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aasmanijal OP t1_ja9wueu wrote

Reply to comment by GinjaNinja55 in the aurora was visible from Central Washington last night! by aasmanijal

Yes! Follow Aurora Borealis Washington State on facebook

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samandiriel t1_jaa724n wrote

Is there anything similar for those of us who prefer not to engage with Facebook?

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zeledonia t1_jaan8vl wrote

spaceweather.com. If you’re really into auroras, you can subscribe to get text alerts when there are active storms. I knew about last night’s activity, but didn’t have time to get to a spot with dark and clear skies to see it.

The aurora is still pretty active right now. There’s more solar stuff incoming, tonight and possibly tomorrow could be good chances to see it.

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samandiriel t1_jaav9gf wrote

Thank you. Seems to be a pay-for service tho, and I am cheap!

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darlantan t1_jaatn7w wrote

https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/

You can sign up for email alerts that will ping you whenever the geomagnetic K-index gets high enough. It tripped a few times last night.

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samandiriel t1_jaavme1 wrote

Thanks! I found it hard to navigate and understand how I would sign up for an alert when there would be aurorae in my area, tho - can you eli5?

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darlantan t1_jaawa5e wrote

It's not quite as simple as "There's an aurora in your area", more that it'll alert you when there's significant event that could generate them. There's a graphic on that page that shows aurora forecast plots.

As for alerts, you can follow the 'subscribe' tab along the top bar. You can select a lot of alerts, but what you probably only really care about are the very high K-index alerts. When you get one, check that page and look at the aurora forecast, and if it's dipping into or close to your location it might be worth going outside and looking north.

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aasmanijal OP t1_jaa9qfz wrote

There are aurora alerts apps, but I don't have personal experience with them. If I'm curious about the probability for the day of or the next day, I Google aurora forecast and the first few links usually give me an indicator. If the Kp is above 4, it's promising!

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WaxProlix t1_jab3wgc wrote

There's an app called Aurora that will push you notifications if you configure it to.

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pmiller61 t1_jacpjhf wrote

My Aurora forecast app is great!! It even gives notifications and you can set the location to anywhere!

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