May 2024 Aurora

Prior to 2024 I had only ever seen the northern lights from a few trans-Atlantic flights. After spending a week near Fairbanks in March photographing them from the ground, I was hooked and planned to continue chasing them in the future. So when I heard the forecast for a severe G5 solar storm on the night of May 10, I was cautiously excited. Aurora predicting can be difficult and warnings like this don't always pan out. Still, it was a weekend night and I had nothing else to do, so I got in my car and headed a few hours northeast into Washington to get further into the zone of possibility and away from light pollution. To say I was rewarded for my efforts might be the understatement of the decade. I had no idea what I saw that night was even possible, so much color... pulsing and dancing auroras filling the entire Northwest night sky. I stayed up almost all night photographing as fast as I could, at times literally dancing around my camera with exhileration as I saw the incredible colors exploding in the sky above me. I will NEVER forget this night!