Event Intelligence: Plain-Language Weather Stories Are Here

I’ve spent the past few weeks rebuilding how PhotoWeather talks to you about upcoming shoots. Instead of sending you cryptic rule names, the app now writes clear stories about what’s about to happen, why it’s happening, and how confident we are. I’m calling it Event Intelligence, and it’s live for everyone right now.

Why Event Intelligence matters

Rules used to fire with titles like “Fog.” Helpful? Not really. Now every match tells you something about what the forecast is actually predicting. High aurora activity with a forecast that also predicts low wind might say “Strong aurora activity with calm winds allowing undisturbed water reflections.” Rainbow moments use lines like “Optimal sun angle with rain showers creating strong possibility for rainbows opposite the sun.”

• Friendly headlines tell you the exact scenario that’s forming.
• Evidence cards list the key ingredients (visibility, wind, light, etc.) and highlight the strongest hour so you know when to be ready.
• Confidence badges (High, Medium, Low) spell out why you should trust the alert or approach it cautiously.

You don’t need to toggle anything. Every existing rule now benefits from Event Intelligence automatically.

Evidence you can act on

Each alert now comes with a short “why this is happening” breakdown:

1. Trigger summary — like “Fog probability 90%” pulled straight from the event data.
2. Top factors — plain-language callouts such as “Visibility under 1000 m (hits 500 m around 06:00 UTC)” or “Wind gusts stay below 15 m/s.”
3. Timing cues — peak hour, and total duration so you know how long conditions hold.

It’s the same forecasting math as before, but translated into normal language so you don’t need to stare at charts to understand what the forecast is predicting.

Confidence with real reasons

Those little confidence chips now explain themselves. When the match is strong you’ll read “Well above threshold with strong match confidence.” If something is borderline you’ll see “Conditions near threshold with lower certainty.”

Cross-checking multiple models (Pro)

Pro subscribers also get an extra layer of certainty for fog, golden hour, golden clouds, fiery red sky, and rainbow events. Behind the scenes PhotoWeather compares how different forecast models (ECMWF, GFS, ICON, etc.) agree on those exact conditions before it stamps the confidence badge.

Automatically updated as forecasts shift

PhotoWeather keeps watching your rules all day long. When a forecast tightens up, the story, evidence, and confidence refresh automatically—no need to rebuild rules or touch anything. You’ll always see the latest thinking in the dashboard, opportunities list, and notifications.

Bonus goodies in this release

Fresh Snow & Rain Puddle Templates (Pro)

Two new temporal templates landed for Pro subscribers:

• Fresh Snow Photography waits for active snowfall plus at least 5 cm of accumulation in the previous six hours, keeps visibility above 1000 m, limits steady wind to 8 m/s (gusts to 15 m/s), and requires freezing temperatures. When all of that lines up you know dawn patrol will have untouched powder.
• Rain Puddle Reflections looks for 2 mm of rain within three hours, then checks that rain has tapered off (≤0.1 mm now), wind stays under 1 m/s (gusts under 2 m/s), cloud cover stays below 40 %, sunshine lasts at least 10 minutes, visibility is above 8 km, and temperatures stay above 2 °C so puddles stick around. Translation: the perfect mirror-like streets right after a storm.

Both templates can of course be tweaked according to your preferences.

Cloud Base Height Field (All Plans)

You can now build rules around cloud base height. Low values (<300 m) mean moody fog layers, mid-level bases (500–2,000 m) catch sunrise and sunset light, and tall bases keep horizons clean for telephoto work. The field is available everywhere you choose weather conditions and can be charted like any other metric.

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This release is one of the biggest changes made to PhotoWeather since launch, and will continue to evolve as new features are added and new cases discovered. Feel free to drop me feedback on how it’s working for you and if you have any improvement ideas at support@photoweather.app.

Happy shooting, Pontus