We will be in USA from March 26 after a cruise and looking at going to Whitehorse in the Yukon to hopefully see the northern lights. I can find 2 companies that do a 3/4 night package (Northern Tales ) based in Whitehorse and ( the Great Canadian Adventure Co) based in Edmonton. Both seem to be identical. Can anyone advise if they have used either companies. As we are heading back to Australia, this will probably be the only chance we get to see the lights.
Aurora Borealis
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I would not spend a small fortune to go to a northern latitude with a less than 50% chance of seeing the Aurora Borealis.
The nicest-longest sighting I ever had was near Jasper Alberta.
In the daytime, the Canadian Rockies are worth seeing even if you don't get a show of Northern Lights.
Have you ever seen the Aurora Australis (Southern Lights)?
Thanks Tomfuller. I suppose we can always go to N.Z. or even Tasmania the the right time of the year to catch the Southern Lights.
Yellowknife (east of Whitehorse in the Northwest Territories) has a lot of tour operators offering aurora borealis trips. Also many hotels and B&B's offer smaller tours. End of March is a little late for the best viewing but I think you will still see some amazing displays.
http://www.coolplaces.ca/index.pl/Aurora-Borealis
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You don't need a tour company to see the aurora borealis, you just need have a clear and dark (night) sky, an active sun, and to be north of about 52 degrees north latitude (although the further north the better). March is a good time for the northern lights - they seem to be most spectacular around the equinoxes (spring and fall). And you're in luck with the active sun, it has been increasing in activity over the past year.
But even with all that - it's unpredictable - a lot depends on the weather (clouds) - tour company or no tour company.
Thanks all for the info. Hope we get a chance to see the lights.
Keep this link: http://www.gi.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/Alaska
At this latitude, I predict you will see "something" as long as it isn't cloudy. I used to work in James Bay, Quebec and there was a faint veil almost every night. It's the big shows that happen less often.
ErickL
Thanks for the very cool link
We've been having awesome displays of aurora over the past few nights - at 53.5 degrees north in the Canadian west - "wall to wall" (full sky) northern lights!!!
For some photos of what has been happening this autumn, take a look at this website:
http://spaceweather.com/
The Northern Lights were visible from Seattle, Washington last night!!
http://westseattleblog.com/2012/10/northern-lights-from-west-seattle-aurora-visible-on-alki
SO anything is theoretically possible that way.
... and from the central area of Washington State last night:
mixed in with other photos from other locales at this link:
http://spaceweather.com/gallery/index.php?title=aurora&title2=lights