Has anyone seen the Northern Lights/Aurora Borealis around Anchorage in May?

[bluejbird]

Hi,

I'll be sailing out of the Anchorage area (Whittier) on May 15th and my TA said there's a chance we'll see the Northern Lights? Has anyone experienced this in the Anchorage area in the month of May? If so where's the best place to view? Thanks much. Jo-RealLifeRealStoriesDOTcom

[PennyAgain]

No, there is just to much daylight to see the Northern Lights at that time of the year. You have to have dark skies to see them.

[sparky-elpaso]

This is a good site to bookmark to see what your chances are.

 

http://www.gedds.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/

[Budget Queen]

Hi,

I'll be sailing out of the Anchorage area (Whittier) on May 15th and my TA said there's a chance we'll see the Northern Lights? Has anyone experienced this in the Anchorage area in the month of May? If so where's the best place to view? Thanks much. Jo-RealLifeRealStoriesDOTcom

 

Your TA doesn't have a clue, you have essentially NO chance of seeing any Northern Lights in May. And " Anchorage" isn't the place. It's a big city and no viewing with all the incident light. You would have to have your OWN car and drive out of the city by many miles.

[Budget Queen]

This is a good site to bookmark to see what your chances are.

 

http://www.gedds.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/

 

With this "prediction" scale, it still does NOT mean an active aurora will be visable. REQUIRED is a CLEAR DARK night. Even a full moon will impact.

 

IF it is a priority, then you need to park yourself, ideally in Fairbanks for DAYS, in the Fall. Better in the winter. I've made two winter trips, 14 days each with an aurora priority. And with that, you need to check the above prediction reference DAILY.

[Italy52]

Four cruises to Alaska in May and have NEVER seen the Northern Lights. One land trip to Fairbanks in the middle of October and saw the Northern Lights --- Beautiful!!!!!! DH told me that he ordered the NLs for my birthday. :)

[AkSusan]

And not too long ago in the newspaper here, they have reported that it will be another year of low aurora activity.

 

Been quite a few years since I've seen the northern lights here in town. But it was a really cold February night and basically the only colors showing were green.

 

Susan in Anchorage :)

[tetleytea]

I think your best odds for seeing the Northern Lights in May is to go into a dark room and stare at your computer's screensaver for 10 minutes. :)

[Glaciers]

Yes, there’s a very slight chance you may see the northern lights. Certainly nothing like the photos you see in tour magazines or the operators brochures with multiple colors all over the sky. What you will see, although highly unlikely, is very light streaks of light. They may be so light as to be indiscernible from clouds.

 

I do agree with BQ about your TA. They shouldn’t even be mentioning the possibility of seeing them as any summer viewing becomes a big disappointment.