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Rule Dramatic Seascapes

Diamond Beach - Dramatic Seascapes - Iceland Coast

Hofn, East, Iceland

Dramatic coastal photography conditions - powerful waves combined with atmospheric drama and good visibility for seascape shots.

No opportunities right now
Here’s what usually blocks matches

No Dramatic Seascapes opportunities in the next 14 days

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Rule requirements (key thresholds)
Coastal Drama Score · ≥ 75.0% Significant Wave Height · ≥ 1.5m Visibility · ≥ 5000.0m Wind Gusts · ≤ 22.0m/s

Tip: Scroll down to the 72-hour table to see exactly which condition fails hour by hour.

Most common blockers (next 72 hours)
Coastal Drama Score 100% failing
Significant Wave Height 100% failing
Precipitation Chance 81% failing

Currently

Real-time conditions
Wave Height1.2m
Swell Height0.9m
Wind Speed8.6m/s (moderate winds)
Cloud Cover8%

Upcoming Opportunities

When all conditions match, PhotoWeather marks an opportunity window.

Times shown in Atlantic/Reykjavik

No opportunities in the next 10 days

See the blocker timeline below to understand which conditions are preventing matches.

What this forecast looks for

Plain-language explanation from the rule

This forecast identifies when dramatic conditions align for photography along Iceland's otherworldly coastline. We track cloud drama, visibility, and wind patterns to predict when Atlantic storms create the most photogenic conditions.

Iceland's coastline offers landscapes found nowhere else on Earth—black volcanic sand, basalt columns, sea stacks, glacial icebergs washed ashore, and some of the world's most powerful waves. The interplay between North Atlantic weather and this volcanic shore creates constantly changing drama.

What makes Iceland's coast special for dramatic photography:

  • Unique geology - Black sand beaches, columnar basalt, and volcanic formations unlike anywhere else
  • Extreme contrast - Dark sand against white waves, blue icebergs, and stormy skies
  • Powerful seas - North Atlantic waves create dramatic action (but demand respect and safe distances)
  • Arctic light - Long golden hours and dramatic weather fronts

Dramatic conditions peak during autumn and winter storms (September-March), though Iceland can deliver drama year-round. The key is balancing dramatic weather with workable shooting conditions. Our forecast helps identify windows when storms have passed but interesting skies and waves remain. Always maintain safe distances from the waves at Reynisfjara and Diamond Beach—sneaker waves are genuinely dangerous.

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72-hour requirements breakdown

