Quebec, CanadaMagnetic latitude 55.8°Population 5,60215 m above sea level
Northern lights in Sainte-Anne-des-Monts
Sainte-Anne-des-Monts needs an active night: from about Kp 3.3 the aurora appears low over the north-north-west horizon, and it rises higher as activity grows. Since 1995 storms of Kp 4.7 or more reached this place during darkness on 981 nights.
Right now
It is still light here. Darkness starts at 18:33.
Updates every minute while this page is open.
Tonight in one minute
Yes — good chance tonight
- Solar activity Strong enough: Kp 3.7 expected, 3.3 needed here.
- Sky Mostly clear (15% cloud).
- Darkness Dark from 18:33 to 05:48. A bright moon (77%) washes out faint displays.
What to do: Go somewhere dark around 23:00, give your eyes 15 minutes to adjust and look north-north-west, low over the horizon.
Thursday 22 October — Good chance · Kp 3.7 · best around 00:30 · Forecast cloud: 15%. · Reliability: medium
Each box is one night: the colour shows the chance, the number the expected Kp. Tap a night for details.
📅 Add these nights to your calendar — it updates itself (.ics)
How far ahead can the northern lights be forecast?
- Minutes to an hour: satellites 1.5 million km away measure the solar wind before it reaches Earth. This is the surest warning — the “Right now” box uses it.
- 1–3 days: when the Sun throws out a cloud of particles, it takes one to three days to arrive. NOAA's 3-hourly forecast covers these nights; the timing can still be off by a few hours.
- 4–27 days: the Sun turns once every 27 days, and regions that disturbed Earth's field last time often do it again. NOAA's 27-day outlook gives this rough trend — new eruptions are not in it yet.
Tonight
Updated 09:26 local time
Good chance
Best around 23:00. Forecast max Kp 3.7 (this place needs 3.3), average cloud 15%.
- Dark enough
- 18:33 – 05:48
- Sunset
- 17:24 · sunrise 06:57
- Moon
- 77% · ↑ 15:32 · ↓ 02:32
- Kp neededKp index: a 0–9 measure of geomagnetic activity. The higher it is, the further from the poles the aurora reaches.
- Kp 3.3
- Kp for photos
- In photos: from Kp 1.7 (a red glow low in the north-north-west).
- Look towards
- north-north-west (344°)
Cloud layers and weather
Low cloud blocks the aurora completely. Thin high cloud often still lets a bright aurora shine through, so a sky with only high cloud is worth a look.
| Time | Wed, 18 | Wed, 21 | Thu, 00 | Thu, 03 | Thu, 18 | Thu, 21 | Fri, 00 | Fri, 03 | Fri, 18 | Fri, 21 | Sat, 00 | Sat, 03 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 12% | 65% | 58% | 85% | 100% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Mid cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 7% | 8% |
| High cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Temperature | 6 °C | 3 °C | 3 °C | 4 °C | 5 °C | 3 °C | 2 °C | 2 °C | 1 °C | -1 °C | 0 °C | 0 °C |
| Feels like | 5 °C | 0 °C | 0 °C | 1 °C | 2 °C | 0 °C | -2 °C | -2 °C | 1 °C | -4 °C | -3 °C | -3 °C |
| Wind | 2 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 4 m/s | 4 m/s | 1 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s |
Cloud layers and weather: Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0).
Score = activity (NOAA Kp and OVATION) × clear sky (MET Norway) × darkness × moonlight. Methodology
Weather in Sainte-Anne-des-Monts
The aurora only shows through clear skies, so the weather matters as much as the Kp index. Here is the general forecast for Sainte-Anne-des-Monts: temperature, wind and the chance of rain for the coming days.
Planning further ahead? See the hour-by-hour weather forecast for Sainte-Anne-des-Monts on Atlas of Seasons.
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What you would see from Sainte-Anne-des-Monts
Facing north-north-west. Bands show where the aurora sits at two activity levels.
| Kp | What you see | Lower edge | Ray tops | Distance to the aurora |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 5° | 11° | 745 km |
| 3 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 9° | 18° | 523 km |
| 4 | Visible to the north-north-west | 18° | 32° | 300 km |
| 5 | Visible to the north-north-west | 53° | 68° | 78 km |
| 6 | Overhead and all around | – | – | – |
| 7 | Overhead, and also to the south-south-east | – | – | – |
| 8 | Overhead, and also to the south-south-east | – | – | – |
| 9 | Overhead, and also to the south-south-east | – | – | – |
The Kp scale in plain words
Kp is a 0–9 score for how strongly the Earth's magnetic field is being shaken by the solar wind. The higher it goes, the further from the poles the northern lights reach. Kp 0–2 is a quiet night; Kp 5 and above is a geomagnetic storm.
- Kp 0–2 Quiet camera in Sainte-Anne-des-Monts Only under the auroral oval: northern Norway, Swedish and Finnish Lapland, Iceland, Alaska, northern Canada.
- Kp 3 Unsettled eye in Sainte-Anne-des-Monts Bright in the Arctic; low on the horizon in central Scandinavia and southern Iceland.
- Kp 4 Active next 24 h Overhead in the Arctic; low in the north from southern Norway, Sweden, Finland and northern Scotland.
- Kp 5 Minor storm (G1) Scotland, southern Scandinavia, the Baltic states, the northern US states and southern Canada.
