AZGman wrote:We got caught by the western edge of one in '03 (can't remember it's name) . . . lost power for about 11 hours . . . winds in our area only hit 50-60 mph, slightly higher gusts . . .

Isabelle! We lost power for 3-4 days and since we have a well & septic, no power=no running water. It was not fun. The boy kid was 6 months old and I had a freezer full of breast milk, and was scared that it was going to go bad. Fortunately, it didn't. The power came on the morning we went to the airport to pick up my Mom.

AZGman wrote:Intensity has more to do with solar activity . . . they've been reported seen as far south as North Carolina when conditions are just right.

I'm pretty sure that I've seen those from my house here in Maryland too! There was something funky going on in the sky - very colorful.

krapposelli wrote:Isabelle! We lost power for 3-4 days and since we have a well & septic, no power=no running water. It was not fun. The boy kid was 6 months old and I had a freezer full of breast milk, and was scared that it was going to go bad. Fortunately, it didn't. The power came on the morning we went to the airport to pick up my Mom.

uhm . . . that's a lot of . . . uh . . . milking . . .

AZGman wrote:I'm waiting for the baby monkey to puke . . .

Ewww. I hate when that happens. Baby puke in your hair requires a shower as soon as possible.

krapposelli wrote:I'm pretty sure that I've seen those from my house here in Maryland too! There was something funky going on in the sky - very colorful.

That was probably it . . .

The aurora can manifest itself in many ways . . .

AZGman wrote:uhm . . . that's a lot of . . . uh . . . milking . . .

Okay, the freezer wasn't full, but there was a good bit of milk. I'll spare you the details of my breastfeeding.

krapposelli wrote:Okay, the freezer wasn't full, but there was a good bit of milk. I'll spare you the details of my breastfeeding.

What about the details of your son's breastfeedings???

AZGman wrote:That was probably it . . .

The aurora can manifest itself in many ways . . .

Are there certain times of the year when it occurs? (I guess I could just google it...)

AZGman wrote:That was probably it . . .

The aurora can manifest itself in many ways . . .

I remember looking at it and being fascinated by it. At the time I thought of "northern lights" - is that the same thing? I also thought that it could mean that something went terribly wrong somewhere and I was seeing the atmospheric effects of it. There I go turning into Chicken Little again.

The only other cool thing we've seen is a year or so ago they had a night time Space Shuttle launch that took an unusual course up the East Coast. So we saw the rocket take off, then ran outside and saw it streaking across the sky. Okay, we saw a glowing little dot moving very quickly across the sky, but we knew that's what it was.

tall4agirl wrote:Are there certain times of the year when it occurs? (I guess I could just google it...)

I don't believe so, although I seem to recall it's more prevalent in the cooler months. But since it's activity is driven pretty much by solar activity, I'd venture to say that when the sun is "cookin'," so is the aurora.

AZGman wrote:What about the details of your son's breastfeedings???

I had started to explain why I had a freezer full of milk, then decided you probably wouldn't be interested. I'm guessing you'd rather hear about the act of breastfeeding itself, and we're just not going to get into that.

krapposelli wrote:I remember looking at it and being fascinated by it. At the time I thought of "northern lights" - is that the same thing? I also thought that it could mean that something went terribly wrong somewhere and I was seeing the atmospheric effects of it. There I go turning into Chicken Little again.

<snip>

Yup, "Northern lights" is synonymous with the aurora . . .

krapposelli wrote:I had started to explain why I had a freezer full of milk, then decided you probably wouldn't be interested. I'm guessing you'd rather hear about the act of breastfeeding itself, and we're just not going to get into that.

uhm . . . okay

AZGman wrote:Yup, "Northern lights" is synonymous with the aurora . . .

Just googled it, this is what I remember it to look like:

AZGman wrote:I don't believe so, although I seem to recall it's more prevalent in the cooler months. But since it's activity is driven pretty much by solar activity, I'd venture to say that when the sun is "cookin'," so is the aurora.

I may have to look into this. I would love to see it in person. I'm gonna need a better camera for that trip, though. I was very disappointed in my pictures of the eclipse last night.

krapposelli wrote:Just googled it, this is what I remember it to look like:

Oh my gawd!!! That's radiation from the planet Krypton!!!

tall4agirl wrote:I may have to look into this. I would love to see it in person. I'm gonna need a better camera for that trip, though. I was very disappointed in my pictures of the eclipse last night.