What passed or failed, hour by hour
0matching hours in the next 72 hours
AND logic: all conditions required
Meets requirement
Misses requirement
Time
Atlantic/Reykjavik
Coastal Drama Score
≥ 75.0%
Significant Wave Height
≥ 1.5m
Visibility
≥ 5000.0m
Wind Gusts
≤ 22.0m/s
Precipitation Chance
≤ 30.0%
Sat, Feb 7
18:0025%1.2m24134m8.1m/s0%
19:0024%1.2m24134m7.9m/s0%
20:008.1%1.2m24134m7.7m/s0%
21:008.7%1.1m24134m7.7m/s0%
22:0010%1.1m24134m7.8m/s13%
23:009.6%1.1m24134m8.3m/s26%
Sun, Feb 8
24:009.6%1.1m24134m8.5m/s39%
01:008.8%1.1m24134m8.4m/s26%
02:008.8%1.2m24135m8.3m/s13%
03:008.7%1.2m24134m8.5m/s0%
04:009.5%1.2m24134m8.4m/s13%
05:008.7%1.2m24134m8m/s26%
06:007.9%1.2m24134m7.7m/s39%
07:005.1%1.2m5810m6.7m/s32%
08:0021%1.2m24135m7.7m/s24%
09:0026%1.2m24134m8.6m/s17%
10:0027%1.2m24134m7.9m/s26%
11:0024%1.1m24134m7.6m/s35%
12:0026%1.1m24134m7.4m/s44%
13:0028%1.1m24135m7.7m/s51%
14:0024%1.1m24134m7.9m/s58%
15:0024%1.1m24135m8.1m/s64%
16:0023%1.1m24134m8.4m/s68%
17:0024%1.1m24135m8.5m/s72%
18:0019%1.1m24135m8.3m/s75%
19:0020%1.1m24134m8.8m/s68%
20:006.7%1.1m24135m8.6m/s60%
21:006.1%1.1m24135m8.6m/s53%
22:006.5%1.1m24135m8.7m/s60%
23:006.5%1m24135m8.6m/s67%
Mon, Feb 9
24:005.9%0.98m24135m8.8m/s73%
01:004.9%0.97m20997m9.5m/s68%
02:003.1%0.97m9106m8.8m/s63%
03:003.9%0.96m11041m9.2m/s58%
04:001.9%0.96m6679m9.9m/s63%
05:001.6%0.97m4816m11m/s67%
06:002.7%0.97m10785m11m/s72%
07:002.7%0.97m14898m11m/s62%
08:0015%0.98m7224m12m/s52%
09:0018%0.98m5027m13m/s42%
10:0013%0.99m4408m13m/s49%
11:0014%1m4148m14m/s56%
12:0011%1m3763m14m/s63%
13:0011%1m3317m13m/s68%
14:0012%1m3617m12m/s74%
15:0012%1m3536m12m/s80%
16:0014%1m3566m13m/s84%
17:0020%1m3464m13m/s89%
18:0020%1m3576m14m/s94%
19:0020%1.1m2721m14m/s91%
20:004.7%1.1m1604m15m/s89%
21:004.7%1.1m1329m16m/s86%
22:004.7%1.2m1750m17m/s89%
23:004.8%1.2m1805m17m/s91%
Tue, Feb 10
24:004.8%1.2m1512m17m/s93%
01:005.9%1.3m1216m14m/s91%
02:007.3%1.3m920m10m/s89%
03:006.8%1.3m624m6.5m/s87%
04:005.7%1.3m514m6.5m/s89%
05:004.8%1.3m405m6.4m/s92%
06:006.8%1.3m296m6.3m/s94%
07:005.7%1.3m237m6.3m/s92%
08:0018%1.3m178m6.3m/s90%
09:0020%1.3m119m6.2m/s88%
10:0022%1.3m143m9m/s89%
11:0021%1.3m167m12m/s90%
12:0019%1.3m192m15m/s91%
13:0019%1.3m238m14m/s86%
14:0019%1.3m284m13m/s81%
15:0019%1.3m330m12m/s75%
16:0018%1.3m1554m10m/s78%
17:0019%1.3m2778m8.2m/s81%
How to read: colored cells show whether each predicate requirement is met; highlighted rows mean the full rule matched (an opportunity).

