While you can never expect or assume there will be Northern Lights, the colder weather brings a heightened chance to see them.

There are ways to track if a flare is expected - follow the news, download apps, join Northern Lights hunter groups in your area on Facebook or other platforms. All of which should tip you off to upcoming aurora opportunities.

Western Canada in the prairie provinces - Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba- are all phenomenal places to experience a great aurora show. Living in Moose Jaw Saskatchewan afforded me some of the best Northern Lights events I have ever seen.

Central Alberta also comes in as a top viewing destination. I was situated in Calgary when I heard they were starting up. Being in a large city is absolutely not ideal viewing opportunities. So we headed north towards the smaller rural areas of the province. We only needed to get 20 minutes away from the city to be rewarded with spectacular colours.

The farther north you go, the more powerful the Northern Lights become. If you have an app, it can show you a map in a scale of 3 colours. Yellow, orange and red. The closer to the red you can get, the better. Cloud cover always matters. Sometimes adding to the light show, but more often than not, clouds will block your view. The apps usually show cloud cover and which way to go for clear skies.

Start tracking the Northern Lights for your chance to see them!