In the late 1980s Yellowknife, located at 62° North latitude, began to attract more than just avid anglers and hunters en route to the ultimate outdoor adventure. Local businesses began to notice that more an more visitors from around the world were traveling to the capital in the winter during the coldest, darkest months of the year.
Of course, it wasn't the extreme weather they were coming to see, it was space weather – in the form of fall, winter and spring auroras. This would be the start of over 25 years of aurora tourism in Yellowknife, the Diamond Capital of North America.
Since its humble aurora beginnings small vans have been replaced by comfortable buses, and Yellowknife has developed into an aurora tourism giant, with more capacity to support more eager aurora fans than any single destination in the world.
Other countries and Canadian territories offer aurora products as well, since Iceland, Greenland, Scandinavia, Russia, Alaska, Yukon and Nunavut all have access to the same auroras (62° North is a prime latitude for viewing the lights). But there is one difference that sets Yellowknife and the southern half of the Northwest Territories apart – climate. Yellowknife enjoys more clear nights than other locations because it is located in a semi-arid subarctic climate that lies in the rain shadow of the Mackenzie Mountains to the west. This very dark, dry region of Canada can be cold in the winter, but a little chill is well worth the natural thrill of a spectacular aurora light show. |
