It’s the moment you traveled thousands of miles to see. Brilliant shades of color dance across the night sky, better than any fireworks display or light show you’ve ever seen. If it’s your first time seeing the Northern Lights, you may not be able to decide if you want to photograph them or just sit back in awe and enjoy the magic. Either way, you will have executed a special type of storm chasing strategy to successfully predict the geomagnetic storm that brings you the Northern Lights.
Whether you’re a seasoned storm chaser or new to the game, the current solar maximum has probably had you looking poleward towards the breathtaking auroras that have appeared all over the world in 2024. In this guide, you’ll learn the storm chasing techniques needed to find, view, and photograph, not just the Northern Lights, but the Southern Lights, too.
General Strategy for Chasing the Northern Lights
Your strategy for chasing the Northern Lights should closely resemble the strategy for traditional storm chasing.
- Look for where the parameters best come together.
- Identify a target area and go there.
- Adjust your position as necessary. You shouldn’t need to do this much chasing the northern lights because they cover such a vast area.
- Be prepared for extreme weather conditions. In most northern lights chases, that’s usually bitter cold and blowing snow from being in the arctic regions in the dead of winter.
- Avoid urban areas and population centers
For a successful northern lights chase, you’ll need both space weather conditions and terrestrial weather conditions to be in your favor. If any one of them is missing, you likely won’t see the aurora.
Much like supercells and tornadoes, the Northern Lights will cycle or pulse up and down throughout the night. Each pulse is often short-lived, staying visible for only about 30 or 45 minutes. You must stay patient, but also be ready to go with your camera at a moment’s notice.
How Northern Lights Chasing Differs from Traditional Storm Chasing
When you think of traditional storm chasing, you probably envision a thrilling, heart-pounding pursuit of a massive tornado across an open prairie. You’re constantly plotting escape routes, being careful to avoid extreme winds, huge hail, and flying debris. But at the same time, you’re in complete awe of one of Mother Nature’s most beautiful, yet powerful phenomena.
Chasing the Northern Lights will feel different. While you have to physically chase a tornado, you can simply drive to an area that has a clear view to the north and wait for the Northern Lights to appear in the sky. When you hear people on the internet say they chased the aurora for six hours, they most likely sat in their car or a warm building for six hours watching for the aurora. Unless your visibility gets obstructed, there is no need to be driving around physically chasing the aurora.
You will get the same feeling of excitement, awe, and euphoria when you see the Northern Lights. They are breathtaking and spectacular. However, you won’t get that heart-pounding adrenaline rush you get with traditional storm chasing because the auroras cannot harm or kill you. Except, of course, if you run into an arctic whiteout.
Aurora Forecasting Resources
There are an abundance of resources for forecasting and predicting the Northern Lights online. These websites only consider the space weather parameters, so don’t forget to look at the terrestrial weather forecasts to ensure you have clear skies and good visibility.
- NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center
- University of Alaska Fairbanks Aurora Forecast
- Aurora Forecasting Apps – these usually get their data from one of the two above sources
Both the Space Weather Prediction Center and the University of Alaska publish an aurora viewing oval for both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The colored band indicates where the auroras will likely be seen overhead. The solid line indicates how far south the Northern Lights may be visible on the horizon.
Terrestrial Weather Model Websites
For more information about terrestrial weather forecasting, please see our post explaining the different weather models in use today.
Space Weather Parameters Needed for the Northern Lights
Much like the parameters and models that predict the terrestrial weather on earth, the same exists for space weather conditions, including the Northern Lights.
Planetary K-Index
Also known as the Kp Index, the Planetary K-Index measures the strength of a geomagnetic storm, on a scale of 1 to 9. If you’re familiar with the Saffir Simpson Scale that measures hurricanes or the Enhanced Fujita Scale that measures tornadoes, it’s very similar to that.
The big difference is that your latitude determines how strong a Planetary K-Index is needed for the Northern Lights to appear. The stronger the solar storm, the lower the latitude the aurora will appear. For example, a Kp index of 1 is often all that’s needed to see the Northern Lights in Fairbanks, Alaska. On the other hand, the aurora won’t appear in the skies over New England unless the Planetary K-Index is at least 5 or 6. During the October 10, 2024 geomagnetic storm, Planetary K-Indexes reached 8.5, making the Northern Lights visible as far south as Texas and Louisiana.
Desired Level: 5 or Above
NOAA Geomagnetic G-Scale
NOAA’s Geomagnetic G-Scale is the closest direct equivalent to the Saffir Simpson Scale or the Enhanced Fujita Scale for the Northern Lights. Measured on a scale of 1 to 5, the G-Scale measures the amount the sun’s energy disturbs the earth’s magnetic field. In other words, it’s how strongly the geomagnetic storm impacts Earth.
