Northern Lights

[Sand Wedge]

Has anyone ever seen the Northern - or Southern - Lights?

I'd love to but haven't... it's on my bucket list.

 

[okeydokey]

Hope to, we are heading to Iceland in late September this year. It’s on my bucket list too.

 

[dish rag]

Has anyone ever seen the Northern - or Southern - Lights?

I'd love to but haven't... it's on my bucket list.

Yes, we have a vacation home in the north of Canada and have seen them from there. Not the best from that location though but have seen them.

 

[Kitty 34]

I've seen them a few times here in MI......very cool!

 

[ronandannette]

Yep - they're very common in the winter night skies where I was raised.

 

[AppleDumpling]

We were lucky to see them one night on a cruise in Alaska a few years ago. It really was an amazing sight. So beautiful and unique.

 

[Skywalker]

Once! It is not common to see them where I am (just north of Toronto) but I saw them once and nearly crashed my car lol. Beautiful cascades of green and pink. I wish I'd had a camera with me at the time.

 

[Frozen Canuck]

Yes, but not from all the way up by the Arctic Circle, where I'm sure they are truly impressive. It was possible to see the Aurora Borealis in the area where I grew up if the conditions were right. I have viewed them from as far north as Flin Flon, Manitoba, but not any higher than that. Supposedly, if you get close enough, you can actually hear them.

 

[scrhsa]

On my bucket list.
Little funny story. My Mom grew up in a religion that was just this side of a cult. My Grandmother was very religious(beautiful, wonderful woman, who had a hard life). They were driving somewhere in the Smokey Mountains when they saw the lights. Which, from what I understand, isn't a normal occurrence. My Grandmother whipped the car over and told my Mom to get on her knees and start praying it was the end of the world. She felt kind of silly when she got home and found out what was going on She would just snicker and giggle when she told the story. Scared the dickens out of my Mom who was in her early teens

 

[mnrose]

I've seen them in Northern Minnesota. I don't recommend it. It usually goes along with brutally cold weather. LOL. They are cool though. I'd travel to Iceland for the best bet at seeing them.

 

[low-key]

Never really thought about it, but sounds cool

 

[ronandannette]

We were lucky to see them one night on a cruise in Alaska a few years ago. It really was an amazing sight. So beautiful and unique.

That actually surprises me since it barely gets dark at all during most of cruise season and they are mostly a winter phenomenon. Glad you had good fortune.

 

[ronandannette]

Yes, but not from all the way up by the Arctic Circle, where I'm sure they are truly impressive. It was possible to see the Aurora Borealis in the area where I grew up if the conditions were right. I have viewed them from as far north as Flin Flon, Manitoba, but not any higher than that. Supposedly, if you get close enough, you can actually hear them.

Where I grew up in northern Alberta is quite a bit further north than Flin Flon and while the lights were very prominent in the winter, you couldn't hear them. I'm not sure if that's even true. It would be nice to find out though.

 

[thewesterberg]

Living in Northern MN there are opportunities to see them. My favorite northern lights memory happened when I was in college and worked at a camp on Lake Vermilion. It was the weekend and I joined some other staff in taking canoes on on the lake at night. We floated in the lake in a little floatilla with the northern lights dancing above us. It was an amazing experience.

 

[AppleDumpling]

That actually surprises me since it barely gets dark at all during most of cruise season and they are mostly a winter phenomenon. Glad you had good fortune.

It was the end of the season, first week of September. We were in the Inside Passage, near Juneau. IIRC it started a little before midnight and lasted over an hour. Gorgeous colors: greens, purples, gold, orange, plus crackling and rumbling sounds similar to a thunder storm. Some of the ship’s crew, out on the deck with the passengers, were excited to be seeing it for the first time too.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

Yep in Iceland. It was cool to see but wasn't the main attraction for us. We took an offroad tour out into the country and parked in this large field ontop a hill. Then we sat and waited for a couple hours then they came out.

 

[BrianL]

I saw them in Iceland, but it was a bit cloudy so I didn't see much. There was a green glow in the clouds though and it was pretty cook, but it wasn't the spectacular light show that it sometimes is.

 

[Sandeep1]

Hoping to get to Lapland one of these days, rent a glass igloo for a few nights, and see the Northern Lights.

 

[yoopermom]

Just like our MN neighbors, we get them once in a while here in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, as well (although nowhere close to as brilliant as they are farther north, I'm sure). They are eerie, beautiful, transcendent...one of those things that everyone should experience at least once in their life.

Terri