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PhotoWeather

Directional Weather Intelligence

You know the frustration. Your weather app says “rain nearby” and the sun’s at 30 degrees elevation. Perfect rainbow conditions, right? You drive 45 minutes to your spot, set up your gear, and… nothing. The rain was behind you, not opposite the sun where it needs to be.

Traditional weather forecasts give you one data point. But the atmosphere doesn’t care about that single point. Rain to the east means something completely different than rain to the west when you’re chasing rainbows at sunset.

Directional weather intelligence solves this by sampling weather conditions from multiple directions around your location. The result? 70% fewer false positives for rainbow alerts. No more wasted drives.

How It Actually Works

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Instead of checking weather at your exact GPS coordinates, we sample conditions from 8 compass points around you. For rainbow detection, we verify rain is falling opposite the sun AND clear skies exist toward the sun. Both conditions must be true in the right directions.

Single-point forecasts can’t do this. They tell you “rain: yes, clear skies: no” and you have no idea if those conditions are in the right places for what you’re trying to photograph.

What Gets Enhanced

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Plus and Pro subscribers automatically get directional analysis for these conditions. Zero configuration needed—just use the conditions in your rules.

Rainbow Detection

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Here’s the difference directional analysis makes:

Without directional intelligence: “Rain detected + sun between 5-42° elevation = rainbow possible” Result: Alert fires. You drive out. Rain is behind you, sun’s shining into scattered clouds. No rainbow.

With directional intelligence: “Rain in antisolar direction + clear skies toward sun + sun at 5-42° elevation = rainbow likely” Result: Alert fires. You drive out. Rain sheet opposite the sun, clear view of the sun. Rainbow appears.

That 70% reduction in false positives means you only get pinged when conditions are actually right. Not just “might be right somewhere.”

Learn more: Rainbow Probability

Golden Hour Quality

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Your weather app says “cloud cover: 40%.” Okay, but where are those clouds? If they’re behind you at sunset, you’re golden. If they’re on the horizon where the sun’s going down, your golden hour is ruined.

Sky probes check atmospheric conditions in the direction of the sun at sunrise/sunset. Not overhead. Not averaged across the whole sky. Right where the sun actually is on the horizon.

This is the difference between showing up to flat, hazy light versus that warm, directional glow that makes landscapes sing.

Red Sky Conditions

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“Red sky at night, photographer’s delight” only works if the clouds are positioned correctly. You need clouds at the horizon catching the low-angle light, but not so many that they block the sun entirely.

Sky probes analyze three zones: horizon clouds, overhead clouds, and clouds opposite the sun. The pattern matters. High cirrus at the horizon with clear overhead? Dramatic red sky incoming. Thick clouds everywhere? Grey mush.

Aurora Quality

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Auroras don’t appear directly overhead for most photographers. If you’re at 45°N latitude, you’re looking north toward the horizon. Cloud cover at zenith is irrelevant if your entire northern sky is socked in.

Sky probes check cloud coverage across the entire sky dome, weighted by where auroras are most likely to appear based on your latitude and current geomagnetic conditions. You get alerts when the sky is actually clear in the direction that matters.

Learn more: Aurora Intelligence

Setup and Configuration

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None needed. Seriously.

If you’re a Plus or Pro subscriber and you use any of the enhanced conditions above (rainbow probability, golden hour potential, red sky potential, aurora quality), you automatically get directional analysis. Your existing rules are already using it.

Subscription Requirements

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Plus or Pro subscription required

Directional weather intelligence is exclusive to Plus and Pro subscribers. Free users get basic versions of these conditions using single-point weather data.

The upgrade difference: fewer false alerts, more usable shoots, less wasted gas money.

Next Steps

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