Northern lights

[Summerl30]

I mentioned our trip to my parents and I read somewhere that there is the possibility of seeing the aurora borealis and they are interested as that is on my mothers bucket list since she was a little girl. What time of the year would be best to go if we are to increase our chance of seeing this or is it not that often at all?

[Northern Aurora]

The best website for aurora information is that of the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (http://www.gi.alaska.edu). This website also has an auroral forecast.

 

In Fairbanks, while occasionally we can have auroras in late August, generally the best viewing time extends from September to March.

[AKStafford]

To see the Northern Lights you need three things:

 

• Aurora activity
  
• Clear skies
  
• Dark skies
  

Aurora activity is completely random, based on solar activity. Clear skies is fairly random depending on the weather.

Dark skies is about the only thing you can control. If you come in June, you won't get dark skies. If you can come in late August or early September, you can still enjoy the summer visitors activities and have the dark skies in the middle of the night. But again, the dark skies is only 1/3 of the equation. So, my motto for Alaskan traveling and living is to hope for the best but be prepared for the worse.

[1025cruise]

Unfortunately, the odds are against you for seeing the Northern Lights on a cruise. The ships don't go far enough north, plus it is always too light.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

The odds are not good. We took the last NB cruise from Aug 31 to Sept 7 in 2012. Then we did 6 days on land [2 in Denali] We hoped we would get a chance to see an Aurora--but, it did not happen. However, a few of our fellow cruisers went to Chena Springs [or maybe Falls]. They saw the Aurora the day after we left.

[Northern Aurora]

We hoped we would get a chance to see an Aurora--but, it did not happen. However, a few of our fellow cruisers went to Chena Springs [or maybe Falls]. They saw the Aurora the day after we left.

 

Dragon is referring to the Chena Hot Springs Resort, which is about 60 miles from Fairbanks, and located at the end of the Chena Hot Springs Road.

[peety3]

For a sense of what you might see, take a look at this YouTube playlist of time-lapse videos I made during our last Alaska cruise. In particular, the first one (Vancouver to past Seymour Narrows) should give you a sense of what you might see. #2 (into Ketchikan) has some early morning stuff as well.

 

[donaldsc]

We saw very faint aurora on a small boat cruise in late August. They woke everyone up at ~1 am so that we could see them. Likely to see them - very unlikely. Possible - yes. I should mention that they turned all the lights off on the ship except for the nav lights so we could see them better. This is not going to happen on a large ship.

 

DON

[Summerl30]

I have actually done quite a bit of reading in this and know most of the info and websites presented here. Some of the cruise ship sites have it as a feature of an alaskan cruise,so I was just wondering. I assumed not in June as it doesn't even really get dark at night (great time for us to vacay but not for my mom). We were thinking first or second week of September.

[bearbait]

Now would be a good time of the year to come up here to see the northern lights. What you see in September does not compare to what you see now. Not even close.

[Budget Queen]

However, second and third week of Sept, have some unfavorable items perhaps. Dusk by 7pm is one, which impacts scenic evening sailing. And the timeframe has more potential for foul weather. Denali Park shuttle buses stop running mid Sept. Cruising northbound is superior end of August, then adding another couple weeks to hedge the bets. When I have gone for my aurora priority, 2 weeks is my minimum time.

[Summerl30]

My mom is planning a trip to churchill. I'll leave that to her then.

[Gunner22aa]

You may see them but they are far better viewed in the winter. Having lived in the Yukon for three years I can probably count the times I saw them during the summer on my fingers. I now live in Edmonton which is considerably farther south but we get them here quite often as well. There was a beautiful show last Sunday morning around 4 am. Nothing like the north but very nice for this latitude.

[dsrdsrdsr]

Depending how badly you want to see them, there are several companies (incl. P&O and Fred Olsen) running Northern Lights cruises from the UK to Norway in February and March.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Depending how badly you want to see them, there are several companies (incl. P&O and Fred Olsen) running Northern Lights cruises from the UK to Norway in February and March.

 

That makes me cold just thinking about it.

[donaldsc]

I mentioned our trip to my parents and I read somewhere that there is the possibility of seeing the aurora borealis and they are interested as that is on my mothers bucket list since she was a little girl. What time of the year would be best to go if we are to increase our chance of seeing this or is it not that often at all?

 

If she really really wants to see aurora, she should get on a plane to Fairbanks in January or February and after she lands, head north to Chena Hot Springs. She will see lots of aurora. I did.

 

DON

[huskyguy]

If she really really wants to see aurora, she should get on a plane to Fairbanks in January or February and after she lands, head north to Chena Hot Springs. She will see lots of aurora. I did.

 

DON

 

You got lucky - we've had pretty much nothing so far this winter. Al the photos showing up are from a single night, December 7th, and we had clouds that night.

[az_tchr]

Cleary Summit north of Fairbanks has accommodations for seeing the Aurora. Have travelled up three times in the winter and multiple times in August/September. Even 1oo miles north of Fairbanks the chance in the summer of a good viewing is poor - both due to sunlight and often cloudy. Winter is the time to go. End of February lots of things happening in Fairbanks. best to go then.

[donaldsc]

Cleary Summit north of Fairbanks has accommodations for seeing the Aurora. Have travelled up three times in the winter and multiple times in August/September. Even 1oo miles north of Fairbanks the chance in the summer of a good viewing is poor - both due to sunlight and often cloudy. Winter is the time to go. End of February lots of things happening in Fairbanks. best to go then.

 

You mean like the Ice Art Championships -

 

http://www.icealaska.com/

 

Went there 2 years ago and it is hard to believe what they can do with ice.

 

DON

[Budget Queen]

You mean like the Ice Art Championships -

 

http://www.icealaska.com/

 

Went there 2 years ago and it is hard to believe what they can do with ice.

 

DON

 

For me the only time I will go to the Ice Sculpture Championships are the month of March. I've gone when they were done with the multi blocks. It is amazing. Key is to take full advantage of the admission and go during BOTH day and night.

 

http://www.icealaska.com

Edited December 23, 2013 by Budget Queen

[donaldsc]

For me the only time I will go to the Ice Sculpture Championships are the month of March. I've gone when they were done with the multi blocks. It is amazing. Key is to take full advantage of the admission and go during BOTH day and night.

 

http://www.icealaska.com

 

You are right. Looking at my pictures, I had my dates wrong. Everything was complete when I was there although based on the videos on the contest site, it would be intriguing to be there to watch the construction.

 

DON

[Summerl30]

Depending how badly you want to see them, there are several companies (incl. P&O and Fred Olsen) running Northern Lights cruises from the UK to Norway in February and March.

 

I think they would be nice to see, but my mom is really the one who wants to see it. She's not even really excited about cruising.

[EdmPair]

There is another geometric consideration which limits seeing aurora. On a cruise ship you are at sea level and surrounded by coastal mountains. The aurora is over the pole but can vary and be wide at times or very centred on the pole. All this happens north of where the cruise ships travel and is easily blocked by the mountains. The sun cares not when it will toss off the needed energy to light up the night but a good long clear winter night makes the faint glow seem more dramatic. Many will see them as very bright but you need to let your eyes adjust for about 20 minutes to the low light levels for best effect.

 

Best of luck from Edmonton.