Rule
Golden Hour
Banff - Golden Hour - Canadian Rockies
Banff, Alberta, Canada
That magical warm light just after sunrise or before sunset
Currently
Real-time conditionsLow Cloud Cover96%
Mid Cloud Cover74%
High Cloud Cover100%
Sun Elevation47.6° (Daylight)
Upcoming Opportunities
When all conditions match, PhotoWeather marks an opportunity window.
Times shown in America/Edmonton
Next opportunity
Exceptional Golden Hour at Sunset
Banff
Fri, Apr 17 · 21:00–21:04 · 1h window
Medium confidence
64%
🌇Golden Hour Potential99.2%
Low Cloud Cover: 24%
Mid Cloud Cover: 1%
High Cloud Cover: 16%
Sun Elevation: -3.4° (Civil twilight)
Exceptional Golden Hour at Sunrise
Banff
Sun, Apr 19 · 06:16–07:22
🌇Golden Hour Potential:100%
Medium
What this forecast looks for
Plain-language explanation from the ruleThis forecast predicts when the continental divide peaks will catch alpenglow—that magical pink and orange light that makes the Rockies one of the world's premier golden hour destinations. We track clear sky conditions, sun angle, and atmospheric clarity to identify perfect alpenglow windows.
The Canadian Rockies run along the continental divide, with massive peaks rising directly from valley floors. This dramatic topography means the first and last light hits mountains while valleys remain in shadow, creating spectacular contrasts. The high latitude also means golden hour lasts longer than in equatorial regions.
What makes Rockies golden hour exceptional:
- Continental divide peaks - Massive mountains catch first and last light while valleys remain cool-toned
- Vermillion Lakes - Classic location where Mount Rundle catches alpenglow with wetland reflections in foreground
- Castle Mountain - Distinctive layered peak that glows dramatically at sunset
- Extended duration - Northern latitude means golden hour light lasts 30-60 minutes longer than southern locations
Best photography occurs at classic locations like Vermillion Lakes for sunrise on Mount Rundle, or Two Jack Lake for sunset on Mount Rundle from the east. Summer solstice brings challenges with very early sunrise times (5am), while autumn offers more reasonable timing with fall colors as bonus.
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72-hour requirements breakdown
What passed or failed, hour by hour0matching hours in the next 85 hours
AND logic: all conditions required
Meets requirement
Misses requirement
Time America/Edmonton | Golden Hour Any | Golden Hour Potential ≥ 80.0% | Precipitation Chance ≤ 5.0% | Visibility ≥ 1000.0m |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon, Apr 13 | ||||
| 23:00 | ✕ | 7.8% | 94% | 24134m |
| Tue, Apr 14 | ||||
| 24:00 | ✕ | 7.8% | 100% | 24135m |
| 01:00 | ✕ | 9.8% | 99% | 24135m |
| 02:00 | ✕ | 9.8% | 99% | 24134m |
| 03:00 | ✕ | 8.2% | 98% | 11037m |
| 04:00 | ✕ | 6% | 99% | 2209m |
| 05:00 | ✕ | 5.8% | 99% | 1703m |
| 06:00 | ✓ | 59% | 100% | 24135m |