The G-Scale and the Planetary K-Index alone will give you a very good idea of aurora activity. In the table below, the Space Weather Prediction Center gives a comprehensive overview of how the two parameters are related. Keep in mind it’s not an exact science. The table shows the Kp indexes and their most commonly corresponding G-level storms. The stronger the Kp Index and G-Scale, the further south the Northern Lights will be visible.
Desired Level: G3 or Above
| Kp Index | G-Scale | Frequency | Aurora Activity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | N/A | Often | Quiet |
| 1 | N/A | Often | Quiet |
| 2 | N/A | Often | Quiet |
| 3 | N/A | Often | Unsettled |
| 4 | N/A | Often | Active |
| 5 | 1 | 900 days per solar cycle | Minor Storm |
| 6 | 2 | 360 days per solar cycle | Moderate Storm |
| 7 | 3 | 130 days per solar cycle | Strong Storm |
| 8 | 4 | 60 days per solar cycle | Severe Storm |
| 9 | 5 | 4 days per solar cycle | Extreme Storm |
Solar Wind
The solar wind is a constant stream of charged particles that flow outward from the sun’s corona. Made of plasma, the solar wind continuously flows, with coronal holes producing the fastest solar winds. They can reach speeds up to one million miles per hour, so they are most often given in units of kilometers per second. When the solar wind travels fast enough, they cause geomagnetic storms that produce the northern lights.
When the solar wind interacts with Earth’s atmosphere, it not only protects the planet from harmful radiation, but also creates an interplanetary magnetic field, or IMF, around all planets in the solar system. The IMF is broken into two components: Bz and Bt.
- Bz: The north-south direction of the IMF. Negative (southward) values mean that solar wind particles can easier penetrate Earth’s atmosphere, which creates the auroras.
- Bt: The strength of the IMF. The higher the Bt value, the more intense the Northern Lights are.
Desired levels: Bz less than -10 nT
Coronal Mass Ejection
A coronal mass ejection, or CME, are large coronal expulsions from the sun that create localized bursts of fierce solar winds that engulf single planets instead of the whole solar system. Traveling at speeds up to 3,000 kilometers per second, they can reach Earth in as little as 18 hours. However, most coronal mass ejections take two to three days to reach Earth. The coronal mass ejection reacting with the Earth’s magnetic poles is what triggers the Northern Lights.
Coronal mass ejections typically bring the south-directed interplanetary magnetic fields that are necessary for the Northern Lights to appear. They expand as they move away from the sun, to sizes that can bring multiple nights of the Northern Lights. NOAA can detect as soon as a coronal mass ejection happens. However, they cannot gather any data from it until it gets to about one million miles from Earth, giving only an hour or two lead time for accurately forecasting aurora activity. This in only part of the reason why predicting the northern lights is so difficult.
Phase of the Moon
The Northern Lights are best seen when the moon is not out. You can plan your Northern Lights adventure around the new moon, or simply go before the moon rises or after it sets. You can implement some creative artistic effects in your photography when the moon is out. With the correct camera settings, even a full moon won’t ruin your aurora photos.
Desired Level: New Moon or Crescent Moon
Terrestrial Weather Parameters Needed for the Northern Lights
The space weather parameters will only tell you if the aurora will appear in the sky. To determine if you will be able to see the Northern Lights, you must look at the terrestrial weather, too.
Sky Cover
You can have all the auroras in the world, but you won’t be able to see them if it’s cloudy! The sky cover is simply a measurement or prediction of the percentage of the sky is covered with clouds. For best views of the northern lights, you want the sky to be as clear as possible. Even the tiniest clouds can reflect a lot of light pollution, regardless of whether you’re watching with the naked eye or taking photos.
Desired Level: Less than 10%
Visibility
In addition to clear skies, you also want clear visibility to view the Northern Lights. Haze and fog can completely obstruct your view and ruin your photos. Both haze and fog are at their minimum in cold and dry conditions.
Desired Level: 10 miles / 16 kilometers or greater
Temperature
The amount of moisture the air can hold is dependent on temperature. Because colder air holds less moisture, cold temperatures mean less haze and clearer visibility. There is no set cutoff for ideal temperature and humidity levels to view the northern lights, but the colder and the drier the weather, the better you’ll see the auroras.
