Sun Path: Victoria, Canada

Direct answer

For Victoria at 48.4359, -123.3516, the declination-only solar-noon altitude is approximately 65.0° at the June solstice, 41.6° at an equinox and 18.1° at the December solstice. Refine these geometry checks with the project date, civil time, facade azimuth, terrain and local horizon. The reproducible location record is GeoNames ID 6174041 in administrative area 02, at 48.4359, -123.3516; replace it with the surveyed parcel point before relying on the result. As a transparent geometry check, declination-only solar-noon altitude is about 65.0° at the June solstice, 41.6° at an equinox and 18.1° at the December solstice. Representative 21st-day geometry ranges from about 8.1 hours in December to 15.9 hours in June; this excludes atmospheric refraction, terrain and obstruction effects. The cited national authority is a discovery starting point; current local documents and a named qualified reviewer control project use of this sun path record.

Prepared by Harth · Prepared from the cited location and country sources; local project inputs remain unreviewed · Published 2026-08-26 · Updated 2026-08-31.

What must be verified for Victoria?

Victoria is represented here at approximately 48.4359, -123.3516 for discovery and workflow planning. A project address, parcel, elevation, exposure, authority, and submission date must replace that city-centre reference before design use.

How should sun path be established?

1. Fix the surveyed site and local time basis.
2. Select an authoritative weather source or a named solar-position algorithm.
3. Record period, percentile or scenario and units.
4. Test sensitivity to elevation, exposure, urban form and horizon.
5. Save the source file, retrieval date and checker in the model record.

What are the limits of this worksheet?

This sun-path-workflow page is a project-starting worksheet, not a design value or approval. The controlling authority and qualified professionals for the Victoria site remain authoritative.

Victoria monthly solar geometry check for sun path

Victoria solar-geometry fingerprint at 48.4359, -123.3516

• Victoria, 21 January: declination -20.14°, noon altitude 21.43°, zenith 68.57°, geometric daylight 8.743 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 2.548.
• Victoria, 21 February: declination -11.23°, noon altitude 30.34°, zenith 59.66°, geometric daylight 10.275 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 1.709.
• Victoria, 21 March: declination -0.40°, noon altitude 41.16°, zenith 48.84°, geometric daylight 11.939 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 1.144.
• Victoria, 21 April: declination +11.58°, noon altitude 53.14°, zenith 36.86°, geometric daylight 13.781 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.750.
• Victoria, 21 May: declination +20.14°, noon altitude 61.70°, zenith 28.30°, geometric daylight 15.257 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.538.
• Victoria, 21 June: declination +23.45°, noon altitude 65.01°, zenith 24.99°, geometric daylight 15.905 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.466.
• Victoria, 21 July: declination +20.44°, noon altitude 62.01°, zenith 27.99°, geometric daylight 15.314 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.532.
• Victoria, 21 August: declination +11.75°, noon altitude 53.32°, zenith 36.68°, geometric daylight 13.810 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.745.
• Victoria, 21 September: declination -0.20°, noon altitude 41.36°, zenith 48.64°, geometric daylight 11.970 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 1.136.
• Victoria, 21 October: declination -11.75°, noon altitude 29.81°, zenith 60.19°, geometric daylight 10.190 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 1.745.
• Victoria, 21 November: declination -20.44°, noon altitude 21.12°, zenith 68.88°, geometric daylight 8.686 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 2.589.
• Victoria, 21 December: declination -23.45°, noon altitude 18.11°, zenith 71.89°, geometric daylight 8.095 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 3.057.

Harth computed the Victoria fingerprint for latitude 48.4359° with the Cooper declination approximation, 90° - |latitude - declination| at solar noon, centre-to-centre sunrise hour angle and 1 / tan(altitude) shadow ratio. Longitude -123.3516° is retained for a later civil-time conversion; this screen does not perform that conversion. See NOAA's solar calculation details. Atmospheric refraction, terrain, facade azimuth and obstructions remain outside this first-pass comparison.

Where can you explore related guidance?

• Explore all solar data guidance
• Sun Path: Richmond, Canada
• Sun Path: Vancouver, Canada
• Sun Path: Surrey, Canada
• Sun Path: Newton, Canada
• All solar & daylight data guidance for Canada
• Climate Design Data: Victoria, Canada

Sources and method

Location data from the GeoNames CA dump (CC BY 4.0, snapshot 2026-08-31, GeoNames ID 6174041). Regulatory starting point: Codes Canada and the applicable provincial or territorial authority. Figures are illustrative — verify against the current locally adopted edition for the site. Solar-method context: NOAA Solar Calculation Details; the Harth monthly table uses a simpler declination and geometric-daylight approximation whose stated limitations must be retained.

Source links

• download.geonames.org

• nrc.canada.ca

• gml.noaa.gov