Aurora Borealis in Val-d'Or

Canada · 48.10°, -77.80° · geomagnetic 57.4° · needs Kp 7

Tonight in Val-d'Or

14%

Peak chance of a visible display tonight, from the same model the Revon app runs. Val-d'Or needs Kp 7 to see anything at all, and tonight the forecast peaks at Kp 5.1. Short of the threshold, which is what most nights look like here.

Tonight Sun 02 Aug
14%
18
20
22
00
02
04
06
Tomorrow Mon 3 Aug
3%
Hour-by-hour for this night is in the app
Tuesday Tue 4 Aug
2%
Hour-by-hour for this night is in the app

Unlock every hour in the app

Updated 2026-08-02 20:20 UTC

The next 30 nights in Val-d'Or

Every night to come, scored the same way as tonight. The best of the open week is Sunday 2 Aug at 14%. Not one of the seven reaches the Kp 7 that Val-d'Or needs, which is normal rather than unlucky — it averages 3.2 viable nights a year. The 23 nights past the seven-day window move with the 27-day solar rotation and are updated daily in the app.

Low activity for the next few days. Moderate aurora expected on August 19th.

Sun 2
14%
Kp 5.1
Mon 3
3%
Kp 3.3
Tue 4
2%
Kp 1.3
Wed 5
2%
Kp 3.0
Thu 6
2%
Kp 3.0
Fri 7
2%
Kp 2.0
Sat 8
2%
Kp 2.0

Nights 8–30 unlock in the Revon app

See all 30 nights for Val-d'Or

Revon aurora model over the NOAA Kp forecast and 27-day outlook

How often the aurora borealis reaches Val-d'Or

3.2 nights a year, averaged across 10.0 years of records

Storm levelNights / year
Kp 483.4
Kp 528.7
Kp 69.3
Kp 73.2
Kp 81.2

NOAA planetary Kp, 2016-04-02 to 2026-03-30

Wait for an alert; do not book a week

At Kp 7, Val-d'Or needs a severe geomagnetic storm before anything shows above the northern horizon. Storms that size arrive a handful of times per solar cycle and announce themselves a day or two ahead. Watching for one beats picking dates and hoping.

Hours of true darkness, month by month

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
11.510.38.86.53.91.42.85.68.09.811.211.8

Solar declination and hour angle at −18°

Getting clear of the light

Val-d'Or is small enough that its own lights are a minor problem — the centre reads Bortle 5. Walking to the edge of town is often escape enough.

Falchi 2016 World Atlas (DOI: 10.5880/GFZ.1.4.2016.001)

The months that actually deliver

Counting only nights that were both stormy enough and dark enough, May, September and August came out ahead in Val-d'Or. That is storm season and darkness overlapping — the equinoxes tend to be geomagnetically active, and the nights are already long by then.

Darkest nights of the coming year

A bright moon washes out a weak display as effectively as street lighting. These new moons fall inside the Val-d'Or viewing season.

Where it is close to a certainty

If you would rather plan a trip than wait for a storm, the nearest place with genuinely frequent aurora is Nuuk, 2,376 km north-north-east in Greenland.

Val-d'OrNuuk
Kp needed73
Nights per year3.2 171.4
Geomagnetic latitude57.4° 72.6°

See the Nuuk forecast

Confirmed reports from this area

5 verified sightings were logged within 300 km of Val-d'Or between 2015-01-01 and 2016-12-31. Rare is not the same as impossible.

Aurorasaurus verified positive reports

Where the horizon opens up near Val-d'Or

The display sits low on the northern horizon, so what beats a better forecast is open ground facing that way. Height gets you above the town glow; water gives you an unbroken skyline. These are within a short drive of Val-d'Or.

Places from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)

Where to stay

Anywhere on the outskirts of Val-d'Or will do; what matters is being able to step outside and check the sky without a drive first.

Places from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0) — confirm before booking

The last nights it was visible here

Nights in the last decade when the storm was strong enough for Val-d'Or and the sky was dark enough to show it.

DatePeak
2026-03-20Kp 7.0
2026-01-20Kp 7.67
2026-01-19Kp 8.67
2025-11-12Kp 7.33
2025-11-11Kp 8.67

NOAA planetary Kp

Know when it is worth going outside

Revon watches the Val-d'Or forecast and pushes an alert when the odds for tonight clear your threshold — no checking, no guessing.

Get aurora alerts on iPhone

Common questions about the aurora borealis in Val-d'Or

Can you see the aurora borealis from Val-d'Or?

Yes. On the last 10.0 years of NOAA Kp records, Val-d'Or had about 3.2 nights a year when the storm was strong enough and the sky dark enough at the same time.

What Kp index do you need to see the aurora borealis in Val-d'Or?

Kp 7. Val-d'Or sits at geomagnetic latitude 57.4°, and the auroral oval only reaches that far from the pole once activity hits Kp 7. Storms that size occur about 3.2 nights a year.

When is the best time of year to see the aurora borealis in Val-d'Or?

May, September and August. Those months scored highest once both conditions are counted together: geomagnetic activity and enough hours of real darkness.

Where can you escape the light pollution near Val-d'Or?

The centre of Val-d'Or reads Bortle 5. The nearest sky at Bortle 3 is about 17 km north-north-east. On a marginal night that drive matters more than the forecast does.

Where is the nearest place to Val-d'Or with reliable aurora borealis?

Nuuk, Greenland — 2,376 km north-north-east. It needs only Kp 3 and averages 171.4 viable nights a year against 3.2 in Val-d'Or.

Nearby towns

Forecasts for places within reach of Val-d'Or.