OPINION: Outdoor escapades: Aurora borealis provides spectacular view for Minnesota fishing opener

Annalise Braught, The Bemidji Pioneer, Minn.
·4 min read

May 11—Waking up on Saturday morning it only took about 20 seconds on any given social media app to know the aurora borealis came for a visit Friday night.

My husband Nathan and I are frequent northern lights chasers and try to see them anytime they make a visit overhead, no matter where we are. If you've followed my little outdoors columns over the years you may recall our hilarious dedication to capture them while camping out near Grand Rapids over Labor Day a couple of years ago.

So when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Center issued its first G4 level geomagnetic storm watch since 2005 this week, we knew we were in for a special treat.

As we anxiously awaited nightfall on Friday, I kept refreshing the

My Aurora Forecast app

I use and was extremely happy to see Kp indexes of 8 and higher forecast throughout the evening into Saturday morning.

For those unfamiliar, Kp index measurements are used to predict solar weather activity and typically range from 0 to 9. The higher the number, the better chance you have of viewing the aurora.

Even though peak activity looked like it wouldn't start until around 11 p.m. for us, we couldn't wait to get out and see the lights. So around 9:50 we started packing up and headed down to the lake to see what we could spot as soon as darkness fell.

While we probably would have seen everything even better if we'd gotten away from the lights of the city, we were only feeling a certain level of commitment on a Friday night at the end of a very long work week, so opted for a five-minute drive instead of working too hard to find pure darkness.

So, with camera, tripod, camp chairs and snacks in hand, we ended up setting up for the night at South Shore Beach along Lake Bemidji with a terrific, primarily cloud-free view of the northern skyline.

And by being out by the water we got to see dozens of anglers heading out in their boats, anxiously awaiting the stroke of midnight to reel in another Minnesota fishing opener, this time with a pretty cool view overhead.

While I've seen the northern lights more times than I can count, what makes a truly great show, in my opinion, is when you can see the lights dancing with the naked eye — sometimes you can barely make them out unless you take a very long exposure on a high-end camera.

But that was definitely not the case this time around, we got a spectacular light show with all the colors the aurora has to offer, including some great streaking patterns and bright purples and pinks, which are my favorite. The last couple of times we have gone out for the lights there was a lot of glowing green, so it was fun to get the full spectrum this time.

All of this resulted in a top-notch show as we sat listening to the waves crash on the shore and loons calling out across the water.

There are a lot of things one could stay up until 1 a.m. doing on a Friday night, but if you ask me, not much can top a peaceful evening enjoying the awe of nature.

If you happened to miss Friday night's show, don't stress because the lights should make an appearance again on Saturday and Sunday evenings, even if they aren't quite as strong.

A great way to ensure you don't miss out is to download the

My Aurora Forecast

app to your phone and keep the notifications on. It'll alert you when there is an opportunity to see the lights depending on your location.

You can also visit

NOAA's Aurora forecast online anytime.

Here are a few things to keep in mind for the best viewing experience:

* Skies should be clear with little to no moonlight and minimal cloud cover. Be sure to check the local weather forecast of your viewing area.

* The best time to see the lights is from early sunset into the early morning hours. The displays are said to be most vibrant between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m.

* It's best to get out of town to avoid light pollution, which can affect the brilliance of the lights. Travel to a rural or unpopulated lake area.

* Solar radiation should be high to see the lights. Online space weather trackers help to determine this, as they monitor the solar wind stream and solar flares of the sun.