Check with the U. of Alberta’s physics or astronomy dept. See whether they have a web page or RSS feed that notifies the public.
Aurora Borealis: The short version;
“Auroras are the result of the emissions of photons in the Earth’s upper atmosphere, above 80 km (50 miles), from ionized nitrogen atoms regaining an electron, and oxygen and nitrogen atoms returning from an excited state to ground state. They are ionized or excited by the collision of solar wind particles being funneled down and accelerated along the Earth’s magnetic field lines; excitation energy is lost by the emission of a photon of light, or by collision with another atom or molecule:”
The long version: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_(astronomy)
And here is a wonderful site where you can ask questions and check in for predictions.
http://www.pfrr.alaska.edu/aurora/index.html
And this for activity sighting: (Last week there were none.)
http://www.spacew.com/www/auroras.php