What does Coastal Drama Score 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
Atlantic/Reykjavik
High Clouds
%
Low Clouds
%
Mid-Level Clouds
%
Primary Swell Height
m
Primary Wave Direction
°
Sea Salt AOD (550nm)
Solar Elevation
°
Total Cloud Coverage
%
Wind Direction
°
Wind Speed
m/s
Wind Wave Height
m
Wind Wave Period
s
Sat, Feb 7 Sunrise 09:23 Sunset 17:07
19:00
0% 8% 0% 0.89m 132° 0.02 -12° 8% 360° 8.6m/s 0.59m 8.8s
20:00
0% 9% 0% 0.84m 130° 0.02 -18° 9% 8.5m/s 0.6m 9.1s
21:00
0% 13% 0% 0.8m 129° 0.02 -25° 13% 8.4m/s 0.6m 9.4s
22:00
0% 63% 0% 0.84m 129° 0.02 -31° 63% 8.4m/s 0.63m 9.3s
23:00
0% 73% 0% 0.87m 129° 0.02 -36° 73% 8.7m/s 0.65m 9.2s
Sun, Feb 8 Sunrise 09:20 Sunset 17:10
24:00
0% 75% 0% 0.91m 129° 0.02 -39° 75% 8.8m/s 0.68m 9.1s
01:00
0% 94% 0% 0.89m 128° 0.02 -41° 94% 8.7m/s 0.7m 9.1s
02:00
0% 93% 4% 0.88m 128° 0.02 -40° 93% 8.7m/s 0.73m 9s
03:00
0% 88% 5% 0.86m 127° 0.02 -38° 88% 9m/s 0.75m 8.9s
04:00
0% 77% 5% 0.84m 127° 0.02 -33° 77% 9m/s 0.78m 8.9s
05:00
0% 77% 5% 0.81m 127° 0.01 -28° 77% 8.6m/s 0.8m 8.9s
06:00
0% 85% 8% 0.79m 126° 0.01 -22° 85% 10° 8m/s 0.83m 8.9s
07:00
0% 100% 7% 0.77m 126° 0.01 -15° 100% 18° 7.2m/s 0.85m 8.9s
08:00
0% 100% 41% 0.76m 126° 0.01 -8.6° 100% 8m/s 0.88m 8.9s
09:00
0% 100% 92% 0.74m 125° 0.01 -2.5° 100% 8.9m/s 0.9m 8.9s
10:00
0% 92% 70% 0.72m 125° 0.01 2.8° 92% 8.3m/s 0.88m 9s
11:00
0% 76% 83% 0.7m 124° 0.01 6.9° 83% 7.9m/s 0.87m 9s
12:00
0% 79% 74% 0.68m 124° 0.01 9.6° 79% 7.8m/s 0.85m 9.1s
13:00
0% 63% 49% 0.66m 112° 0.01 11° 63% 10° 8m/s 0.85m 8.4s
14:00
0% 86% 76% 0.64m 100° 0.01 10° 86% 10° 8m/s 0.84m 7.8s
15:00
0% 83% 87% 0.62m 89° 0.01 8.5° 88% 11° 8.3m/s 0.84m 7.1s
16:00
0% 90% 96% 0.6m 87° 0.01 96% 8.4m/s 0.88m 7s
17:00
0% 91% 92% 0.58m 85° 0.01 0.62° 92% 12° 8m/s 0.93m 7s
18:00
0% 96% 100% 0.56m 84° 0.01 -5.4° 100% 14° 7.6m/s 0.97m 6.9s
19:00
0% 100% 100% 0.55m 68° 0.01 -12° 100% 14° 8.1m/s 0.96m 6.4s
20:00
0% 100% 100% 0.53m 52° 0.01 -18° 100% 16° 7.5m/s 0.95m 5.8s
21:00
0% 100% 100% 0.52m 36° 0.01 -25° 100% 19° 6.8m/s 0.94m 5.3s
22:00
0% 100% 100% 0.51m 53° 0.02 -30° 100% 11° 7m/s 0.9m 5.9s
23:00
0% 100% 100% 0.51m 71° 0.02 -35° 100% 16° 7.1m/s 0.86m 6.5s
Mon, Feb 9 Sunrise 09:17 Sunset 17:14
24:00
0% 100% 100% 0.5m 89° 0.03 -39° 100% 17° 7.5m/s 0.82m 7.1s
01:00
0% 100% 100% 0.5m 88° - -40° 100% 18° 7.5m/s 0.81m 7s
02:00
0% 100% 100% 0.5m 88° - -40° 100% 20° 7.6m/s 0.8m 7s
03:00
0% 100% 100% 0.5m 87° - -37° 100% 20° 7.7m/s 0.79m 6.9s
04:00
0% 100% 100% 0.49m 98° - -33° 100% 20° 8.2m/s 0.79m 7.6s
05:00
