What conditions does Painted Sky look for?

Golden Hour: Any. Golden Clouds Potential: ≥ 80.0%. Wind Speed: ≤ 6.0m/s. Precipitation Chance: ≤ 10.0%

How often do conditions match?

There are 1 upcoming opportunity windows in the next 10 days.

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Rule Painted Sky

Waipio Valley - Painted Sky - Hawaii

Honokaa, Hawaii, United States

Golden hour clouds lit up in orange, pink and gold

Currently

Real-time conditions

Golden Clouds Potential

Low Cloud Cover0%

Mid Cloud Cover0%

High Cloud Cover0%

Sun Elevation43.5° (Daylight)

Upcoming Opportunities

When all conditions match, PhotoWeather marks an opportunity window.

Times shown in Pacific/Honolulu

Next opportunity

Excellent Golden Clouds at Sunrise

Waipio Valley

Thu, Feb 26 · 06:29–07:00 · 1h window

Medium confidence

46%

🌤️Golden Clouds Potential84.1%

Low Cloud Cover: 16%

Mid Cloud Cover: 0%

High Cloud Cover: 36%

Sun Elevation: -11.0° (Nautical twilight)

What this forecast looks for

Plain-language explanation from the rule

This forecast tracks the soft, pastel sunset conditions that give Hawaii its famous watercolor skies. We monitor cloud patterns, trade wind flow, and atmospheric moisture to predict when tropical sunsets will produce gentle, painterly color rather than dramatic fire.

Hawaii's painted-sky conditions create the dreamy tropical sunset aesthetic seen in countless beach resort images—soft pinks, lavenders, and peaches rather than intense oranges and reds. These conditions occur when trade wind clouds scatter light gently, and when volcanic haze is minimal.

What makes Hawaii special for painted-sky photography:

Trade wind clouds - Gentle cumulus creates soft, diffused sunset color
Soft watercolor tones - Pinks, lavenders, and peaches instead of intense reds
Waikiki classic - The iconic Hawaiian beach sunset with palms and soft color
Gentle tropical beauty - Less dramatic but more romantic than fire-sky conditions

Waikiki Beach offers Hawaii's classic painted-sky experience—palms silhouetted against soft pastel sunset colors, with Diamond Head providing a volcanic backdrop. This softer sunset style occurs when trade winds flow gently, creating scattered cloud cover that diffuses light into pastels rather than concentrating it into intense colors. Oahu's windward coast, particularly at sunrise, offers similar painted conditions. The North Shore's famous beaches like Sunset Beach and Waimea Bay become surprisingly gentle during painted-sky evenings. Maui's Wailea and Kauai's Hanalei Bay offer world-class painted-sky opportunities. These conditions work beautifully for silhouette photography—the soft color gradients create perfect backgrounds for palms, surfers, or volcanic profiles. Unlike fire-sky conditions that demand attention, painted skies create a peaceful, romantic mood. The color show lasts longer than fire-sky events, with gentle pastels persisting through extended twilight.

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72-hour requirements breakdown

