When we started doing the forecasts, we would sometimes get the information from the satellite and say Oh, oh, it s going to be here in an hour. Even though the ability to predict auroral activity keeps improving, Deehr says that they still get surprises. For example, on Saturday, December 11, northern lights were seen as far south as Seattle and South Dakota. Deehr says that there are many similarities between weather predictions and aurora predictions. We use the same statistical tests as weather forecasting.
Space weather is just like terrestrial weather during the Cold War.
The Aurora forecasters will be kept busy for the next few years by what is called a solar maximum, a time of increased solar activity. For more on the solar maximum, look for yourYukon on January 7 in the New Year.