The farther north you go the more likely you ll see them.
Best time to see northern lights in michigan 2019.
The upper peninsula is blessed with hundreds of miles of shoreline along the south shore of lake superior which provides some of the best northern lights viewing in the lower 48 due to the very dark night skies.
For example the summer may be a good time for a vacation but a better time to see auroras is actually between winter and spring.
Read on to find out when and where to see the northern lights.
It can be a truly spectacular sight and one that doesn t occur after the big freeze sets in and the waterways freeze and become covered in the first snows of winter.
While they are famous for dazzling across the night sky the northern lights are actually influenced by the activity of the sun.
Relatively low light pollution the upper peninsula is blessed with hundreds of miles of shoreline along the south shore of lake superior which provides some of the best northern lights.
The beauty of this is that you will often see the northern lights overhead and reflected in open water at the same time.
You are more likely to see the northern lights between august and april with the peak months being april october and november.
Northern michigan sits in a great location latitude wise as the auroral oval dips further south on nights of stronger auroral activity.
Choose a clear crisp cold night without the threat of lake effect snow.
Rodney viereck of the national oceanic and atmosphere administration noaa in the us explained to lonely planet that the sun goes through a roughly 11 year cycle which includes three to four years of solar maximum.
Their occurrence is tied to the activity of the sun and the solar wind caused by the eruption of spots on the sun s surface.
The aurora borealis will be visible this weekend in parts of several northern us states according to the national oceanic and atmospheric administration.
This creates a lot of northern lights activity.
The peak hours are between 11pm and 2am however anytime it s dark there is hope.
Best time to see northern lights.
Listed below are some websites of organizations that monitor the sun measure the solar wind in real time now and make aurora predictions.
What time of night.
The season of aurora borealis in the northern hemisphere lasts from august through april.
You also need maximum darkness and clear skies to be able to see aurora borealis.
Late fall and spring months are considered to be peak times as solar activity is the most intense.
When looking north over lake superior one.
This solar wind puts a pressure on earth s magnetic field which is.