What passed or failed, hour by hour

0matching hours in the next 95 hours

AND logic: all conditions required

Meets requirement

Misses requirement

Time Pacific/Honolulu	Golden Hour Any	Golden Clouds Potential ≥ 80.0%	Wind Speed ≤ 6.0m/s	Precipitation Chance ≤ 10.0%
Sat, Feb 21
15:00	✕	22%	1m/s	97%
16:00	✕	41%	1.9m/s	94%
17:00	✕	59%	4.2m/s	91%
18:00	✕	59%	3.9m/s	92%
19:00	✕	26%	4.2m/s	93%
20:00	✕	32%	3.3m/s	93%
21:00	✕	22%	2.4m/s	72%
22:00	✕	9.3%	2.8m/s	44%
23:00	✕	8.5%	2.9m/s	17%
Sun, Feb 22
24:00	✕	8.5%	2.8m/s	24%
01:00	✕	8.5%	2.5m/s	32%
02:00	✕	8.5%	2.8m/s	39%
03:00	✕	8.5%	3.4m/s	77%
04:00	✕	8.5%	3.1m/s	72%
05:00	✕	8.5%	3.5m/s	67%
06:00	✓	19%	3.4m/s	78%
07:00	✓	19%	3.2m/s	89%
08:00	✕	13%	2.6m/s	100%
09:00	✕	6.5%	3.7m/s	100%
10:00	✕	6.5%	4.2m/s	99%
11:00	✕	10%	4.6m/s	99%
12:00	✕	8.5%	5m/s	99%
13:00	✕	9.8%	5.5m/s	100%
14:00	✕	12%	5.3m/s	100%
15:00	✕	8.5%	5.2m/s	95%
16:00	✕	8.5%	4.4m/s	90%
17:00	✕	13%	3.8m/s	85%
18:00	✕	19%	3.3m/s	87%
19:00	✕	21%	3.1m/s	89%
20:00	✕	14%	3.7m/s	92%
21:00	✕	14%	3.9m/s	88%
22:00	✕	11%	3.4m/s	85%
23:00	✕	22%	3m/s	82%
Mon, Feb 23
24:00	✕	28%	3.2m/s	85%
01:00	✕	38%	2.5m/s	88%
02:00	✕	40%	2.7m/s	92%
03:00	✕	23%	2.9m/s	85%
04:00	✕	12%	2.7m/s	78%
05:00	✕	13%	2.8m/s	72%
06:00	✓	22%	2.1m/s	78%
07:00	✓	27%	2.1m/s	84%
08:00	✕	23%	1.4m/s	90%
09:00	✕	15%	2.1m/s	90%
10:00	✕	22%	2.8m/s	90%
11:00	✕	28%	3.3m/s	90%
12:00	✕	25%	3.3m/s	91%
13:00	✕	29%	3.4m/s	92%
14:00	✕	27%	3.4m/s	92%
15:00	✕	15%	3.1m/s	90%
16:00	✕	15%	2.6m/s	87%
17:00	✕	17%	2.4m/s	84%
18:00	✕	19%	2.3m/s	86%
19:00	✕	43%	0.92m/s	88%
20:00	✕	37%	0.64m/s	90%
21:00	✕	42%	0.41m/s	84%
22:00	✕	24%	0.22m/s	78%
23:00	✕	26%	0.81m/s	72%
Tue, Feb 24
24:00	✕	29%	0.92m/s	76%
01:00	✕	9.9%	1.8m/s	80%
02:00	✕	11%	2.2m/s	84%
03:00	✕	8.8%	2m/s	77%
04:00	✕	13%	1.9m/s	71%
05:00	✕	25%	1.2m/s	64%
06:00	✓	65%	0.72m/s	68%
07:00	✓	70%	0.37m/s	72%
08:00	✕	44%	0.71m/s	76%
09:00	✕	30%	2.1m/s	68%
10:00	✕	27%	2.5m/s	60%
11:00	✕	29%	3.1m/s	52%
12:00	✕	6.5%	3.2m/s	57%
13:00	✕	6.5%	3m/s	62%
14:00	✕	6.5%	2.8m/s	67%
15:00	✕	15%	2.6m/s	69%
16:00	✕	8.6%	2m/s	70%
17:00	✕	21%	2.4m/s	72%
18:00	✕	26%	2.3m/s	76%
19:00	✕	9.8%	1.2m/s	80%
20:00	✕	28%	1.9m/s	85%
21:00	✕	28%	1.7m/s	79%
22:00	✕	33%	1.4m/s	74%
23:00	✕	33%	1.1m/s	68%
Wed, Feb 25
24:00	✕	32%	1.1m/s	70%
01:00	✕	31%	1.1m/s	72%
02:00	✕	28%	1m/s	74%
03:00	✕	31%	1.6m/s	65%
04:00	✕	32%	2.2m/s	56%
05:00	✕	32%	2.8m/s	47%
06:00	✓	70%	3m/s	51%
07:00	✓	70%	3.2m/s	56%
08:00	✕	48%	3.4m/s	60%
09:00	✕	29%	2.9m/s	49%
10:00	✕	28%	2.3m/s	37%
11:00	✕	28%	1.8m/s	26%
12:00	✕	22%	1.5m/s	30%
13:00	✕	22%	1.2m/s	35%

How to read: colored cells show whether each predicate requirement is met; highlighted rows mean the full rule matched (an opportunity).

