Aurora

I’ve been tracking the likelihood of auroras and geomagnetic storms on and off ever since I moved to the Pacific Northwest. This year and next, are times of peak solar activity. But all too often, Sun and Earth weather never lineup. When there is a chance of seeing Aurora, it seems to come on a cold, foggy cloudy, rainy night.

Or I miss an alert and find out about it after the fact from online posts by semi-professional aurora chasers.

These are the ones I check most often: 

And still have never seen one. Until now. The early May weather last night was clear and cloudless, combined with a KP9+ activity level. (I’m told that’s very high.)

I debated where to go; I considered going out past Snoqualmie Pass in the Cascades. Often, eastern Washington has different weather and has a better shot. But this time, I decided to head to different dark places, north facing, up on Whidbey Island.

It was stunning and magnificent. Photos can’t do it justice. At one point, moving from site to site, I saw a three-color burst in the western sky and was afraid I had missed it. I didn’t. Here it is at Deception Pass a little after 2AM.


From the western beach on the Strait of Juan de Fuca



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