What towns in Alberta Canada am I most likely to encounter aurora borealis? I'm planning this trip for October?

FYI people just because you are in a northern area does NOT mean you will see the Northern Lights, I lived in Fort McMurray and never saw them once, it isnt that far North actually -- the only place ever saw them was up above Grande Prairie in fact. Its pretty consistent in the High Level area, but thats about 80 miles below the NWT.

I think you have a better chance at seeing them in Saskatchewan than anywhere else. I always saw them on the drive from Saskatoon to Regina in the winter

Its not predictable, I have seen them in the East Kootenays in BC and the southern interior too - places like Kamloops the odd time --

However there are Northern Lights and then there are NORTHERN LIGHTS - when you get as far north as High Level Ab they also make a humming noise -- and are spectacular

October is pretty early for them. Still warm weather in most of Canada at that time of the year except places like High Level and the NWT

The further north you go, the more likely you'll be to see them. So, places like Fort McMurray, Slave Lake, Fort Saskatchewan and Grande Prairie are best.

Fort Chip, Lesser Slave, Fort Mac, anything north of Edmonton when the conditions are right. This year should be good, there is a lot of solar activity expected.

This page can show you where there tends to be good auroral activity:

http://www.gedds.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/

If there is good activity it could be visible from Fort McMurray. If you can get up to Yellowknife, the activity should be better. I don't know how they compare for probability of cloudiness.

That farther north you go, the better your chances of seeing an aurora borealis. Sometimes they are visible in Edmonton or even in Calgary, in rare instances.

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