0% 100% 98% 0.48m 109° - -27° 100% 15° 8.7m/s 0.79m 8.3s
06:00
0% 100% 97% 0.47m 120° - -21° 100% 15° 8.7m/s 0.79m 8.9s
07:00
0% 85% 100% 0.49m 119° - -15° 100% 19° 8.4m/s 0.79m 8.9s
08:00
0% 86% 78% 0.51m 119° - -8.3° 86% 22° 8.1m/s 0.8m 8.8s
09:00
0% 92% 89% 0.53m 119° - -2.2° 92% 23° 8.1m/s 0.8m 8.8s
10:00
4% 97% 50% 0.51m 122° - 3.1° 97% 24° 8.1m/s 0.8m 9.5s
11:00
5% 87% 31% 0.48m 125° - 7.2° 87% 28° 7.9m/s 0.81m 10s
12:00
5% 97% 8% 0.46m 128° - 10° 97% 28° 7.8m/s 0.81m 11s
13:00
7% 100% 38% 0.48m 127° - 11° 100% 29° 7.4m/s 0.8m 12s
14:00
5% 100% 80% 0.5m 127° - 11° 100% 28° 7.4m/s 0.79m 12s
15:00
5% 100% 89% 0.52m 127° - 8.8° 100% 27° 7.5m/s 0.78m 12s
16:00
4% 100% 76% 0.56m 126° - 5.3° 100% 25° 7.6m/s 0.76m 12s
17:00
0% 99% 40% 0.59m 126° - 0.88° 99% 26° 7.8m/s 0.75m 12s
18:00
0% 98% 86% 0.63m 126° - -5.1° 98% 26° 8.1m/s 0.73m 12s
19:00
0% 100% 74% 0.67m 126° - -11° 100% 27° 8.2m/s 0.72m 12s
20:00
0% 100% 100% 0.72m 126° - -18° 100% 29° 8.8m/s 0.7m 12s
21:00
0% 100% 100% 0.76m 126° - -24° 100% 30° 9.4m/s 0.69m 12s
22:00
0% 100% 85% 0.84m 126° - -30° 100% 32° 9.6m/s 0.68m 12s
23:00
0% 100% 93% 0.91m 126° - -35° 100% 33° 9.9m/s 0.68m 11s
Tue, Feb 10 Sunrise 09:13 Sunset 17:17
24:00
0% 100% 98% 0.99m 125° - -38° 100% 34° 10m/s 0.67m 11s
01:00
0% 100% 97% 1m 125° - -40° 100% 140° 8.8m/s 0.66m 11s
02:00
0% 100% 96% 1.1m 125° - -40° 100% 247° 7.6m/s 0.66m 11s
03:00
0% 100% 94% 1.1m 125° - -37° 100% 353° 6.3m/s 0.65m 11s
04:00
0% 100% 69% 1.1m 126° - -33° 100% 237° 5.9m/s 0.64m 11s
05:00
1% 100% 43% 1.1m 126° - -27° 100% 120° 5.5m/s 0.62m 11s
06:00
1% 100% 18% 1.1m 126° - -21° 100% 5.1m/s 0.61m 11s
07:00
1% 100% 28% 1.1m 127° - -14° 100% 11° 4.5m/s 0.59m 11s
08:00
1% 100% 38% 1.1m 127° - -8° 100% 18° 3.9m/s 0.58m 11s
09:00
1% 100% 48% 1.1m 127° - -1.9° 100% 24° 3.3m/s 0.56m 11s
10:00
2% 100% 34% 1.2m 127° - 3.4° 100% 28° 3.9m/s 0.54m 11s
11:00
3% 100% 20% 1.2m 127° - 7.5° 100% 32° 4.5m/s 0.51m 11s
12:00
4% 100% 6% 1.2m 128° - 10° 100% 36° 5.1m/s 0.49m 11s
13:00
3% 100% 37% 1.2m 128° - 12° 100% 32° 4.8m/s 0.49m 11s
14:00
1% 100% 68% 1.2m 128° - 11° 100% 27° 4.4m/s 0.48m 11s
15:00
0% 100% 99% 1.2m 128° - 9.1° 100% 23° 4.1m/s 0.48m 11s
16:00
0% 100% 87% 1.2m 128° - 5.6° 100% 131° 4.7m/s 0.48m 11s
17:00
0% 100% 74% 1.2m 128° - 1.2° 100% 239° 5.3m/s 0.47m 11s
18:00
0% 100% 61% 1.1m 128° - -4.8° 100% 347° 5.9m/s 0.47m 11s
How to read: these inputs help produce the derived score; they are not requirements by themselves.

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