- Kp 6 Moderate storm (G2) Northern England, Denmark, northern Germany and Poland, the US Midwest — often clearer in photos than to the eye.
- Kp 7 Strong storm (G3) Most of the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Czechia; red glow in photos from France and the northern Alps.
- Kp 8 Severe storm (G4) Central Europe to the eye; red sky in photos from northern Italy, Spain, the Balkans and Turkey's Black Sea coast.
- Kp 9 Extreme storm (G5) Seen across Europe and the US; in photos as far south as the Mediterranean, Turkey and North Africa (May 2024).
Light pollution
Rural to suburban. Some sky glow from nearby lights. Moderate displays are fine; faint ones are easier a few kilometres out.
A noticeably darker area starts about 10 km to the east. Open in OpenStreetMap
Estimate from NASA VIIRS night-light data (sky-glow model within 50 km). Check access and private land before you go.
Hills and mountains
The horizon towards the north-north-west is open (terrain below 0.0°), so low aurora is not blocked.
From elevation data (AWS Terrain Tiles) along seven lines of sight up to 30 km.
Best months to see the aurora in Sainte-Anne-des-Monts
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
September has been the best month (11% of nights), followed by August (8%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 11% | 51% | 9.0 h | 8° / 15°C |
| October | 5% | 28% | 10.8 h | 3° / 9°C |
| November | 1% | 9% | 12.4 h | -4° / 1°C |
| December | 0.8% | 5% | 13.1 h | -11° / -5°C |
| January | 2% | 7% | 12.8 h | -15° / -9°C |
| February | 3% | 17% | 11.4 h | -15° / -9°C |
| March | 7% | 28% | 9.6 h | -11° / -4°C |
| April | 7% | 33% | 7.8 h | -4° / 3°C |
Aurora nights in Sainte-Anne-des-Monts since 1995
Nights when Kp reached 4.7 or more while it was dark here.
Most recent strong nights
- 4 October 2026 · Kp 5.0
- 7 September 2026 · Kp 5.0
- 3 July 2026 · Kp 7.0
- 24 June 2026 · Kp 5.0
- 15 May 2026 · Kp 5.7
- 18 April 2026 · Kp 5.3
- 17 April 2026 · Kp 5.3
- 2 April 2026 · Kp 5.3
Practical information
- Nearest airport
- Sept-Îles Airport (YZV) · 123 km
- Typical low / high in September
- 8° / 15°C
- What to wear
- Cool nights: layers, a windproof jacket, hat and gloves for standing still outside. Full clothing guide
- Emergency number
- 911
- Winter driving
- Rules are provincial: Québec requires winter tyres (mountain-snowflake symbol or studded) on Québec-registered vehicles Dec 1–Mar 15, and BC requires winter tyres or chains on signed routes Oct 1–Mar 31 (to Apr 30 on mountain passes/high-snowfall routes); road conditions via 511 Yukon (511yukon.ca), DriveNWT (drivenwt.ca), 511 Alberta, Manitoba 511 (manitoba511.ca) and DriveBC. Road conditions
- Access to land
- There is no national right to roam; private land requires the owner's permission, while national/provincial parks and Crown land are generally accessible subject to park rules, which vary by province and territory.
- Official space-weather service
- Space Weather Canada (Natural Resources Canada)
- Weather service
- Environment and Climate Change Canada (weather.gc.ca)
Questions and answers
What Kp do you need to see the aurora in Sainte-Anne-des-Monts?
Sainte-Anne-des-Monts needs an active night: from about Kp 3.3 the aurora appears low over the north-north-west horizon, and it rises higher as activity grows.
Which way should I look for the aurora in Sainte-Anne-des-Monts?
Face north-north-west (about 344° from true north). At Kp 3.3 the lower edge of the aurora sits roughly 18° above the horizon; stronger activity lifts it higher and further across the sky.
What is the best month to see the aurora in Sainte-Anne-des-Monts?
Over 2005–2025, September gave the best odds in Sainte-Anne-des-Monts (11% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by August (8%).
When is the aurora season in Sainte-Anne-des-Monts?
Sainte-Anne-des-Monts gets dark enough for the aurora all year round, though the long winter nights give the most hours to watch.
Is there much light pollution in Sainte-Anne-des-Monts?
Some sky glow from nearby lights. Moderate displays are fine; faint ones are easier a few kilometres out. A noticeably darker area starts about 10 km to the east.
When was the aurora last possible in Sainte-Anne-des-Monts?
Activity last reached storm level (Kp 5 or more) during darkness in Sainte-Anne-des-Monts on 4 October 2026 (Kp 5.0) — 981 such nights since 1995. Here the aurora also appears on many quieter nights.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Sainte-Anne-des-Monts share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- Ste-Anne-Des-Monts 0 km
- L'Anse-Sainte-Anne-des-Monts 2 km
- Mont-Albert 2 km
- Pointe-Sainte-Anne-des-Monts 6 km
- Sainte-Anne-des-Monts 6 km
- Tourelle 8 km
- Petite-Tourelle 10 km
- Saint-Joseph-des-Monts 11 km
- Ruisseau-Castor 13 km
- Cap-Seize 14 km
- Cap-au-Renard 20 km
- La Martre 22 km
- La Martre 24 km
- La Colonie 32 km
- Marsoui 33 km
- Marsoui 33 km