h | 71% |
| Saskatoon | 14.8 h | 70% |
| Red Deer | 14.8 h | 74% |
| Calgary | 14.6 h | 68% |
| Regina | 14.6 h | 72% |
| Saint-Charles-Borromée | 14.1 h | 72% |
Darkness and moon, every night
| Night | Civil | Astronomical | Moon-free dark | Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM | Moon lit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue Dec 1 | 13 h 53 min | 11 h 26 min | 7 h 49 min | 2 h 36 min | 40% |
| Wed Dec 2 | 13 h 54 min | 11 h 27 min | 9 h | 3 h 46 min | 30% |
| Thu Dec 3 | 13 h 55 min | 11 h 28 min | 10 h 10 min | 4 h | 21% |
| Fri Dec 4 | 13 h 56 min | 11 h 29 min | 11 h 20 min | 4 h | 14% |
| Sat Dec 5 | 13 h 58 min | 11 h 30 min | 12 h 30 min | 4 h | 8% |
| Sun Dec 6 | 13 h 59 min | 11 h 31 min | 13 h 38 min | 4 h | 3% |
| Mon Dec 7 | 14 h | 11 h 32 min | 14 h | 4 h | 1% |
| Tue Dec 8 | 14 h 1 min | 11 h 33 min | 14 h 1 min | 4 h | 0% |
| Wed Dec 9 | 14 h 2 min | 11 h 34 min | 14 h 2 min | 4 h | 1% |
| Thu Dec 10 | 14 h 2 min | 11 h 35 min | 13 h 39 min | 4 h | 4% |
| Fri Dec 11 | 14 h 3 min | 11 h 35 min | 12 h 37 min | 4 h | 9% |
| Sat Dec 12 | 14 h 4 min | 11 h 36 min | 11 h 31 min | 4 h | 15% |
| Sun Dec 13 | 14 h 5 min | 11 h 36 min | 10 h 25 min | 4 h | 22% |
| Mon Dec 14 | 14 h 5 min | 11 h 37 min | 9 h 19 min | 4 h | 31% |
| Tue Dec 15 | 14 h 6 min | 11 h 37 min | 8 h 13 min | 3 h 21 min | 40% |
| Wed Dec 16 | 14 h 6 min | 11 h 37 min | 7 h 6 min | 2 h 14 min | 50% |
| Thu Dec 17 | 14 h 6 min | 11 h 38 min | 5 h 57 min | 1 h 4 min | 60% |
| Fri Dec 18 | 14 h 6 min | 11 h 38 min | 4 h 44 min | 0 min | 70% |
| Sat Dec 19 | 14 h 7 min | 11 h 38 min | 3 h 27 min | 0 min | 80% |
| Sun Dec 20 | 14 h 7 min | 11 h 38 min | 2 h 5 min | 0 min | 88% |
| Mon Dec 21 | 14 h 7 min | 11 h 38 min | 44 min | 0 min | 95% |
| Tue Dec 22 | 14 h 7 min | 11 h 38 min | 0 min | 0 min | 99% |
| Wed Dec 23 | 14 h 7 min | 11 h 38 min | 0 min | 0 min | 100% |
| Thu Dec 24 | 14 h 6 min | 11 h 38 min | 2 min | 0 min | 98% |
| Fri Dec 25 | 14 h 6 min | 11 h 38 min | 1 h 27 min | 0 min | 93% |
| Sat Dec 26 | 14 h 6 min | 11 h 37 min | 2 h 52 min | 0 min | 86% |
| Sun Dec 27 | 14 h 5 min | 11 h 37 min | 4 h 13 min | 0 min | 77% |
| Mon Dec 28 | 14 h 5 min | 11 h 36 min | 5 h 29 min | 22 min | 67% |
| Tue Dec 29 | 14 h 4 min | 11 h 36 min | 6 h 42 min | 1 h 36 min | 56% |
| Wed Dec 30 | 14 h 3 min | 11 h 35 min | 7 h 52 min | 2 h 47 min | 46% |
| Thu Dec 31 | 14 h 3 min | 11 h 35 min | 9 h 2 min | 3 h 58 min | 36% |
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Saint-Charles-Borromée in December?
- On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Saint-Charles-Borromée have civil darkness, and 1% of past December days reached Kp 6.
- How dark is Saint-Charles-Borromée in December?
- Saint-Charles-Borromée averages 14.1 hours of civil night a night in December 2026, from 13 h 53 min on the 1st to 14 h 3 min on the last night.
- How cloudy is Saint-Charles-Borromée in December?
- NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Saint-Charles-Borromée's 1 degree cell 72% 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 Saint-Charles-Borromée?
- By darkness and moon alone, Dec 3, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Saint-Charles-Borromée. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
- Is December or January better in Saint-Charles-Borromée?
- By civil night times the clear share, December scores 3.9 hours at Saint-Charles-Borromée and January 4.7. January comes out ahead.
Sources and verification
- SunCalchttps://github.com/mourner/suncalc
- NASA POWER climatologyhttps://power.larc.nasa.gov/docs/services/api/temporal/climatology/
- GFZ Potsdam Kp indexhttps://kp.gfz.de/en/data
- NOAA SWPC, Tips on viewing the aurorahttps://www.spaceweather.gov/content/tips-viewing-aurora
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.