| 07:00 | ✓ | 55% | 100% | 10848m |
| 08:00 | ✕ | 16% | 100% | 24134m |
| 09:00 | ✕ | 18% | 100% | 23821m |
| 10:00 | ✕ | 11% | 100% | 23810m |
| 11:00 | ✕ | 9.8% | 100% | 24134m |
| 12:00 | ✕ | 9.3% | 100% | 24074m |
| 13:00 | ✕ | 9.3% | 100% | 24033m |
| 14:00 | ✕ | 9.1% | 100% | 16058m |
| 15:00 | ✕ | 9.3% | 100% | 20369m |
| 16:00 | ✕ | 9.7% | 100% | 24134m |
| 17:00 | ✕ | 9.2% | 100% | 14068m |
| 18:00 | ✕ | 7.1% | 100% | 3753m |
| 19:00 | ✓ | 32% | 100% | 1227m |
| 20:00 | ✓ | 40% | 100% | 7301m |
| 21:00 | ✕ | 36% | 100% | 2648m |
| 22:00 | ✕ | 9.7% | 100% | 2174m |
| 23:00 | ✕ | 14% | 100% | 3569m |
| Wed, Apr 15 | ||||
| 24:00 | ✕ | 14% | 100% | 1204m |
| 01:00 | ✕ | 13% | 97% | 1330m |
| 02:00 | ✕ | 13% | 94% | 1355m |
| 03:00 | ✕ | 11% | 91% | 2395m |
| 04:00 | ✕ | 15% | 92% | 7246m |
| 05:00 | ✕ | 7.6% | 93% | 6467m |
| 06:00 | ✓ | 40% | 94% | 5856m |
| 07:00 | ✓ | 52% | 82% | 10289m |
| 08:00 | ✕ | 5.2% | 69% | 1946m |
| 09:00 | ✕ | 4.1% | 57% | 435m |
| 10:00 | ✕ | 4% | 66% | 232m |
| 11:00 | ✕ | 4% | 74% | 228m |
| 12:00 | ✕ | 4.7% | 82% | 488m |
| 13:00 | ✕ | 4.4% | 88% | 285m |
| 14:00 | ✕ | 3.2% | 94% | 179m |
| 15:00 | ✕ | 3.2% | 99% | 208m |
| 16:00 | ✕ | 3.8% | 100% | 377m |
| 17:00 | ✕ | 3.8% | 100% | 507m |
| 18:00 | ✕ | 3.8% | 100% | 543m |
| 19:00 | ✓ | 23% | 91% | 676m |
| 20:00 | ✓ | 25% | 83% | 648m |
| 21:00 | ✓ | 22% | 74% | 512m |
| 22:00 | ✕ | 3.6% | 74% | 285m |
| 23:00 | ✕ | 3.6% | 73% | 369m |
| Thu, Apr 16 | ||||
| 24:00 | ✕ | 3.6% | 73% | 567m |
| 01:00 | ✕ | 4.8% | 64% | 1941m |
| 02:00 | ✕ | 5.4% | 54% | 3828m |
| 03:00 | ✕ | 4% | 45% | 527m |
| 04:00 | ✕ | 5.2% | 49% | 1152m |
| 05:00 | ✕ | 6.8% | 53% | 4422m |
| 06:00 | ✓ | 55% | 56% | 23624m |
| 07:00 | ✓ | 55% | 64% | 23766m |
| 08:00 | ✕ | 8.8% | 72% | 23846m |
| 09:00 | ✕ | 9.2% | 81% | 24134m |
| 10:00 | ✕ | 7% | 87% | 3466m |
| 11:00 | ✕ | 7.1% | 93% | 4073m |
| 12:00 | ✕ | 8.6% | 100% | 9127m |
| 13:00 | ✕ | 8.3% | 95% | 7227m |
| 14:00 | ✕ | 7% | 90% | 2618m |
| 15:00 | ✕ | 6.9% | 86% | 2493m |
| 16:00 | ✕ | 7% | 85% | 2430m |
| 17:00 | ✕ | 7.1% | 85% | 2616m |
| 18:00 | ✕ | 8.3% | 85% | 5478m |
| 19:00 | ✓ | 59% | 70% | 11432m |
| 20:00 | ✓ | 58% | 54% | 17386m |
| 21:00 | ✓ | 59% | 39% | 23339m |
| 22:00 | ✕ | 9.8% | 33% | 21335m |
| 23:00 | ✕ | 8.6% | 28% | 19331m |
| Fri, Apr 17 | ||||
| 24:00 | ✕ | 8.6% | 22% | 17326m |
| 01:00 | ✕ | 9.6% | 28% | 15534m |
| 02:00 | ✕ | 12% | 33% | 13741m |
| 03:00 | ✕ | 14% | 39% | 11949m |
| 04:00 | ✕ | 13% | 42% | 12792m |
| 05:00 | ✕ | 11% | 46% | 13634m |
| 06:00 | ✓ | 68% | 49% | 14477m |
| 07:00 | ✓ | 62% | 65% | 10696m |
| 08:00 | ✕ | 9.4% | 82% | 6916m |
| 09:00 | ✕ | 7.6% | 98% | 3136m |
| 10:00 | ✕ | 8.6% | 98% | 4228m |
| 11:00 | ✕ | 9.4% | 97% | 5321m |
How to read: colored cells show whether each predicate requirement is met; highlighted rows mean the full rule matched (an opportunity).
