The contiguous US and most of the populated areas of Canada aren't far enough north to see the aurora except during an unusually large solar event. The University of Alaska
publishes forecasts for auroras. You can see they have maps with a green halo around the Arctic regions. The closer to the darkest part of the halo you are, the better your chances will be.
Fairbanks Alaska is pretty much in the ideal spot for viewing auroras. That's the only place I've ever seen it, and I only saw it once out of three or four trips up there. Not only do you need the solar activity to cooperate, but you also need a clear, dark night. That means summer is mostly out due to the extremely late sunsets up that far north, and cloudy weather could nix it even if the sun has huge flares.
From Connecticut if you wanted to drive somewhere far enough north to get almost as good as Fairbanks for aurora conditions, it looks like Labrador City might be a decent bet. Only a 20 hour drive!