ALASKA Day 3: In Pursuit of Northern Lights

I got up about half an hour ago (1 am local time) to go outside, brave the -27 degree cold, and search for Northern Lights. There's a clear sky out there, but the moon is still super bright. I'm staying at a hostel in Fairbanks with a group of very interesting people, one of whom is from Commerce Township in Michigan, very close to where I grew up. The world keeps getting smaller. Those from Alaska who are also staying at the hostel tell me the Northern Lights are viewed best after midnight, but they come and go all night long; sometimes you see them, sometimes you don't.

I think I saw them. There's this long wispy cloud in the northern sky that stretches from horizon to horizon. But the cloud definitely has a green cast to it. If so, it's the northern lights. If not, its my eyes playing tricks with the light and very cold sky. I just didn't see any shimmering, but I am inside the city limits of Fairbanks and there is a lot of ambient light along with the moonlight.

I'll venture outside again in another half hour and take another look.

A note about the weather channel: Don't believe their forecasts when it's super cold. Currently on their website, they indicate in their hour by hour forecast that Fairbanks won't get colder than -24 tonight. But they list the current temperature as -27. Local forecasters have predicted it will be between -35 and -40 later tonight, as it was last night. What was interesting though, is that in the 20 minutes I was outside, the -27 didn't really bother me. Instead of it being a dry heat, it was a dry cold.

I'll have more from ALASKA Day 3 later on so keep checking back.

Thanks for reading.