The Northern Lights are a spectacular sight, and I do not remember seeing a stronger forecast than the one for tonight (currently reaching Kp 8 for an extended duration).
"The Northern Lights may become visible as far south as Alabama to northern California" [NOAA]
Northern Lights forecasting is not accurate, and the lights could be a no-show tonight, but the incoming storm is strong enough to prompt NOAA to hold a media briefing. I didn't watch the 1-hour recording, but view it here if you are interested.
Put a plan in place.
Select a dark sky location with good sky visibility, especially to the north, and a clear weather forecast.
The Aurora forecast link (higher Kp is better) tells you when to be at that location. Note that the lights may not be visible for the entire forecasted duration (perhaps for only a few minutes), and the activity will likely increase and decrease throughout the visibility duration, so plan to hang out in your location (dress adequately and take food and drink).
Usually, your widest angle and widest aperture lenses are the best choice for Northern Lights photography. 14mm f/1.8 and 24mm f/1.4 lenses are my favorite options.
Use a tripod, and for exposure, chase the show's intensity with shutter speed and ISO (watch the histogram and avoid burying a color onto the right wall of the chart). If the lights are bright and pulsing fast, attempt to get the shutter speed down to as short as 0.5 seconds to capture the structure and avoid a smear of color.
I have a growing stack of Northern Lights photos to share with you, but I still need more time to process them.
While the camera will see the colors better than your eyes, a strong aurora is easily visible and worth taking your non-photographer friends to see.