03/23/2025
🟣When should we go out to search for the Aurora?
🔹That is a really good question, and I see it asked a lot.
Now there are a lot of forecasts out there, from NASA and on your Aurora apps, but those are simply forecasts.
It is somewhat like forecasting the weather, allbeit much more difficult, you could expect the rain to start at noon, but in reality, it may not start till three, or it may not arrive at all.
This is the same concept for Aurora forecasts.
What we are waiting for is the arrival of a CME, and until that happens, things may be a bit quiet, depending on what is currently going on with space weather at the time.
So the best recommendation I have for you, is to get an app like SpaceWeatherLive or follow Sara Housseal, Space Weather Forecaster, Vincent Ledvina - 'The Aurora Guy' or other space forecasters who will announce when the CME arrives, or update as it goes.
🔹Another point to consider, just because the CME hits earth, does not mean that we are going to see the Aurora here in Colorado, the magnetic field needs to be oriented correctly, and it also depends on what time it hits as well. Please take the forecast that you see from news and other sources with a grain of salt, because they cannot make any guarantee that a CME is going to hit, if it’s going to hit at a specific time, and how strong the Aurora will be when it hits. 
🟣 Also, DO NOT use the current KP reading as a guide. That is a three hour average, so if you are waiting for a specific number, you are likely to be three hours in the past.
Lastly, I’m just a hobbyist, I’m NO expert in this matter, I follow all these account accounts and learn as I go. 
