Canada Travel Forum

Hi! where and when can I see northern lights/ aurora borealis in canada? thanks.

Yukon.

Check the official site for further info:

http://travelyukon.com/thingstodo/outdooractivities/auroraborealisnorthernlightstours/

In the winter you can also see them anywhere north of about the 55th Parallel. I used to live in Lynn Lake, MB and saw them all the time in the winter.

In Winnipeg, I've seen them once in the past four years. I used to see them a few times a year. Does this mean there is less sunspot activity now -- something to do with global warming?? or just coincidence?

We'd occasionally see the northern lights when we lived in the country 45 minutes north of Toronto (near the town of Aurora).

Redlats, every 11 years there is a "Solar Max" when solar activity is at its peak. The last solar max was in 2001, and the next one will be in 2011, so... that probably explains things. You'll probably see more northern lights more and more in the next few years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_maximum

You can see the Aurora borealis/northen lights whenever the sky is clear and dark (which is why most people see them in winter), and usually but not always north of about 52° north (that's about Calgary's latitude).
The best times are in the spring and fall, must have something to do with the earth's position in its' orbit around the sun.
But the bottom line is that you can't predict where and when they'll appear. They have been seen as far south as Colorado, even Florida, believe it or not. And sometimes there are none for extended periods of time. The phenomenon is not very well understood even by scientists who study such things as earth's magnetosphere and coronal mass ejections. The universe is full of mysteries!!

By the way, there were some lovely northern lights about two nights ago, visible from Edmonton where I live (53.5°N), and this is July!!!

A website for you:
http://spaceweather.com/

Good luck!!