I woke up this morning and read about the unusually strong Northern Lights to be seen this evening, if you’re in the right parts of the world. And the fact that the aurora will be visible as far south as Seattle and Portland. And that the kp index, a measure of the strength of the magnetic storm causing the aurora, will be especially high tonight – 7 out of a possible 10. Finally, I read about Seattle having weirdly clear skies for the next 36 hours.

After a few minutes thought, I woke K up and asked her if she wanted to go to Seattle. Her first answer was “What’s wrong?” Once she heard why I wanted to go, the answer was yes. So in two hours, we booked flights, got a hotel room, got ready and we took off for the airport in hope of seeing something special.

We’re now in Seattle, 5pm, and hoping for a natural physics show starting about 7pm. Pictures to follow.