sky watchers along the US notthern tier might wanna keep watch tonight

[havocmom]

Current aurora oval is pretty big
good chance for auroras http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/pmap/

http://spaceweather.com/

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. It's nights like these that make me wish I lived further north...

I've never seen an aurora, and I would love to...

[Chipper Chat]

2. I've only seen them one time (in northern Indiana)

That was back in 1944. It was awesome (a word we didn't use back then!) My family got me up to go outside and see it. I remember white flashes like searchlights and greens and blues. Might have been some pink ones too. I was only 4 years old.

[diane in sf]

6. I saw them in Chicago (suburban--not so many lights) one summer in the early 70s

[Beam Me Up]

9. hmmmm... I saw that display, too.

I was stoned on hash at Lake Forest College. It was the first and last time I saw them. Indeed, awesome!

[annm4peace]

3. can we see them in Minneapolis ?

I have lived here 8 years and have yet to see them.

[pokerfan]

4. if they are strong enough to overcome the skyglow from the city

otherwise drive north out of city a short ways,

[Mister Ed]

7. They're not visible at the moment, even from out here in Stillwater.

The sky is clear and the ambient light is low, but they're just not active at the moment. Over the years, I've seen them a number of times from the Twin Cities' northern suburbs.

[annm4peace]

10. can you let me know when you see them

I hope I will be in DU so I can go see them also. I always miss them.

[BlooInBloo]

5. TTIWWP.

[MikeH]

8. I saw the northern lights a few times when I lived near Chicago

I did much of my growing up in one of the Chicago suburbs, and I saw the northern lights a few times when I lived there.

I have now been living in San Diego, CA for many years, which is much too far south to see them.

I remember the aurora electromagnetic activity affecting the ionospheric reflection of AM radio signals from stations in the north. As a teenager in the 1960's living near Chicago one of the things I often liked to do was listen to distant radio stations on the AM dial, particularly at night when the ionosphere would reflect the signals of stations hundreds of miles away. I remember one time during the northern lights I was easily able to pick up stations in the southern U.S. but was not able to pick up stations in the northern U.S. and Canada that I was usually able to pick up. And I remember there was less interference on local channels (i.e. channels for low power stations), and I was able to hear some nearby (but not immediately nearby) stations on local frequencies at night which I was normally not able to hear due to interference from other more distant stations of the same frequency.