Dad is always good about telling me when the space weather forecast calls for a high-intensity geomagnetic storm. Inevitably I get excited to see the aurora (because the forecast always says it’ll be visible in northern Montana!) and then disappointed when it’s overcast.
Tonight, however, it wasn’t overcast and reality exceeded the forecast. The Northern Lights were absolutely spectacular. We were teaching class, and someone came in and said “I hate to interrupt class, but you all should see the aurora!” We dutifully took a break and left the building to admire the sky’s colors from the parking lot. Later, when we finished class, I told Pepper I’d love to take a drive around Flathead Lake to capture some more shots from outside of town. Although it was pretty cold, she agreed to come along.
I didn’t have my “good” camera with me for class, so on the way home I stopped to snap this with my cell phone:
Yep, it was going to be a beautiful night.
About an hour later, the colors had shifted (and I had my good camera).
We spent almost two hours driving along the lake shore, stopping at points to capture the sky in different directions. The aurora streaked overhead, basically encompassing the entire sky. It was amazing. Looking south, there was a deeper shade of red:
By midnight the colors were fading. And they’d shifted to green.
Nature can be so beautiful.