Weather continues to be a challenge here in the Anchorage/Mat-su area, and this week was no exception. We did have some enhanced solar winds throughout a good chunk of it due to a high speed stream from a coronal hole as well! On Friday, I was able to get a weather window for a few hours, and catch some of the tail end effects of that high speed stream! The Eklutna Tailrace is about 45min away from Anchorage I chose the same general area that we shot at during the November 1

After a week of travel for work, then being clouded over as the seasons continue to slowly change, seeing a series of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from the sun - including two earth directed CMEs from X class flares - was a welcome surprise! Any boy, did the first CME deliver! The G4 storm warning from NOAA / SWPC for 11/12 UTC - which fell on the night of 11/11 for Alaska The Eklutna Tailrace is about 45min away from Anchorage I had full days of meetings this week for work

The snow is slowly creeping toward Southcentral Alaska, and the weather continues to be a challenge! This week we had chances from multiple CMEs and another high speed stream from a coronal hole to potentially catch some aurora. But, with the weather being poor every night, Saturday was the only chance we had to get on the road. I debated a couple of options last night, especially given the storm conditions that came Friday night. Kenai Lake has been on my bucket list to t

We're anticipating snow any day now, and as is the norm in Southcentral Alaska in the fall, it's cloudy more often than not. This last week was again no different - but, there was a chance out east in an area I haven't shot yet. We intended to go up toward Paxson and camp (about 80-90 miles north of Glennallen, around 250mi one way). The weather forecast had actually called for the area near Summit Lake / Isabel Pass to be good all night, and there was a chance for potenti

For a week that was looking to give cloudy skies with plenty of precipitation, we sure did luck out. Enhanced solar wind was prevalent through most of the week due to a few different things - high speed streams coming in, speculation on stealth CMEs, a modeled near miss from a CME potentially clipping Earth, and also some potential continued effects at high latitudes that occur around equinox. All of that in itself is plenty to unpack! Looking at this week as a whole, the

Despite living in the Anchorage/Mat-su area for most of my life, taking a drive out to poke around in Portage Valley is always enjoyable - the area sits just inside the Chugach National Forest boundary. Portage Valley & Portage Lake (20-30min from Girdwood) It turned out to be a really nice afternoon, with fall colors nearly at their peak along the Seward Highway and temperatures as high as 55F. We saw trumpeter swans at Potter Marsh, mountain goats at Windy Corner, and belu

This blog is designed as an opportunity for me to share my experiences from chasing the aurora in a written format - sharing where I go,...