Arctic summer is not the time to miss the aurora

See the Northern Lights in style when you book your holiday via Aurora Alaska Vacations

Summer is typically not a time to see the Northern Lights.

Weather permitting highly active auroral displays will be visible in Southcentral Alaska between early September and the end of March. As the winter season approaches it’s time to start planning your aurora viewing vacation. Here are some tips.

Alaska is one of the most popular destinations for aurora viewing in the world. Given that Anchorage and the nearby Mat-su Valley constitute Alaska’s most populous areas you may notice heavy traffic in popular viewing areas. This is especially true during the peak aurora season of March and April when the nights are longest and the aurora is most active.

Here is a short-term forecast of the location and intensity of the aurora. This product is based on the OVATION (Operational Vertical Atmospheric Nitrogen and Temperature Imaging System) ultraviolet imager on the NOAA POES satellites. Local midnight corresponds to the 21 Universal Time (UT) sector.

Alaska’s classic aurora viewing occurs during cold snaps when high pressure has cleansed the atmosphere of clouds.