It's amazing that you can see them so far south in the US. I live at +48° latitude too and around here it's completely unheard of to see anything of the Northern lights (even when I used to live in the countryside at ~+50°).
In central Kansas, I have seen faint aurora several times in the last 10 years. Nothing bright or fast moving, but if you paid attention and looked they were definitely aurora. And my Canadian mother also confirmed it.
Thanks for the advice.