What does Golden Hour Potential mean?
Inputs that drive the scoreThis derived score summarizes multiple raw weather signals. The table below shows the supporting inputs hour by hour, so you can see what's pushing the score up or down.
| Time America/Edmonton | Golden Hour | High Clouds % | Low Clouds % | Mid-Level Clouds % | Relative Humidity % | Total Cloud Coverage % | Wind Speed m/s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue, Apr 14
Sunrise 06:49
Sunset 20:36 | |||||||
| 13:00 | - | 100% | 96% | 74% | 52% | 100% | 3m/s |
| 14:00 | - | 100% | 96% | 90% | 53% | 100% | 2.9m/s |
| 15:00 | - | 100% | 94% | 87% | 53% | 100% | 2.9m/s |
| 16:00 | - | 100% | 97% | 100% | 53% | 100% | 2.7m/s |
| 17:00 | - | 100% | 94% | 100% | 56% | 100% | 2.5m/s |
| 18:00 ☾ | - | 100% | 74% | 100% | 66% | 100% | 2.5m/s |
| 19:00 ☾ | - | 66% | 54% | 80% | 81% | 84% | 2.8m/s |
| 20:00 ☾ | - | 100% | 36% | 100% | 89% | 100% | 2.5m/s |
| 21:00 ☾ | - | 10% | 30% | 100% | 95% | 100% | 2.5m/s |
| 22:00 ☾ | - | 0% | 28% | 58% | 97% | 58% | 2.5m/s |
| 23:00 ☾ | - | 0% | 29% | 5% | 97% | 29% | 2.3m/s |
| Wed, Apr 15
Sunrise 06:47
Sunset 20:38 | |||||||
| 24:00 ☾ | - | 0% | 31% | 0% | 98% | 31% | 2.4m/s |
| 01:00 ☾ | - | 0% | 35% | 0% | 98% | 35% | 2.3m/s |
| 02:00 ☾ | - | 0% | 37% | 1% | 98% | 37% | 2.1m/s |
| 03:00 ☾ | - | 0% | 48% | 17% | 97% | 50% | 1.7m/s |
| 04:00 ☾ | - | 5% | 44% | 4% | 97% | 46% | 1.2m/s |
| 05:00 ☾ | - | 86% | 47% | 30% | 98% | 86% | 0.87m/s |
| 06:00 ☾ | - | 99% | 44% | 76% | 97% | 99% | 0.3m/s |
| 07:00 | - | 100% | 26% | 30% | 96% | 100% | 0.87m/s |
| 08:00 | - | 100% | 100% | 100% | 90% | 100% | 1.3m/s |
| 09:00 | - | 100% | 100% | 100% | 88% | 100% | 1.6m/s |
| 10:00 | - | 100% | 100% | 100% | 90% | 100% | 2m/s |
| 11:00 | - | 100% | 99% | 100% | 90% | 100% | 2.2m/s |
| 12:00 | - | 91% | 99% | 100% | 78% | 100% | 2.3m/s |
| 13:00 | - | 3% | 100% | 100% | 83% | 100% | 2.2m/s |
| 14:00 | - | 0% | 100% | 100% | 90% | 100% | 3.3m/s |
| 15:00 | - | 0% | 100% | 100% | 91% | 100% | 3.3m/s |
| 16:00 | - | 0% | 100% | 100% | 87% | 100% | 2.8m/s |
| 17:00 | - | 0% | 100% | 100% | 86% | 100% | 3m/s |
| 18:00 ☾ | - | 2% | 100% | 100% | 86% | 100% | 3.4m/s |
| 19:00 ☾ | - | 2% | 100% | 100% | 86% | 100% | 3m/s |
| 20:00 ☾ | - | 0% | 94% | 100% | 88% | 100% | 2.7m/s |
| 21:00 ☾ | - | 0% | 100% | 100% | 92% | 100% | 2.6m/s |
