Spaceweather. They have storm warnings, they have pictures (check out the galleries of previous auroras), they keep you updated on near-earth asteroids.

NOAA POES Aurora Activity. They show you where the aurora is (Southern Hemisphere also available). Bright red ring- good show.

No, three websites:
Heavens above. Tell it where you are, it'll tell you what you can see. Since we have a space station- it's good to watch it go by. Shuttle's up there now, too.

Back in the early 60s there was an aurora that was supposed to be seen as far south as Kentucky, but I didn't see it. Not for lack of staying up late and all, alas.

Of course, supposed to be patching fog all night, so we'll see

Phooey.

I think Noah's banned dinosaurs from the ark due to the whole fetish gear thing. So there may still be room for me.

At a given latitude, some locations will be better than others- a function of the magnetic field. Southern Ontario, for example, will get auroras far more often than Northern California, even though they're at the same latitude.

Keep an eye on NOAA- it updates regularly.

If NOAA shows auroras at your location and you can't see them, your camera still might capture them. Try a 15-30 second exposure. You'll want a tripod (beanbags or beanbaggy-wrist supports also work) and a remote control or shutter delay.

If you look at This gallery of a 2001 storm you can see that in northern states / Canada visibility is great even in towns. The Silicon Valley photo wouldn't have been possible in the valley itself- one needed to go into the foothills, with a line of hills hiding the valley's lights.

The further north magnetic you are, the better your chance. Chicago, at 42N, has a much better chance than London, at 52N, because what counts is your magnetic, not Geographic latitude. Magnetically, London is 47N Mag, Chicago, 52N Mag. The Upper Peninsula of Michigan gets spectacular aurora, with an ideal combination of far north magnetic latitude and low light pollution. Indeed, on the UP, I was doing Aurora Shadow Puppets.

Bright aurora can often be seen even in cities -- the most brilliant one I ever saw was on a flight from PDX-ORD-STL on Nov 5, 2004. You could see the Aurora on landing at ORD, and at the parking lot of the St. Louis Airport.

Clickable maps are linked here.

The camera trick works even without a tripod -- hold a digital camera pointed north, expose for three-four seconds. If the image is green, then you're looking at Aurora. You may not be able to see the color, but the camera will.

This page has a simple "dial" of the solar wind and Earth's magentic field tilt (of the Bz component, the one we really care about.) As of this writing, Bz was about +9nT, which isn't promising, but it's also daylight. If, this evening, that number is well negative, that's a promising sign.

Looks like the Australian space weather agency gives warnings. ("Space weather agencies," isn't that cool?)

My favorite aurora australis picture

Geophysical Institute Aurora Forecast

It is finally snowing here, so though I'll be sad to miss a spectacular display, I'll take the snow.

Keep an eye on NOAA and spaceweather- if it's looking good for Colorado, then anytime after twilight ends might have some visible. Given that the storm has already started, ealier is likely better than later, though.

Because I live in California I haven't had too much experience with them (twice seen from the ground in California, several times seen from airplanes further north), but I do know they can come and go. The best one I saw from the ground lasted 1 1/2 hours, where in just minutes it could change from an ordinary sky to spikes of light to subtle ripples and back to invisibility.

I have no interest in any radiation storm that doesn't result in atomic mutant grasshoppers.

Alas, I'm at 49N Magnetic, and it's cloudy.

Assuming this level holds for the next three-four hours, it should head southwards a bit as the sun gets further away.

On this map, if you're north of the KP7 curve and have clear skies, you've got a very good chance of seeing the Aurora, and if you're north of the KP5 line and it is clear, you're not reading this, you're outside gawking.

West coasters will have to wait a couple of hours, but Seattle looks solid, and Portland doesn't look too unlikely.

Aurora? Heck, just try the wind and rain. Will need to power down soon as we're approaching the bad wind time.

(grumpy because I always seem to miss the good Aurora shows!).

but Seattle looks solid

Solid rain. Very very very stormy; winds (not gusts, the steady winds) are at about 40mph right now; power's been flickering all afternoon and evening, and I've got the oil lamps and candles lit.

*sulk* I'd have loved to see the light show...

If there's anyone reading this in Tasmania, switch off the PC, switch off the lights, and go outside and look south. The Taswegians may actually be able to see something (and they're all isolated on a nice island if it does come to mass blindness and giant carnivorous orchids).

Major frowny face.

I'd have rather seen the aurora. :(

It's as if the natural world has revoked my stargazing privileges. *pout*

The best aurora I'd ever seen had been in June of 1974 (if I'm recalling the date correctly). Because it was warm, it was possible to stay out for hours and watch. There was no color, but it covered a wide swatch of the sky. This was in upstate NY.

Did I say best? I should say only. But it was spectacular.

http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/istp/outreach/afromspace.html

Auroras from space....

Total eclipses (partials are nothing- they share only the name*) are one event where once you see it, you understand exactly why people told you "No matter how good we tell you it is, it'll be better than that. You'll understand."

I've seen two. They're the most stunning, numinous, beautiful and unearthly experience I've had. And they give you an excuse to travel where you might not have expected to go,** and meet with an interesting crowd of fellow addicts.

* The difference between partials and totals? Eclipse chasers usually end up using analogies like "the difference between a kiss and a lover" because those are the only analogies that work.

** The deeply dedicated chasers I know have camped in Libyan deserts (2006), and are already planning their Mongolian (2008) or Easter Island (2010) trips. The dedicated with money have even seen ones like 2003 (Antarctica).

(*) claim not checked against other schools. Void where prohibited. Contents sold -- no, wait, that was another thread.

I've been bopping around downtown tonight but haven't seen anything. But then again, downtown.

The one time I saw the aurora borealis, Marci and I were driving back from the Worldcon in Winnipeg, crossing North Dakota/Montana IIRC. I saw this glow in the northwestern sky, looking like glow from a city -- asked M if it could be an aurora, and from her knowledge of them from living in Alaska, said it wasn't.

Then it began doing the spikes and sheets thing. We pulled off the road and watched it for a good hour or so.

Not as amazing as the total solar eclipse I got to on the Wash/Oregon border (not all the best comments on the difference are sexual, Kathryn -- I liken it to Mark Twain's "the difference between the lightning and the lightning bug"). A cool thing to me, not generally commented on: we were in a river valley, and there was a visible fog-bank (very thin) right where the terminator went along. This makes perfect sense, mind you -- I just had never heard of anyone commenting on it. Maybe they were all too busy watching the sky?

MKK

Kathryn - Now I have another thing to put on my list for why I must visit Svalbard - an eclipse!

Tomm @39,
Yes, but what if you then wanted to explain the difference between lightning and a lightning bug, to someone who had seen neither?

* Better weather than Nunavut, Greenland, or Novaya Zemlya (home of Tsar Bomba!). Or go to Hami in China- 20 seconds less eclipse, but the driest weather- first seeing the easternmost tip of Kazakzstan and the Gobi and Taklamakan Deserts, as they're all in the neighborhood.