I thought it funny that you'd be heading north to see the comet this December as we were thinking of heading south!
We do get lovely summers here on southern Vancouver Island, no rain in July, low humidity and more sunshine than Yuma, the sunniest place on Earth. The winters though are something else, often no snow & mild temperatures, but lots of rain, and nearly always cloudy. As a result, we are thinking of taking a quick trip south to see the comet. If it does survive the pass by the Sun it should be a spectacular object, but it does look as though the predictions of it being brighter than the Full Moon are for when it will be very close to the Sun and therefore a daytime object.
As for the aurora, we can see them here when there is a big display, but I have not seen any yet this cycle. There have been some huge displays, seen down as far south as northern California, Kansas etc, but they have always been just after I've gone to bed or it has been raining. With the second Max predicted for December, I have great hopes as surely we will have the odd clear night that will coincide with a display.
