Portland Oregon and Northwest Weather for Astronomical Observing
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Back-to-Back Sun Storms May Supercharge Earth's Northern Lights
Powerful solar flares from the sun this week may amplify the northern lights displays over parts of the northern United States through the weekend, space weather scientists say. The forecast for potentially supercharged auroras comes after powerful solar storms fired off eruptions of solar material, first on Monday (Sept. 8), then again on Wednesday (Sept. 10). During Wednesday's solar flare, the sun unleashed a major X1.6-class flare directly at Earth. "The most intense storming is expected tomorrow, Friday night into Saturday morning," William Murtagh, program coordinator for the U.S. The northern lights dance over Earth in shimmering green light on Aug. 29, 2014 in this amazing photo by European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst on the International Space Station. Have You Ever Seen the Northern Lights or Southern Auroras? It is solar material from the earlier solar flare this week that could spark amplified auroras on Thursday night. Solar storm warning A dark sky also helps.
SOLARHAM.com / Solar Cycle 24 / Spaceweather / Amateur Radio VHF Aurora Website
Northern Lights May Ignite in Northeast, Central US Skies: Where to See Rare Show
Northern Lights May Ignite in Northeast, Central US Skies: Where to See Rare Show By Samantha-Rae Tuthill, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer September 12, 2014; 10:17 AM ET Stargazers could be in for a rare display Friday night as an Earth-directed solar flare ignites the northern lights, also known as the aurora borealis, in the United States. According to AccuWeather.com Astronomer Hunter Outten, the flare is ranked as an X-class, or the highest class for a solar flare. A coronal mass ejection (CME), or a cloud of charged particles released from solar activity, is expected to induce a geomagnetic storm in Earth's atmosphere, around midday Friday. "There will be a pretty good chance to see the northern lights [Friday] because of the first geomagnetic storm Thursday night," Outten said. Outten said that with northern light displays, the best viewing will occur around midnight in each respective time zone, but that they will start being visible after night falls.
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Spectacular Auroras Could Be Visible In Parts Of The US This Weekend
NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory Three-wavelength composite image depicting the eruption of the X1.6 class solar flare at 1:46 EDT, September 10. Aurora borealis, produced by coronal mass ejections, will be visible throughout the northern U.S. The solar flare that erupted on Wednesday will be putting on a spectacular show this weekend, when the second of two coronal mass ejections - charged gases shooting out from the sun - is projected to arrive. These powerful solar storms will produce auroras that will potentially be visible in the central and northeastern U.S. during the late hours on Friday and Saturday, according to Tony Phillips at spaceweather.com. Here's a helpful AccuWeather map of where the aurora will appear: AccuWeather Predicted aurora visibility for the night of Friday, September 12. For any intrepid sky-watchers who are lucky enough to be in the visibility zone, the best time to look up will be after midnight, in every time zone, on Friday and Saturday.
SWPC Tips on Viewing the Aurora
NOAA / Space Weather Prediction Center Being able to see the Aurora depends mainly on two factors, geomagnetic activity (the degree of disturbance of the earth's magnetic field at the time) and your geographic location. Further considerations are the weather at your location, and light pollution from city lights, full moon and so forth. Geomagnetic Activity -- The Kp Index and the NOAA POES Auroral Activity Level In order to know whether you have a chance of seeing an aurora, you need to know the level of geomagnetic activity at the time you are viewing. Location, location, location! In general, you are more likely to see an aurora if you are at a high latitude, i.e. closer to the north (or south) pole. In the table below, find a city not far from where you live, and make a note of its magnetic latitude. When geomagnetic activity is low, the aurora typically is located, in the hours around midnight, at about 67 degrees magnetic latitude*. Kp maps of midnight equatorward boundaries
The Aurora Borealis (The Northern Lights) – Everything you need to know | Natalia Robba's Blog
Hey fellow Aurora fans! After several years of research, kilometers travelled, multiple destinations visited, dark drives down foreign icy roads, snow storms, disappointment, exhilaration, several failures but more successes, here is my two cents on everything Aurora Borealis First off, before I start I wanted to elaborate a little on the above. I’ve always held a certain fascination for the Northern Lights. My earliest memory was a documentary on the Discovery channel on Antartica when I was around 12 years old. Being a 12 year old though has it’s drawbacks =) Being completely at the mercy of my parents destination wishlist meant that I wouldn’t really get to chase this dream until a little later on. So I studied, left school, and started working. I researched everything from Solar cycles, weather patterns, prediction techniques and annual aurora statistics to ideal destinations under the Auroral Oval. What causes the Aurora Borealis? Aaah the Sun =) The beautiful Sun! Ivalo, Finland
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Historical Weather For 2013 in Portland, Oregon, USA - WeatherSpark
Location This report describes the historical weather record at the Portland International Airport (Portland, Oregon, United States) during 2013. This station has records back to December 1947. Portland, Oregon has a mediterranean climate with dry warm summers and mild winters. The area within 40 km of this station is covered by forests (69%), croplands (15%), built-up areas (11%), and lakes and rivers (4%) Calendar Daylight saving time (DST) was observed at Portland, Oregon during 2013. DST started on Sunday March 10, 2013 at 3:00 am, from PST (GMT-8) to PDT (GMT-7). 2013 was not a leap year, so it has 365 days and no February 29th. The summer and winter solstices and the spring and fall equinoxes mark the passing of the seasons. Temperature The hottest day of 2013 was June 30, with a high temperature of 36°C. Relative to the average, the hottest day was June 30. The longest warm spell was from May 1 to May 15, constituting 15 consecutive days with warmer than average high temperatures.