You can check on current auroral activity at [URL="http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/pmap/Intro.html[/URL].
The other NOAA sites linked with this one have forecasts for geomagnetic activity.
Weak aurorae are relatively common in the northern mainland US, but you need a dark sky to see them.
Nothing prepared me for the real thing, which I saw during a 3 week stay in Fairbanks in February.
The great unfurlings of vivid green, yellow, and red are really a lifetime sight. I remember getting out
of my rental car at the motel one night (cursing at the motorized seatbelt which had stuck in the -40
temperature, imprisoning me for a moment) and happened to look up....suddenly the sky was filled with
great daggers of vivid green, coming straight DOWN at me! I actually ducked!
Last edited by rnorris; 12-16-08 at 10:02 AM.