Solar Storms 2012 & The Northern Lights

Many have called this year 2012 to be the Year of the Solar Storms. Of course, many said that about last year and yet the storms have gotten stronger and the Northern Lights are being seen further south giving many the chance of a lifetime to view the Northern Lights for themselves, up close and personal ... with their cameras and posting these pics online.



Beautiful pictures of what to many is the Holy Grail and one of those things to do on their bucket list. They are up there with the Taj Mahal and the Great Pyramid's of Egypt or Mayan Ruins. Only problem is...they are harder to arrange to see unless you live in Alaska or Norway. You can book a cruise to the Caribbean or a flight to India but on any given day you may miss a chance to see the Northern Lights, even if you book a long term stay. They either happen or they don't and the forecasted period doesn't allow cheap airfare unless you are a very wealthy person where money is not a problem. I mean you can't just hop on a flight and hope and pray you might get lucky ...can you?

Hey.... the Taj Mahal is not going anywhere so perhaps you'd rather look for a cheap, doable flight to see it instead.

http://www.jetairways.com/

There are a list of Webcams that advertise that you can watch from your computer at home, if that is not the most meteorolgically voyeuristic idea... I don't know what is..

But, give it a try and let me know if you were able to see the Northern Lights tonight on one of them.

http://www.akmining.com/webcams.htm

http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronomy/auroramax/index.asp <---great link i think ;)

http://www.porjus.eu/

http://virtualtromso.no/en/northern-lights/138-live-northern-lights-activity-
and-forecast.html (good overall site with lots of info)

Maybe order in some great Indian food, turn on the heat, relax by the fireplace and watch the webcams online or... go to youtube, lot's of great video ;)Best one I've seen in a long time... beautiful music, sites, definitely want to take that cruise ;)



Another great option ...if you have money... is to take a cruise and hope to get lucky. Some beyond beautiful pics on this page and am thinking if I ever win the lottery (of figure out how to make money from this blog) I may take one of these cruises.

http://www.northern-lights-holidays.co.uk/Northern-Lights-Cruises-2012.aspx

Of course there are people who will blame dropped calls (oops) and migraines and moodiness. Then again... you might just be really unhappy with your life, looking for something to blame it on and need to take a cruise.. (just thinking outloud here) but there is a lot of scientific data to support these beliefs.

http://forum.solarstormwatch.com/index.php?topic=115.0

http://sunlightenment.com//

Either way... somewhere today there will be Northern Lights and there is a good chance based on the predictions of many scientists that this year will continue to be one filled with Solar Storms and more Northern Lights.

In my neck of the woods this morning there is a "Dense Fog Advisory" and people are cleaning up in Alabama still from yesterday's tornadoes. It's snowing in Marquette and it's warm in sunny Florida.

I started a new blog this week to follow how the weather may or may not affect this year's Presidential Elections.

http://electionweather.blogspot.com/

Weather changes everything and I find myself trying often to explain how and why I took so much meteorology along with geography and demography for my degree in International Relations. It's easy to say Russia needed a warm port and Napolean didn't fare well during the deep, long Russian winter. It's easy to try and explain how El Nino became a newstory when it became a famous International Law Case about fishing boats seized off the coast of Peru but still... few people realize how much a rainy day on election day or bad weather while a candidate is making public appearances at the State Fair can make a difference. Weather affects the economy, a hard freeze destroys oranges still on trees or strawberries in the field, the prices go up and people lose their farm or their profit for the year.

Weather, both Space Weather and Earth Weather, changes the course of history time and time again just very few people point it out. I do.

And, I am sure many people reading this blog have had just one day in their life when they meant to go vote in some small municipal election but the weather never cleared up or they were too cold, or they made another excuse about why they didn't bother to vote... happens, it's even happened to me and I'm the type who signed up to vote on my birthday as soon as I turned old enough.

I'm a registered Independent. I vote the man or woman not the party and gave up trying to fit into the Democratic Party or the Republican Party.

So, if you enjoy my blog here... check me out there as well and have a very, beautiful day.

Besos Bobbi

Ps if you live anywhere in the shaded area in the map above... don't forget to bundle up, go outside for a walk (weather permitting) and make a wish and look up and hope to see a shooting star or a glimpse of the Northern Lights.