Northern lights will probably occur Friday evening in southern Quebec. But they will be less intense than those of the middle of the month.
On its Northern Lights prediction site, the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) estimates the probability of Northern Lights in Nunavik to be very high and moderate in southern Quebec. In comparison, on Saturday evening, there is a moderate probability of northern lights in Nunavik and zero in southern Quebec.
The Northern Lights are caused by a solar storm caused by a “sunspot”, a region of the Sun with intense magnetic activity, leading to “solar flares”. These solar flares send particles towards Earth which alter the magnetic field protecting our planet. These alterations in the magnetic field cause the northern lights.
The sunspot that caused the spectacular northern lights on May 10 and 11 is back facing the Earth, after having made a complete rotation. According to an article published Wednesday on the Montreal Planetarium website, June 6 will be an ideal time to observe the northern lights, if a solar flare takes place at that time, since it will be a new moon, therefore of a night where it is not visible and where it is darker.