February 28, 2014
Grand Rapids, MN
One of the most powerful eruptions of Solar Cycle 24, an X-4.9 flare, occurred two days earlier, sending a bright coronal mass ejection from the southeastern limb of the sun as Sunspot 1990 returned from two earlier trips around the Earth-facing side. The blast was wide enough to provide Earth a glancing blow. While the timing of the CME impact was not good for North Americans to see auroras, we were able to catch the tail end of the show in northern Minnesota.
My parents were in town, and they took me out to dinner. In return (or more likely, they were doing me a favor by accompanying me), I took them on a short aurora chase. We tried Peterson Road on the north side of town, but that was drifed shut, and the plow was working on it when we arrived. We headed to the dam on the Prairie River, which is not too far away. We drove up to a spot where Mom and Dad could view from inside the vehicle as I snapped a few pictures outside.
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| Auroras over Prairie Lake. |
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| Mom and Dad stayed in the car. |