Will I be able to see Aurora Borealis Oct 6-9? (Fairbanks: renting, house)

[dregoinplaces]

I have a trip to Fairbanks planned for Oct 6-9 to see Aurora Borealis. I notice that the weather forecast shows that it could be raining literally all of those days. Should I cancel? Or is there a chance I will still get to see them?

[AKStafford]

Any weather forecast more than 36 hours out is just a guess.

[Parnassia]

There are multiple websites that summarize weather trends for Fairbanks, but the actual weather in any one year/month can always decide not to follow the norm. The months with the most rainfall days are August and September. By October, the weather is typically drying out as it gets cold, but rain (or snow which obviously would also block views of the aurora) is still very possible. Up to you to decide about your trip.

https://www.weather-atlas.com/en/ala...#rainfall_days

[dregoinplaces]

Originally Posted by Parnassia

There are multiple websites that summarize weather trends for Fairbanks, but the actual weather in any one year/month can always decide not to follow the norm. The months with the most rainfall days are August and September. By October, the weather is typically drying out as it gets cold, but rain (or snow which obviously would also block views of the aurora) is still very possible. Up to you to decide about your trip.

https://www.weather-atlas.com/en/ala...#rainfall_days

Thank you for this!! I will still go and make the best of it. I’m renting a car, so I will do a bit of exploring. Anything you recommend? I love good food and drinks, good views, museums, historical sites, nature, and cannabis lol.

[RayinAK]

There was a Kp 6 and 5 Aurora activity this week. Last night (2,3,4 October)the Auroras have been quite active around midnight. The display was quite good this morning just between midnight and 1:00 AM.

Anything is possible, but it is difficult to schedule such a short time to watch the Auroras. All depends on solar activity and the weather. A few clouds on the sky is not a problem, but a complete cloud cover is.

To get an idea about the Auroras forecast, I usually look at the website below, which by the way where UTC time is used. I wrote a few emails to complain, because UAF should have real Alaska time instead of UTC time, at leas for the Alaska public. They use UTC because of the international community. Anyway, there is a time difference of about 8-9 hours between Alaska time and UTC. For example, 12:00 AM UTC = 3:00 PM Alaska. So when looking at the forecast around 3:00 PM Alaska time, it is 12:00 AM UTC already

When you look at the forecast at the UAF website, just look at the Alaska time counter and ignore the UTC time. Then scroll down the page and "click" the mouse pointer on the "globe" at the bottom right corner, and this in turn with take you to the Space Weather Prediction Center. If you want to see what is happening at the moment, click the mouse's pointer on the globe once more. That will show you where the Auroras are taking place around the globe (UTC).

UAF:
https://www.gi.alaska.edu/monitors/aurora-forecast

Space Weather Prediction Center:
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov

[royalabran]

Originally Posted by dregoinplaces

Thank you for this!! I will still go and make the best of it. I’m renting a car, so I will do a bit of exploring. Anything you recommend? I love good food and drinks, good views, museums, historical sites, nature, and cannabis lol.

1st day or 1st stop:
I recommend the Moriss Thompson Cultural Center which is also the Fairbanks Visitor Center.
It has a very nice walk through with exhibits on Alaska history
Lots of maps and handouts
staff to answer questions on Fairbanks and Alaska travels

Walk from the Visitor/ cultural center toward the Chena River. Very short walk the Center is on the river. There is a great selfie shot on the path at at "Antler Arch"

UAF (university of Alaska) "Museum of the North" worth a few hours of your time

Pioneer Park - fairly small and an easy walk through. Vendors and shops close around labor day but still a good self guided Alaska history walk. Lots of cabins from around 1900 have been relocated and preserved here. This weekend happens to be a "fiber exhibit" So weaving and spinning exhibits and maybe a food truck or 2.

HooDoo Brewery /Tap room for local made craft brew. Also rotating food trucks on site. Right next door is a Knife Shop which is also packed full of fossils and antlers.

Chena Pump House restaurant- I'm not much of a foodie but I like this one and the decorations on the walls and ceiling are very Alaskan.

Antique Auto Museum - a surprisingly good and big restored collection.

[royalabran]

Originally Posted by dregoinplaces

I have a trip to Fairbanks planned for Oct 6-9 to see Aurora Borealis. I notice that the weather forecast shows that it could be raining literally all of those days. Should I cancel? Or is there a chance I will still get to see them?

Looks like it will be overcast and maybe rainy or even snowing a bit.


When you are flying in (if at night) and when you fly out try to get a window seat and you might be lucky and see the Aurora from above the clouds.

I haven't used this but consider one of the photographers that takes people out for Aurora shoots. Maybe they can track and get to spots without as much cloud cover.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by royalabran

1st day or 1st stop:
I recommend the Moriss Thompson Cultural Center which is also the Fairbanks Visitor Center.
It has a very nice walk through with exhibits on Alaska history
Lots of maps and handouts
staff to answer questions on Fairbanks and Alaska travels

Walk from the Visitor/ cultural center toward the Chena River. Very short walk the Center is on the river. There is a great selfie shot on the path at at "Antler Arch"

UAF (university of Alaska) "Museum of the North" worth a few hours of your time

Pioneer Park - fairly small and an easy walk through. Vendors and shops close around labor day but still a good self guided Alaska history walk. Lots of cabins from around 1900 have been relocated and preserved here. This weekend happens to be a "fiber exhibit" So weaving and spinning exhibits and maybe a food truck or 2.

HooDoo Brewery /Tap room for local made craft brew. Also rotating food trucks on site. Right next door is a Knife Shop which is also packed full of fossils and antlers.

Chena Pump House restaurant- I'm not much of a foodie but I like this one and the decorations on the walls and ceiling are very Alaskan.

Antique Auto Museum - a surprisingly good and big restored collection.

A very good place to visit. There are a lot of automobiles to look at, and if you visit at the right time you may talk with the mechanics and other "restorers" in there.