Skip to content
PhotoWeather
Get started
More Painted Sky in California Coast
Create your own alerts
Rule Painted Sky

Painted Sky Forecast for Big Sur, California Coast

Big Sur, California, United States

Big Sur’s Santa Lucia Mountains descend directly into the Pacific, creating stacked headlands, sea cliffs, coves, and surf beneath changing marine fog.

1 matching opportunities in the 14-day forecast.

Hourly forecast scores

Forecast valid from Oct 7, 2026, 11:00 PM UTC (one hour; not an observation)
Painted Sky Potential
3%
Low Cloud Cover0%
Mid Cloud Cover0%
High Cloud Cover0%
Sun Elevation29.7°

Upcoming Opportunities

When all conditions match, PhotoWeather marks an opportunity window.

Times shown in America/Los_Angeles
golden-clouds weather icon
First upcoming window
Excellent Painted Sky at Sunrise
Big Sur
Tue, Oct 13 · 07:00–07:46 · 1h window
Low confidence
38%
🌤️Painted Sky Potential81%
Low Cloud Cover: 63%
Mid Cloud Cover: 18%
High Cloud Cover: 0%
Sun Elevation: -3.3° (Civil twilight)

71-hour requirements breakdown

When available, this detailed table covers only the stated 71-hour horizon (typically 72–168 hours, depending on available hourly data). Opportunity records above span the full 14-day forecast period, so this table does not explain that entire period. Times shown in America/Los_Angeles.

Requirements breakdown is temporarily unavailable or expired. This does not mean no opportunities.

Supporting forecast inputs

Additional hourly values for interpreting the forecast and any derived scores. See the separate requirements breakdown for rule logic; missing values are unavailable.

Forecast time (America/Los_Angeles)Golden HourHigh CloudsLow CloudsMid-Level CloudsSolar ElevationTotal Cloud CoverageVisibility
Wed, Oct 7, 2026Sunrise · Sunset
Unavailable0%0%0%30°0%28200m
Unavailable0%1%0%19°1%23500m
Unavailable0%1%0%7.6°1%30500m
NightUnavailable0%0%0%-4.4°0%38900m
NightUnavailable0%0%0%-17°0%44300m
NightUnavailable0%0%0%-28°0%41000m
NightUnavailable0%0%0%-40°0%37000m
NightUnavailable0%0%0%-50°0%29700m
Thu, Oct 8, 2026Sunrise · Sunset
NightUnavailable0%0%0%-57°0%26300m
NightUnavailable0%0%0%-60°0%29100m
NightUnavailable0%0%0%-56°0%29400m
NightUnavailable0%0%0%-48°0%31900m
NightUnavailable0%0%0%-38°0%35200m
NightUnavailable0%0%0%-27°0%38100m
NightUnavailable0%0%0%-15°0%34700m
NightUnavailable0%0%0%-2.4°0%27700m
Unavailable0%0%0%9.5°0%23400m
Unavailable0%1%0%21°1%19900m
Unavailable0%3%0%31°3%20900m
Unavailable0%2%0%40°2%22500m
Unavailable0%3%0%46°3%22800m
Unavailable0%3%0%48°3%22900m
Unavailable0%2%0%45°2%23000m
Unavailable0%2%0%38°2%22300m
Unavailable0%2%0%29°2%21500m
Unavailable0%3%0%19°3%19600m
Unavailable0%5%0%7.3°5%17600m
NightUnavailable0%6%0%-4.7°6%14600m
NightUnavailable0%6%0%-17°6%14700m
NightUnavailable0%4%0%-29°4%14400m
NightUnavailable0%5%0%-40°5%14100m
NightUnavailable0%6%0%-50°6%13100m
Fri, Oct 9, 2026Sunrise · Sunset
NightUnavailable0%10%0%-58°10%12400m
NightUnavailable0%18%0%-60°18%12200m
NightUnavailable0%100%0%-57°100%100m
NightUnavailable0%100%0%-49°100%100m
NightUnavailable0%100%0%-38°100%0m
NightUnavailable0%100%0%-27°100%100m
NightUnavailable0%56%0%-15°56%12200m
NightUnavailable0%100%0%-2.6°100%100m
Unavailable0%100%0%9.3°100%100m
Unavailable0%54%0%21°54%15185m
Unavailable0%48%0%31°48%18420m
Unavailable0%12%0%40°12%20445m
Unavailable0%0%0%45°0%2260m
Unavailable0%0%0%47°0%1880m
Unavailable0%0%0%45°0%6360m
Unavailable0%0%0%38°0%18780m
Unavailable0%0%0%29°0%22640m
Unavailable0%0%0%18°0%22700m
Unavailable0%0%0%7°0%23020m
NightUnavailable0%0%0%-5°0%24140m
NightUnavailable0%0%0%-17°0%24140m
NightUnavailable0%0%0%-29°0%24140m
NightUnavailable0%0%0%-40°0%24140m
NightUnavailable0%0%0%-51°0%24140m
Sat, Oct 10, 2026Sunrise · Sunset
NightUnavailable0%0%0%-58°0%24140m
NightUnavailable0%0%0%-60°0%24140m
NightUnavailable0%0%0%-57°0%19560m
NightUnavailable0%0%0%-49°0%5860m
NightUnavailable0%0%0%-38°0%24140m
NightUnavailable0%10%0%-27°10%24140m
NightUnavailable0%0%0%-15°0%5300m
NightUnavailable0%0%0%-2.7°0%24140m
Unavailable0%0%0%9.1°0%24140m
Unavailable0%0%0%20°0%24140m
Unavailable0%0%0%31°0%24140m
Unavailable0%0%0%39°0%24140m
Unavailable0%0%0%45°0%24140m
Unavailable0%0%0%47°0%24140m
Unavailable0%0%0%44°0%24140m
Unavailable0%0%0%38°0%24140m

How this forecast is evaluated

See which weather signals PhotoWeather uses to identify Painted Sky conditions across California Coast. The requirements and hourly values above show how those signals apply at Big Sur.

Explore Painted Sky conditions across California Coast →

Recorded match history

Completed PhotoWeather forecast matches recorded for this exact rule at Big Sur during the last 365 days.

Last 30 days
1
recorded matching window · 70% average confidence
Last 90 days
1
recorded matching window · 70% average confidence
Last 365 days
2
recorded matching windows · 70% average confidence

Only 2 completed matches are recorded in the last 365 days—insufficient history to identify a reliable typical start time or month.

These figures use completed PhotoWeather MatchEvent records from the previous 365 days only. They describe recorded forecast matches, not observations, climatological probability, or a guarantee of future conditions.

Create your own Painted Sky alerts

Get notified when these conditions match at your own locations.

Get this template

How this forecast is made

Opportunities are threshold-based signals: PhotoWeather checks whether forecast conditions match the rules for a photography scenario. They are planning guidance, not guarantees. Forecasts can change as new model runs arrive, and confidence generally decreases farther into the forecast horizon, so recheck conditions before travelling.

The weather forecast foundation comes through Open-Meteo , which aggregates models from weather agencies. PhotoWeather applies condition-specific thresholds and derived calculations; not every condition uses every model or data input.

How opportunities work → Weather data sources →

Get Notified of Opportunities

Create your own custom alerts for this location and more.

Create Free Account