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Rule Golden Hour

Valemount - Golden Hour - Canadian Rockies

Valemount, British Columbia, Canada

That magical warm light just after sunrise or before sunset

Currently

Real-time conditions
Low Cloud Cover0%
Mid Cloud Cover100%
High Cloud Cover100%
Sun Elevation16.6° (Daylight)

Upcoming Opportunities

When all conditions match, PhotoWeather marks an opportunity window.

Times shown in America/Vancouver
golden-hour weather icon
Next opportunity
Exceptional Golden Hour (calm) at Sunset
Valemount
Tomorrow · 20:03–21:00 · 1h window
High confidence
71%
🌇Golden Hour Potential97%
Low Cloud Cover: 3%
Mid Cloud Cover: 25%
High Cloud Cover: 38%
Sun Elevation: 6.4° (Daylight)
golden-hour weather icon
Exceptional Golden Hour (calm) at Sunset
Valemount
Wed, May 20 · 20:04–21:24
🌇Golden Hour Potential:100%
Medium

What this forecast looks for

Plain-language explanation from the rule

This 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 hour
3matching hours in the next 80 hoursJump to next match
AND logic: all conditions required
Meets requirement
Misses requirement
Time
America/Vancouver
Golden Hour
Any
Golden Hour Potential
≥ 80.0%
Precipitation Chance
≤ 5.0%
Visibility
≥ 1000.0m
Sun, May 17
22:0063%0%24134m
23:0038%0%24135m
Mon, May 18
24:0037%0%24135m
01:0035%0%24135m
02:0033%0%24135m
03:0033%19%24134m
04:0071%37%24135m
05:0067%56%24134m
06:0046%70%24134m
07:0033%84%24134m
08:0034%98%24134m
09:0035%99%24134m
10:0035%99%24134m
11:0034%100%24135m
12:0023%90%21465m
13:0026%79%21424m
14:0026%69%21031m
15:0025%73%19709m
16:0023%77%19244m
17:0025%82%21677m
18:0025%74%21954m
19:0027%66%23844m
20:0062%59%24134m
21:0070%71%24134m
22:0051%84%24134m
23:0028%97%24134m
Tue, May 19
24:0032%97%24134m
01:0031%96%24135m
02:0028%95%24135m
03:0020%96%24135m
04:0044%98%24134m
05:0036%99%11068m
06:008.8%99%96m
07:008.8%100%62m
08:008.5%100%58m
09:008.5%100%69m
10:0012%100%94m
11:0012%100%158m
12:0016%89%12124m
13:0021%79%12026m
14:0033%69%10777m
15:0031%70%17443m
16:0035%72%18606m
17:0038%74%19035m
18:0035%49%19948m
19:0035%25%20925m
20:0097%0%24135m
21:0093%13%22633m
22:0056%26%24135m
23:0029%39%24134m
Wed, May 20
24:0029%26%24134m
01:0028%13%24134m
02:0040%0%24135m
03:0034%7.4%22616m
04:0087%15%24135m
05:0087%22%24134m
06:0031%21%24135m
07:0032%19%24135m
08:0033%18%24134m
09:0035%18%24135m
10:0033%19%24135m
11:0031%19%24134m
12:0028%13%24134m
13:0032%6.4%24135m
14:0033%0%24135m
15:0037%0%24135m
16:0040%0%24135m
17:0031%0%24135m
18:0019%0%24135m
19:0019%0%24135m
20:00100%0%24135m
21:00100%0%24135m
22:00100%0%24135m
23:0017%0%24135m
Thu, May 21
24:0017%7.4%24135m
01:0013%15%24135m
02:0010%22%24135m
03:0010%23%24135m
04:0060%25%24135m
05:0057%26%24135m
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 score