| 22:00 ☾ | - | 100% | 100% | 100% | 94% | 100% | 2.4m/s |
| 23:00 ☾ | - | 100% | 95% | 100% | 93% | 100% | 2.2m/s |
| Thu, Apr 16
Sunrise 06:44
Sunset 20:40 | |||||||
| 24:00 ☾ | - | 100% | 96% | 100% | 92% | 100% | 2.1m/s |
| 01:00 ☾ | - | 100% | 86% | 100% | 90% | 100% | 1.5m/s |
| 02:00 ☾ | - | 100% | 100% | 100% | 94% | 100% | 1.5m/s |
| 03:00 ☾ | - | 0% | 98% | 100% | 94% | 100% | 1.1m/s |
| 04:00 ☾ | - | 0% | 83% | 100% | 92% | 100% | 1m/s |
| 05:00 ☾ | - | 0% | 53% | 100% | 93% | 100% | 0.84m/s |
| 06:00 ☾ | - | 0% | 49% | 100% | 95% | 100% | 0.93m/s |
| 07:00 | - | 3% | 42% | 100% | 94% | 100% | 1.2m/s |
| 08:00 | - | 61% | 43% | 100% | 87% | 100% | 0.58m/s |
| 09:00 | - | 100% | 56% | 100% | 79% | 100% | 0.5m/s |
| 10:00 | - | 100% | 97% | 100% | 77% | 100% | 0.48m/s |
| 11:00 | - | 94% | 100% | 100% | 75% | 100% | 0.55m/s |
| 12:00 | - | 48% | 100% | 100% | 69% | 100% | 1.1m/s |
| 13:00 | - | 8% | 100% | 100% | 66% | 100% | 0.82m/s |
| 14:00 | - | 2% | 100% | 100% | 70% | 100% | 0.52m/s |
| 15:00 | - | 0% | 100% | 100% | 72% | 100% | 0.77m/s |
| 16:00 | - | 0% | 100% | 86% | 69% | 100% | 1.3m/s |
| 17:00 | - | 0% | 100% | 90% | 64% | 100% | 0.86m/s |
| 18:00 ☾ | - | 0% | 99% | 100% | 66% | 100% | 0.46m/s |
| 19:00 ☾ | - | 0% | 98% | 71% | 76% | 98% | 0.86m/s |
| 20:00 ☾ | - | 0% | 97% | 42% | 85% | 97% | 1.3m/s |
| 21:00 ☾ | - | 0% | 96% | 13% | 94% | 96% | 1.7m/s |
| 22:00 ☾ | - | 0% | 75% | 42% | 95% | 98% | 1.7m/s |
| 23:00 ☾ | - | 0% | 53% | 71% | 95% | 99% | 1.7m/s |
| Fri, Apr 17
Sunrise 06:42
Sunset 20:41 | |||||||
| 24:00 ☾ | - | 0% | 31% | 100% | 95% | 100% | 1.7m/s |
| 01:00 ☾ | - | 0% | 29% | 84% | 91% | 85% | 1.5m/s |
| 02:00 ☾ | - | 0% | 26% | 67% | 86% | 70% | 1.2m/s |
| 03:00 ☾ | - | 0% | 24% | 51% | 81% | 56% | 0.98m/s |
| 04:00 ☾ | - | 0% | 20% | 66% | 76% | 69% | 1.1m/s |
| 05:00 ☾ | - | 0% | 16% | 81% | 70% | 82% | 1.2m/s |
| 06:00 ☾ | - | 0% | 12% | 96% | 65% | 96% | 1.3m/s |
| 07:00 | - | 0% | 37% | 96% | 64% | 97% | 1.3m/s |
| 08:00 | - | 0% | 63% | 97% | 63% | 97% | 1.3m/s |
| 09:00 | - | 0% | 88% | 98% | 62% | 98% | 1.3m/s |
| 10:00 | - | 0% | 85% | 86% | 62% | 91% | 1.3m/s |
| 11:00 | - | 0% | 81% | 75% | 62% | 85% | 1.3m/s |
| 12:00 | - | 0% | 78% | 64% | 62% | 78% | 1.2m/s |
How to read: these inputs help produce the derived score; they are not requirements by themselves.
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