The farther North you get, the better chance of seeing a display.
I haven't see much here in the last several months.
Aslkahuna has the ideal place, a front row seat.
As tyler eluded to you can get a 2 or 3 day warning of a goemagnetic storm.
For the big picture right now, we are at the solar eleven year cycle minimum. However, some of the acitivity has pointed to a very active cycle in the future. Perhaps one of the most active in recent times. I sort of suspect that when the upswing to maximum starts even the people in the mid South and perhaps occasionally far South may get a few displays.
This may not be for a couple of years yet. But then again these things tend to be a bit unpredictable. You just never know when you might see one.
I guess there was a nice display Sept. 1st in the Northern regions.
I was out looking a the sun a while ago with the 10" scope and only noticed three quite small sunspots. Not really much to discuss.
http://spaceweather.com is a good site to check conditions.
Another excellent site which contains a lot of information and detail is;
http://gsc.nrcan.gc.ca/geomag/index_e.php
Two interesing links on this site are, Geomagnetic forecasts & review, and Space Weather.
So, don't despair, I have no doubt at all you will get to see the Northern lights, and it may not be too far off.