Trip to see the Northern Lights

[cthatcher]

We are planning a trip in a few years to see the Northern Lights in Canada in our RV.
I was wondering if anybody had done this in the past and could let us know where to go to see them best without getting into bad weather and what time of year is the best time to go. We will be traveling from Maryland.

[FishHaggis]

Territorial parks here in the Northwest Territories close mid September, so right now is a good time to be here to do both, RV and see the lights. Was out this weekend at Reid Lake Territorial Park as the northern lights are getting interesting, but it actually rained the whole two days!!!! I heard they were quite good the week before. Seems obvious living up here, but please be aware that we have no darkness at all most of the summer as the sun barely sets, so no lights to see then. There are stories of people coming here in the summer with parkas and wanting to see the northern lights..... Next weekend we are back at Reid lake and hopefully we will see some nice northern lights then.

[FishHaggis]

Did you ever come up here and see the northern lights? Aurora Village here has heated lounge chairs away from any lights. You can relax, stay warm and enjoy the show.... we just drive down the road a bit and wait with the truck running and when we see something interesting, we hop out then.

[millerak49]

the University of Alaska Fairbanks has great info on the Northern Lights and a forecast page for Aurora activity.
http://www.gi.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast

We have seen some great Aurora's this year. March and April are popular times to come here for a lot of visitors because the days are longer and usually warmer. We also have the Open North American sled dog championships and World Ice Art Championship in March.

[explorenorth]

If the Northern Lights are a priority, flying to Yellowknife is my strong suggestion. Until the past few weeks, we had almost-constant clouds in Whitehorse, so the tourists who paid big-$$$ to come here to see it saw nothing.

[loulou57]

sue.t wrote:
The aurora was quiet this winter, until mid-February. Since then, there have been some superb displays.
http://suethomas.ca/20140219_Aurora.html

Sometimes, aurora not visible to the eye is caught by a camera. Often, the reds can't be seen but some camera lenses will pick the colour up.

In summer, if you're out and it is dark enough, it never hurts to keep looking but it rarely is worth waking up and waiting through the night. Even in winter, the displays might be superb for 15 minutes then fade away until another time.

Feb 19 was excellent, with the aurora moving VERY fast.



The next shot, the red wasn't visible to me and the other colour was barely visible. It took a long exposure and high ISO with the camera to get what I did get with the ultra-wide angle 10-22mm lens. My 24-105mm lens does not capture as much.

Sue.....I find your website to be more informative and up to date on any type of "northern light" experiences, than any other site, private or government. We hope to come and see our Northern Treasures, the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut, next year for our 25th anniversary. We will be using your knowledge in parts of our planning. Tks in advance.

[sue_t]

The aurora was quiet this winter, until mid-February. Since then, there have been some superb displays.
http://yukonsights.ca/20140219_Aurora.html

Sometimes, aurora not visible to the eye is caught by a camera. Often, the reds can't be seen but some camera lenses will pick the colour up.

In summer, if you're out and it is dark enough, it never hurts to keep looking but it rarely is worth waking up and waiting through the night. Even in winter, the displays might be superb for 15 minutes then fade away until another time.

Feb 19 was excellent, with the aurora moving VERY fast.



The next shot, the red wasn't visible to me and the other colour was barely visible. It took a long exposure and high ISO with the camera to get what I did get with the ultra-wide angle 10-22mm lens. My 24-105mm lens does not capture as much.

[GordonThree]

Looks like the Dalton Highway is a good candidate then, too bad it will never get fully dark when I'm going to visit 😞

[Orion]

Here is a map that shows where the Lights are visible with various aurora intensities. You may have to click the drop down to actually see the North American view. As you can see, the first place in the lower 48 from which the aurora can be seen is near Lake of the Woods, Minnesota. As others have said, its not that aurorae occur more often in the winter, actually September & March, the equinoxes are statistically the best time, but the winter darkness allows them to be SEEN more often.

[1492]

Moved from Forum Technical Support

[bob_nestor]

BB_TX wrote:

We did get to see the northern lights even that early in the year. But that was the first time they had been visible that summer. Don't know how far north or how late in Canada you may have to go to have a decent chance of seeing them though.

Born and raised on the Kenai (about 62 degrees north), and we rarely saw the Northern Lights even in winter. You typically have to be further north like around Fairbanks. However the current CMEs the sun is throwing off have been creating some spectacular displays, so if that continues there's a good chance of seeing things at much lower latitudes.

[GordonThree]

Another resource is spaceweather.com

Wonder if Northern Maine is enough?

I spent xmas on Lake Superior, but despite crystal clear days and active Auroral conditions, it managed to cloud up every night.

[CloudDriver]

I regularly follow a blog by Astro Bob. He lives in Minnesota north of Minneapolis and often posts pictures of the Aurora visible from his area. His most recent Aurora posts are from mid-February with some great pictures here (scroll down about half way).

NOAA also has an Aurora Forecast.

[NW22]

http://www.auroravillage.com/


............... or you could fly to Yellowknife.

[BB_TX]

Can't help much. We did go to Alaska (flew) a number of years ago. Went in early/mid August as we wanted to have nights as long as possible but before (what I had read) the likely hood of cloudier/rainier weather that may begin in September.
We did get to see the northern lights even that early in the year. But that was the first time they had been visible that summer. Don't know how far north or how late in Canada you may have to go to have a decent chance of seeing them though.