Live lightning map of Quebec
Most of Quebec's thunderstorms occur in summer in the St. Lawrence valley and the south, while lightning in the boreal north can spark forest fires.
The map above updates on its own, with no refreshing needed. Each dot is a lightning flash. Newest strikes flash white and fade to red and purple over the hour. Tap “Near me” to see the distance and direction to the closest strike from where you are.
Lightning maps for places in Quebec
Other places in Canada
Frequently asked questions
- Is there lightning near Quebec right now?
- The map shows every lightning flash detected over Quebec in the last hour and keeps updating on its own. Newest strikes flash white, then fade through yellow and orange to red and purple as they age. Tap “Near me” to see the distance and direction to the closest strike, and whether storms are getting closer.
- How far away can lightning strike?
- Lightning can strike 10 miles (16 km) or more from the storm that produces it, often out of a clear sky. If you can hear thunder, you are close enough to be struck. Go indoors and wait at least 30 minutes after the last thunder before going back outside.
- Where does the lightning data come from?
- Over the Americas and the surrounding oceans, strikes come from the Geostationary Lightning Mapper on NOAA's GOES-East and GOES-West satellites. It detects in-cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning, day and night, over land and sea. Over the Nordics and Baltics we add ground-sensor data from the Finnish Meteorological Institute, which also measures each strike's peak current.
- How live is the map?
- Satellite data arrives in 20-second batches, about a minute after the lightning happens. Instead of dumping a batch all at once, the map replays each strike at the moment it happened. The badge at the top shows exactly how far behind real time it is, usually around a minute.
- How accurate are the strike locations?
- Satellite detections are accurate to roughly 8–10 km. That's ideal for tracking storms, but not for finding the exact spot a bolt hit. Ground-network strikes in the Nordics are typically accurate to within a few hundred metres.
- Is Boltwatch free?
- Yes. There's no sign-up and no app to install. Open the page and the map runs.