What does Golden Clouds 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 Pacific/Honolulu	Golden Hour	High Clouds %	Low Clouds %	Mid-Level Clouds %	Total Cloud Coverage %	Visibility m
Sun, Feb 22 Sunrise 06:46 Sunset 18:24
15:00 ☾	-	0%	0%	0%	0%	20389m
16:00 ☾	-	0%	1%	0%	1%	24135m
17:00 ☾	-	0%	1%	0%	1%	20090m
18:00 ☾	-	0%	4%	0%	4%	20412m
19:00 ☾	-	0%	12%	0%	12%	23866m
20:00 ☾	-	0%	12%	0%	12%	24135m
21:00 ☾	-	0%	11%	0%	11%	24134m
22:00 ☾	-	0%	7%	0%	7%	24100m
23:00 ☾	-	0%	18%	0%	18%	24119m
Mon, Feb 23 Sunrise 06:46 Sunset 18:24
24:00 ☾	-	0%	22%	0%	22%	24099m
01:00 ☾	-	0%	15%	30%	30%	24067m
02:00 ☾	-	0%	20%	30%	38%	24135m
03:00 ☾	-	0%	14%	10%	20%	24134m
04:00 ☾	-	0%	9%	1%	9%	24135m
05:00 ☾	-	0%	10%	0%	10%	24135m
06:00 ☾	-	0%	6%	0%	6%	24135m
07:00 ☾	-	0%	9%	0%	9%	24135m
08:00 ☾	-	0%	14%	0%	14%	24134m
09:00 ☾	-	0%	13%	0%	13%	24135m
10:00 ☾	-	0%	19%	0%	19%	24134m
11:00 ☾	-	0%	23%	0%	23%	23691m
12:00 ☾	-	0%	23%	0%	23%	1466m
13:00 ☾	-	0%	27%	1%	27%	790m
14:00 ☾	-	0%	32%	2%	32%	458m
15:00 ☾	-	0%	76%	3%	76%	395m
16:00 ☾	-	0%	76%	4%	76%	140m
17:00 ☾	-	0%	82%	4%	82%	95m
18:00 ☾	-	0%	88%	5%	88%	259m
19:00 ☾	-	0%	51%	4%	51%	1915m
20:00 ☾	-	0%	27%	35%	50%	813m
21:00 ☾	-	0%	42%	28%	45%	22593m
22:00 ☾	-	0%	21%	3%	21%	2049m
23:00 ☾	-	0%	25%	2%	25%	4518m
Tue, Feb 24 Sunrise 06:45 Sunset 18:24
24:00 ☾	-	0%	26%	1%	26%	7210m
01:00 ☾	-	0%	6%	1%	6%	24135m
02:00 ☾	-	0%	8%	1%	8%	24135m
03:00 ☾	-	0%	4%	1%	4%	24135m
04:00 ☾	-	0%	11%	0%	11%	24135m
05:00 ☾	-	0%	22%	0%	22%	7144m
06:00 ☾	-	0%	25%	0%	25%	24044m
07:00 ☾	-	0%	26%	0%	26%	24134m
08:00 ☾	-	0%	26%	0%	26%	9033m
09:00 ☾	-	0%	30%	0%	30%	1841m
10:00 ☾	-	0%	33%	0%	33%	940m
11:00 ☾	-	0%	51%	0%	51%	586m
12:00 ☾	-	0%	92%	0%	92%	437m
13:00 ☾	-	0%	95%	0%	95%	383m
14:00 ☾	-	0%	98%	0%	98%	862m
15:00 ☾	-	0%	76%	0%	76%	82m
16:00 ☾	-	0%	88%	0%	88%	249m
17:00 ☾	-	0%	79%	0%	79%	598m
18:00 ☾	-	0%	81%	0%	81%	75m
19:00 ☾	-	0%	95%	0%	95%	734m
20:00 ☾	-	0%	36%	0%	36%	2427m
21:00 ☾	-	0%	33%	0%	33%	9629m
22:00 ☾	-	0%	30%	0%	30%	16830m
23:00 ☾	-	0%	27%	0%	27%	24032m
Wed, Feb 25 Sunrise 06:44 Sunset 18:24
24:00 ☾	-	0%	26%	0%	26%	21754m
01:00 ☾	-	0%	25%	0%	25%	19475m
02:00 ☾	-	0%	25%	0%	25%	17196m
03:00 ☾	-	1%	25%	0%	25%	19509m
04:00 ☾	-	3%	25%	0%	25%	21822m
05:00 ☾	-	4%	26%	0%	26%	24135m
06:00 ☾	-	3%	26%	0%	26%	24135m
07:00 ☾	-	1%	26%	0%	26%	24135m
08:00 ☾	-	0%	26%	0%	26%	24135m
09:00 ☾	-	2%	24%	1%	24%	24135m
10:00 ☾	-	3%	23%	2%	23%	24135m
11:00 ☾	-	5%	21%	3%	21%	24135m
12:00 ☾	-	3%	19%	2%	19%	23728m
13:00 ☾	-	2%	16%	1%	16%	23320m
14:00 ☾	-	0%	13%	0%	13%	22913m

How to read: these inputs help produce the derived score; they are not requirements by themselves.

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