Clear skies for Vancouver’s possible aurora sighting

By Charlie Carey

Posted October 30, 2021 12:23 pm.

Last Updated October 30, 2021 12:24 pm.

Metro Vancouver might be in for a Halloween treat, as clear skies are giving way to a possible aurora borealis sighting over the Lower Mainland.

According to the University of Alaska Fairbanks, auroral activity will be “high” on Saturday and Sunday evenings.

Courtesy University of Alaska Fairbanks

“Weather permitting, highly active auroral displays will be visible overhead from Inuvik, Yellowknife, Rankin and Iqaluit, to Portland OR, Cheyenne, Lincoln, Springfield, and New York City, and visible low on the horizon as far south as Carson City, Oklahoma City, and Raleigh,” the university writes.

This is great news for Vancouver-based watchers, as clear skies are expected all the way through the weekend until Monday.

“The aurora is a luminous glow seen around the magnetic poles of the northern and southern hemispheres. The light is caused by collisions between electrically charged particles streaming out from the sun in the solar wind that enter Earth’s atmosphere and collide with molecules and atoms of gas, primarily oxygen and nitrogen,” the university explains.

Space Weather, a service based in Belgium, says a “coronal mass ejection launched by an X1 solar flare” has contributed to the aurora that low latitudes like Vancouver will see.

The best place to view auroras is in places with clear and dark skies, and higher elevations can help. The university notes an aurora will be most active between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m.

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