Here's a page that I thin is predicting when / where to see it. It's all scientific and it's too late in the day to make heads or tails of it.

http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/pmap/pmapN.html

tall4agirl wrote:I may have to look into this. I would love to see it in person. I'm gonna need a better camera for that trip, though. I was very disappointed in my pictures of the eclipse last night.

I probably slept right through it . . . although it did feel darker out for a little while last night . . .

krapposelli wrote:Here's a page that I thin is predicting when / where to see it. It's all scientific and it's too late in the day to make heads or tails of it.

http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/pmap/pmapN.html

I'm not convinced that's really English. It looks like English, but I don't understand it at all.

krapposelli wrote:Here's a page that I thin is predicting when / where to see it. It's all scientific and it's too late in the day to make heads or tails of it.

http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/pmap/pmapN.html

Cool! Thanks!!

AZGman wrote:I probably slept right through it . . . although it did feel darker out for a little while last night . . .

It was darker for about 50 minutes here. I stood outside in my down parka for 20 minutes to watch the shadow cover the last crescent of the moon. My dog thought I was crazy. ...my neighbors probably did too!

AZGman wrote:Cool! Thanks!!

Translate it for us and let us know what the hell it says...

krapposelli wrote:Translate it for us and let us know what the hell it says...

It shows the area covered by the aurora at one point in time. The colors indicate intensity with the blue end of the scale being least intense - essentially invisible. The pic that is currently up shows that it is 12 noon at about Midway Island (red arrow).

Ah! It updates automatically . . .

AZGman wrote:It shows the area covered by the aurora at one point in time. The colors indicate intensity with the blue end of the scale being least intense - essentially invisible. The pic that is currently up shows that it is 12 noon at about Midway Island (red arrow).

So, the dark yellow/orange would be the best place to see the aurora? (since there is no red on the current map)

tall4agirl wrote:So, the dark yellow/orange would be the best place to see the aurora? (since there is no red on the current map)

I don't completely understand the amount of intensity indicated . . . but I suspect that even in the yellow it would be fairly faint . . .

AZGman wrote:I don't completely understand the amount of intensity indicated . . . but I suspect that even in the yellow it would be fairly faint . . .

Thanks for the translation.

And thanks for the link, 'selli!

I wonder if poofguy is grumpin' around the house cuz his basketball game was canceled?

AZGman wrote:I wonder if poofguy is grumpin' around the house cuz his basketball game was canceled?

Probably; men are like that.

He could watch Xavier on tv tonight.

tall4agirl wrote:Thanks for the translation.

And thanks for the link, 'selli!

Yes, thanks Gman for the translation. Glad it's a useful link for you guys.

Off to go fix another fancy shmancy bowl of cereal - no bananas this time. Have a great night... and Gman, don't stay up too late. Don't want you to be grumpy tomorrow.

Looks like the weather is getting crappier in southern Ohio . . .

krapposelli wrote:Yes, thanks Gman for the translation. Glad it's a useful link for you guys.

Off to go fix another fancy shmancy bowl of cereal - no bananas this time. Have a great night... and Gman, don't stay up too late. Don't want you to be grumpy tomorrow.

g'night 'selli. Enjoy the cereal.

krapposelli wrote:Yes, thanks Gman for the translation. Glad it's a useful link for you guys.

Off to go fix another fancy shmancy bowl of cereal - no bananas this time. Have a great night... and Gman, don't stay up too late. Don't want you to be grumpy tomorrow.

I get to sleep in!!

Cya tomorrey!!

AZGman wrote:Looks like the weather is getting crappier in southern Ohio . . .

Yup. It sure looks pretty from my living room, though.

daj59 wrote:From what I can tell, in TX we're SOL.

Yep; pretty much!!

daj59 wrote:From what I can tell, in TX we're SOL.

Well, the stars at night are big and bright there...

tall4agirl wrote:Well, the stars at night are big and bright there...

Enough to shine on the yaller roses of Texas in Red River Valley!!

When we were in Alaska in September, they told us there was a slim chance we'd see the northern lights, but not real likely, that it was too early for them.