Northern lights forecast fairbanks
So instead of the overnight search for aurora, this round of northern lights activity will be most visible in the hours before sunrise. If clear skies appear in your area, highly active auroras are expected around 7 a.m.
#NORTHERN LIGHTS FORECAST FAIRBANKS FULL#
With full daylight, the aurora won’t be visible even if you have clear skies.īut it’s not all bad news. According the Geophysical Institute, the strongest aurora will appear between 10 a.m. One, most of Alaska will be under cloudy to mostly cloudy skies, even some rain and snow showers. The aurora could be visible as far south as New York, Wisconsin and Washington State. The University of Alaska-Fairbanks Geophysical Institute has set the aurora forecast at a 6 which is “High +” for activity Monday.
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In contrast to the northern lights, the aurora australis are usually most prominent from March to September.ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - The aurora forecast for the next 24-hours is a good news, bad news situation for much of Alaska. The “ Dunedin Aurora Nowcast” site-run out of the University of Otago in partnership with the museum-helps track the auroras for when they are visible in the region. Ian Griffin, an astronomer who is the director of the Otago Museum in Dunedin, one of the southernmost cities in New Zealand, has long been tracking the lights. With less landmass in the south, the southern lights are perhaps less talked about as they mostly occur over water, but they can be seen over parts of New Zealand, and Australia and Tasmania.ĭr. The aurora australis-or southern lights-are the same phenomenon on the other side of the Earth.
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While travel to and from Australia and New Zealand is not yet an option for most potential visitors, residents there can plan to catch sight of a different aurora.
#NORTHERN LIGHTS FORECAST FAIRBANKS HOW TO#
The aurora australis or southern lights are mostly seen across Australia and New Zealand © Arrested Light Photography / Alamy Stock Photo How to see the southern lights However, these auroras are sudden and short-lived. In the solar maximum, the sun is more “active”, leading to northern lights that are caused by solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Luckily, there is a benefit of being closer to the solar minimum-it means that the lights can actually be more predictable. Read more: Catch the northern lights from your ice hotel: Norway's Far North is the ideal winter playground Can I still see the northern lights during the solar minimum? We’re currently closer to the minimum and will ramp up to the next expected maximum in July 2025. The solar minimum occurred in December 2019, which kicked off the start of a new solar cycle, known to experts at NOAA and NASA as Solar Cycle 25. This creates a lot of northern lights activity, followed by a couple of years of transition, then three to four years of solar minimum. While they are famously a night-time phenomenon, the northern lights are actually influenced by the activity of the sun.Īccording to Rodney, the sun goes through a roughly 11-year cycle, which includes three to four years of solar maximum. Is 2022 a good year to see the northern lights? The best time to see the lights differs slightly by country, but, in general, the peak season is between November and March. But overall, Rodney has some pretty simple advice for aurora hunters: “be patient and go north”.Ĭlear skies are a must for viewing the lights and, of course, staying in a destination for as long as possible will help increase your chances of spying them.
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You can see the lights from August 21 to April 21. It's also a great basecamp for trips beyond the Arctic Circle. It's situated underneath the aurora oval, so viewing is great right from town. The NOAA website has additional tips on where to view the aurora with links to maps that show where the light show can be seen. Fairbanks is arguably the most popular destination for visitors who want to see the Northern Lights. According to him, spots like Fairbanks in Alaska, Whitehorse, Yellowknife and Churchill in Canada, and Iceland and northern Norway are all safe bets. Rodney Viereck works at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – a US government body that specializes in monitoring weather and atmospheric conditions. Once you’ve decided you’re ready to tick seeing the northern lights off your bucket list, the next decision is where to go. The aurora borealis streak across the sky above the Lofoten Islands in Norway © Nutexzles / Getty Images Where is the best place to see the northern lights?