Northern lights may be visible tonight

[gibbinator]

For anyone interested. This shows a map of likely areas.
m.accuweather.com/en/features/trend/northern_lights_viewing_condit/33834457

[raangoli]

Aw man, I was all excited. Then I saw the map. Whomp whomp....

[nessness]

Just below the line. Seeing the northern lights is on my bucket list.

[jax373]

Awesome! Looks like I may have a chance to see it. I definately want to see this before I die.

[msmerymac]

Hey, if the solar storm knocks out power, maybe we'll be able to see the lights better.

[karinothing]

Boo, not in my area. I would love to see them one day. My dad talks about seeing them in IL when he was growing up, but I wonder if there is too much light now (he was born in 36..not much light then).

[gibbinator]

Despite them being somewhat common where I live, I've never seen them either (possibly because I usually go to bed at 9pm lol). Maybe tonight I'll get lucky, even though it's supposed to be cloudy and rainy, boooo.

[schitzengiggles]

I'm super excited! I grew up in the country, in way northern MN. Some of my best memories include being up late watching the northern lights with family at home, or with friends when I was older and out partying at night in fields and gravel pits or on lakes. Fun times!

[Deleted]

We are up north for a wedding but in a "poor" zone booooo

[Deleted]

Sept 12, 2014 12:40:13 GMT -5 chilerellanos said:

I get off work at midnight tonight. I'm debating driving out of town a bit to see if I can see them or just going home to sleep.

Zomgggggg go see them! For all of us that can't

[spankswife]

I live in FL, so not happening.

Does anyone know the best place/time of year to have the best chance to see them?

Preferably not Jan-April bc I can't travel during tax season.

[AmyRI]

Thanks for posting! I assumed we'd never get a chance where I am, but we're between green and yellow. And DH isn't due to get home from his buiness trip until 11, so perhaps I'll try to check them out when he wakes me up, since lord knows I'm not staying up until midnight when the kids will be up at 5:30.

[aurora]

Don't worry, everyone who can't see them in person. I'll* still be around for you to admire tomorrow.


(*my avatar, that is)

[Deleted]

I'm not an ambitious person, nor is my bucket list very long, but seeing the northern like something is definitely on it

[jene]

I think we may check them out

[hamster]

Ooh, im on the edge of good to fair!

[aurora]

To everyone who is going to try to see them tonight, a bit of advice: the northern lights can come and go very rapidly. You might step outside and look and see nothing, and then 10 minutes later the whole sky is full of moving curtains of light, and then 15 minute later there is nothing or it's moved over to a far corner. So, don't get discouraged if you see nothing at first; you might need to check again a bit later.

(Obviously whether you see the lights over the whole sky or just to your north depends on how far south you are with respect to the most active areas; I've mostly seen them from Alaska but obviously they're going to be much farther south this time.)

[Pom]

Sept 12, 2014 13:14:18 GMT -5 spankswife said:

I live in FL, so not happening.

Does anyone know the best place/time of year to have the best chance to see them?

Preferably not Jan-April bc I can't travel during tax season.

I used to see them during various times of the year, usually at 2am-3am several times a year in Northern Michigan.  (Just below the Mackinac Bridge/Straits of Mackinac looking north).   The best view I ever saw was in late August/early September from Hessel, Michigan-the Les Cheneaux Islands looking west.  It was so magnificent.  Glowing greens, blues, and purple.


   www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/27/10-best-places-to-see-the_n_814506.html 

[aurora]

Sept 12, 2014 13:14:18 GMT -5 spankswife said:

I live in FL, so not happening.

Does anyone know the best place/time of year to have the best chance to see them?

Preferably not Jan-April bc I can't travel during tax season.

Best place is the far north (Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Scandanavia, etc.).  Best time of year is when it is dark.  Well, of course, but many people who don't live there don't think much about the fact that it is light all the time in mid-summer, so you can't see the northern lights even if they are happening.  Generally there's enough dark from mid-September to mid-March (roughly the fall to spring equinoxes).  The auroras have no dependence on Earth's seasons since they're caused by the sun's energy interacting with the Earth's magnetic fields, so what really matters is what stage of sun activity we're in.  The sun has a roughly 11-year cycle of intensity.  We're near the peak of the cycle now so we're getting more auroras in general, but in theory you can see them any year.

[sjh722]

I hope we can see them but it's pretty overcast here.

[tacom]

I'm so jealous of those of you who have a shot at seeing them. I don't have a particularly long bucket list but this is definitely on it.

[asoctoberfalls]

I got to see them once when I lived in the UP of Michigan. I still get chills thinking about how beautiful and almost haunting it was. It ranks right up there with driving in the mountains of Colorado after a day of skiing and having to pull over to look at the stars because there were millions of them and they were so bright. God, what a beautiful world!

[cjeanette]

It's very overcast today and I am right on the cusp on this map. I plan to go outside a bit later to see if I can see anything.

[RoxMonster]

I'm so sad we're mainly in the poor area (on the cusp of fair). Beyond that, it's totally overcast here. I WILL see these one day before I die. I have to.

[StJess80]

We are in the good range and have been watching. Nada. I'm bummed.

[gibbinator]

I checked every time ds2 woke up last night and nothing. Boo.

[boiler717]

I was in Boston for work so I met up with some friends and drove a few hours into Maine. We didn't get a full show or anything, but we could clearly see a ribbon edge. It was definitely cool!