Summary of Parameters for Best Northern Lights Viewing
| Parameter | Desired Level |
|---|---|
| Planetary K-Index (Kp) | 5 or greater, but depends on latitude |
| NOAA Geomagnetic G-Scale | 3 and above |
| Solar Wind Magnetic Orientation (Bz) | Less than -10 nT |
| Moon Phase | New or Crescent |
| Sky Cover | Less than 10% |
| Visibility | 10 mi / 16 km or greater |
| Temperature | Colder temperatures preferred |
The Northern Lights are Surprisingly Difficult to Accurately Predict
The most accurate aurora forecasting model only makes predictions 30 minutes into the future. As a result, you’ll have at most about an hour of lead time for when the aurora may appear in the sky.
Don’t let this turn you off, though. Let’s go back to traditional storm chasing for a sec. When a big tornado outbreak is expected, forecasters and weather models can reliably give a 1 to 3 days warning for active severe weather in a given region. However, they cannot say exactly where tornadoes will strike until the storms form. This is why you only get 10 to 15 minutes lead time when tornado warnings are issued. As good as modern weather models are, they have their limits.
Northern Lights forecasts work the exact same way. Satellites can detect when solar flares and coronal mass ejections occur, giving 1 to 3 days warning for potential geomagnetic storms. During this time, the Space Weather Prediction Center will typically issue Geomagnetic Storm Watches showing the potential maximum Kp and G-Scale indexes. However, satellites cannot collect any data from those coronal mass ejections until they are within one million miles of Earth. That may sound like a lot, but solar winds from coronal mass ejections can travel at speeds up to one million miles per hour. As a result, aurora models can only forecast out about 30 minutes with any degree of accuracy.
Storm Chasing is Like Baking a Cake
One of my meteorology professors at the University of Oklahoma once said that storm chasing is like baking a cake. If you’re missing one of the ingredients, you’ll get something. The question is what. The same goes for Northern Lights chasing. Sometimes, all the parameters come together really well and the Northern Lights don’t show up. Other times, the parameters look like garbage and you’ll get amazing auroras dancing across the sky. Like tornadoes, the Northern Lights can be fickle, particularly with weaker geomagnetic storms.
The bottom line is that you’ll need to be patient in order to be successful. Online footage from both tornado chases and Northern Lights chases only shows you the moments when all the action is happening. They don’t show you the long monotonous hours of driving and waiting for storms to arrive, regardless of whether those storms are on Earth or in space.
Best Locations to View and Photograph the Northern Lights
For the best opportunities to view and photograph the Northern Lights, you need two things.
The best opportunities for chasing, viewing, and photographing
- A clear, unobstructed view of the northern sky
- Dark skies, away from population centers and other sources of light pollution
The further north you go, the better the opportunity to see the Northern Lights. At the current solar maximum, the Northern Lights have been reliably appearing as for south as the northern United States, down to about 40 degrees latitude. However, during less active years, the auroras rarely appear below 50 to 55 degrees latitude.
The best location to see the Northern Lights is in the auroral belt, which runs around both poles from about 65 to 72 degrees latitude. Popular aurora chasing destinations inside that belt include Fairbanks, Tromsø, Iceland, and Ivalo/Lapland. Numerous Canadian destinations, including Yellowknife, Whitehorse, and Churchill, sit just south of the auroral belt, offering incredible Northern Lights viewing as well.
Additional Tips for a Successful Aurora Chase
We’ll cover photography techniques for the Northern Lights in a separate post, but there is one I want to share here. The colors of the Northern Lights reflecting off of fresh snowpack makes for some breathtaking effects in both photos and videos. It’s naturally color grading your footage, as those beautiful shades of green and pink are often the difference between an average aurora photo and an awe-inspiring one.
Additionally, don’t forget that the Northern Lights are based off of magnetic north, not the true one. Auroras occur when the solar winds interact with Earth’s magnetic poles. While the magnetic poles do shift around, magnetic north is currently skewed towards North America, so the Northern Lights will always come further south over Canada and the United States than over Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Likewise, the magnetic South Pole heavily skews towards Australia and New Zealand, making them one of the premier destination in the world to view the Southern Lights.
These Northern Lights Chasing Strategies Work in the Southern Hemisphere
If you’re in the southern hemisphere, we have some good news for you. Every Northern Lights chasing strategy and technique we have covered here works for the Southern Lights too. Even better, the parameters for geomagnetic storms are the same worldwide. So unlike terrestrial weather, you don’t have to reverse anything to apply these strategies to the southern hemisphere.
Final Thoughts
You can easily apply traditional storm chasing strategies to successfully chase both the Northern and Southern Lights. While you won’t get the adrenaline rush from being up close and personal with a tornado, the auroras more than make up for it with their awe-inspiring magic and beauty. With proper strategy, a bit of patience, and a little luck, you’re in for a magical experience you won’t soon forget.