This 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/Vancouver
Golden Hour
High Clouds
%
Low Clouds
%
Mid-Level Clouds
%
Relative Humidity
%
Total Cloud Coverage
%
Wind Speed
m/s
Mon, May 18 Sunrise 04:54 Sunset 20:52
07:00
- 100% 0% 100% 76% 100% 1.4m/s
08:00
- 100% 0% 100% 69% 100% 1.6m/s
09:00
- 100% 0% 100% 62% 100% 1.7m/s
10:00
- 100% 2% 100% 55% 100% 1.8m/s
11:00
- 100% 11% 100% 48% 100% 2m/s
12:00
- 95% 80% 100% 43% 100% 2.5m/s
13:00
- 5% 88% 99% 43% 99% 2.6m/s
14:00
- 12% 84% 95% 44% 95% 2.5m/s
15:00
- 29% 95% 90% 43% 96% 2.5m/s
16:00
- 40% 90% 95% 46% 96% 2.4m/s
17:00
- 58% 76% 96% 50% 96% 2.1m/s
18:00
- 57% 37% 100% 54% 100% 2m/s
19:00
- 5% 23% 100% 61% 100% 1.9m/s
20:00
- 5% 19% 98% 71% 98% 1.8m/s
21:00
- 5% 31% 74% 79% 74% 2m/s
22:00
- 5% 60% 35% 84% 61% 1.8m/s
23:00
- 5% 82% 82% 86% 86% 1.6m/s
Tue, May 19 Sunrise 04:53 Sunset 20:54
24:00
- 5% 76% 98% 85% 98% 1.3m/s
01:00
- 4% 59% 91% 85% 91% 1.4m/s
02:00
- 5% 36% 98% 87% 98% 1.7m/s
03:00
- 5% 56% 100% 89% 100% 1.4m/s
04:00
- 5% 85% 100% 89% 100% 1.6m/s
05:00
- 27% 100% 99% 91% 100% 1.5m/s
06:00
- 53% 100% 100% 94% 100% 1.2m/s
07:00
- 69% 100% 89% 97% 100% 1.3m/s
08:00
- 30% 100% 78% 97% 100% 1.6m/s
09:00
- 30% 100% 75% 97% 100% 1.5m/s
10:00
- 69% 100% 61% 96% 100% 1.3m/s
11:00
- 100% 100% 100% 96% 100% 1m/s
12:00
- 99% 90% 99% 91% 99% 0.86m/s
13:00
- 33% 66% 12% 80% 67% 0.31m/s
14:00
- 6% 45% 18% 68% 45% 0.78m/s
15:00
- 87% 36% 5% 62% 87% 0.65m/s
16:00
- 52% 36% 62% 55% 64% 0.69m/s
17:00
- 18% 35% 29% 51% 36% 1.2m/s
18:00
- 20% 22% 78% 51% 78% 1.4m/s
19:00
- 36% 5% 94% 60% 94% 1.6m/s
20:00
- 38% 3% 25% 68% 40% 1.3m/s
21:00
- 14% 2% 5% 75% 14% 1.5m/s
22:00
- 5% 2% 2% 78% 5% 1.4m/s
23:00
- 7% 2% 0% 81% 7% 1.3m/s
Wed, May 20 Sunrise 04:52 Sunset 20:56
24:00
- 17% 2% 0% 81% 17% 0.78m/s
01:00
- 0% 4% 4% 83% 4% 0.22m/s
02:00
- 0% 4% 4% 85% 4% 0.31m/s
03:00
- 0% 4% 4% 85% 4% 0.29m/s
04:00
- 0% 4% 2% 85% 5% 0.71m/s
05:00
- 0% 1% 0% 84% 1% 0.7m/s
06:00
- 0% 0% 0% 80% 0% 0.07m/s
07:00
- 0% 1% 0% 71% 1% 1.2m/s
08:00
- 0% 0% 0% 63% 0% 1.6m/s
09:00
- 0% 1% 0% 54% 1% 1.9m/s
10:00
- 0% 22% 60% 40% 60% 2.3m/s
11:00
- 0% 26% 86% 31% 86% 2.7m/s
12:00
- 2% 19% 58% 38% 59% 2.2m/s
13:00
- 3% 12% 29% 44% 32% 1.6m/s
14:00
- 5% 5% 0% 51% 5% 1.1m/s
15:00
- 12% 4% 0% 54% 12% 0.88m/s
16:00
- 19% 3% 0% 58% 19% 0.69m/s
17:00
- 26% 2% 0% 61% 26% 0.5m/s
18:00
- 30% 1% 1% 63% 30% 0.72m/s
19:00
- 33% 1% 2% 66% 33% 0.94m/s
20:00
- 36% 0% 2% 68% 36% 1.2m/s
21:00
- 26% 0% 3% 70% 26% 1.2m/s
22:00
- 15% 0% 4% 72% 15% 1.2m/s
23:00
- 5% 0% 5% 74% 5% 1.2m/s
Thu, May 21 Sunrise 04:50 Sunset 20:57
24:00
- 37% 0% 37% 68% 37% 1.2m/s
01:00
- 68% 0% 68% 63% 68% 1.2m/s
02:00
- 100% 0% 100% 57% 100% 1.3m/s
03:00
- 100% 2% 100% 53% 100% 1.3m/s
04:00
- 100% 3% 100% 49% 100% 1.4m/s
05:00
- 100% 5% 100% 44% 100% 1.4m/s
06:00
- 99% 22% 89% 40% 99% 1.2m/s
How to read: these inputs help produce the derived score; they are not requirements by themselves.

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