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Rule Golden Hour

Golden Hour Forecast for Blowing Rock, Smoky Mountains & Blue Ridge

Blowing Rock, North Carolina, United States

Blowing Rock overlooks the Blue Ridge, with nearby parkway pullouts, Grandfather Mountain, rocky outcrops, and folded valleys for long views.

Currently

Real-time conditions
Low Cloud Cover95%
Mid Cloud Cover0%
High Cloud Cover0%
Sun Elevation37.6° (Daylight)

Upcoming Opportunities

When all conditions match, PhotoWeather marks an opportunity window.

Times shown in America/New_York
golden-hour weather icon
Next opportunity
Exceptional Golden Hour at Sunset
Blowing Rock
Today · 19:38–20:29 · 1h window
Medium confidence
50%
🌇Golden Hour Potential85.6-89.2%
Low Cloud Cover: 0%
Mid Cloud Cover: 0%
High Cloud Cover: 0%
Sun Elevation: 13.7° (Daylight)
golden-hour weather icon
Exceptional Golden Hour (calm) at Sunrise
Blowing Rock
Tomorrow · 06:31–07:22
🌇Golden Hour Potential:92.9-98.5%
Medium

How this forecast is evaluated

See which weather signals PhotoWeather uses to identify Golden Hour conditions across Smoky Mountains & Blue Ridge. The requirements and hourly values below show how those signals apply at Blowing Rock.

Explore Golden Hour conditions across Smoky Mountains & Blue Ridge →

Recorded match history

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

Last 30 days
10
recorded matching windows · 66% average confidence
Last 90 days
39
recorded matching windows · 69% average confidence
Last 365 days
128
recorded matching windows · 72% average confidence
Most frequent recorded start hour

19:00 local time, shared by 42 of 128 matches recorded in the last 365 days.

Most represented month

April, with 29 of 128 matches recorded in the last 365 days.

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.

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80-hour requirements breakdown

When available, the detailed table below covers only the stated 80-hour horizon (typically 72–168 hours, depending on available hourly data). Opportunity records above span the next 14 days, so this table does not explain that entire 14-day period.

What passed or failed, hour by hour
4matching hours in the next 80 hoursJump to next match
AND logic: all conditions required
Meets requirement
Misses requirement
Time
America/New_York
Golden Hour
Any
Golden Hour Potential
≥ 80.0%
Precipitation Chance
≤ 5.0%
Visibility
≥ 1000.0m
Tue, Aug 18
01:0026%3.1%24135m
02:0023%0%24135m
03:0020%0%24134m
04:0017%0%24135m
05:0020%0%1151m
06:0049%0%3965m
07:0048%0%4053m
08:0025%0%24135m
09:0020%2.3%24135m
10:0028%4.7%24135m
11:0028%7%24135m
12:0026%18%24135m
13:0026%28%24134m
14:0024%39%24135m
15:0017%26%24135m
16:0018%13%24134m
17:0017%0%24134m
18:0018%0%24135m
19:0089%0%24135m
20:0086%0%24134m
21:0020%0%24134m
22:0020%0%24135m
23:0021%0%24134m
Wed, Aug 19
24:0021%0%24134m
01:0021%0%24134m
02:0021%0%24135m
03:0024%0%24135m
04:0026%0%24134m
05:0025%0%24134m
06:0093%0%24135m
07:0099%0%24134m
08:0027%0%24135m
09:0029%0%24134m
10:0026%0%24134m
11:0029%0%24135m
12:0030%0%24135m
13:0027%0%24134m
14:0027%0%24134m
15:0024%0%24134m
16:0018%0%24134m
17:0023%0%24134m
18:0027%17%24135m
19:00100%33%24134m
20:0093%50%24135m
21:0026%41%24134m
22:0025%31%24134m
23:0028%22%24134m
Thu, Aug 20
24:0029%20%24134m
01:0028%19%24135m
02:0028%17%24134m
03:0030%24%24134m
04:0028%32%24134m
05:0026%39%24134m
06:0069%43%24135m
07:00100%46%24135m
08:0028%50%24135m
09:0030%39%24134m
10:0029%27%24134m
11:0026%16%24135m
12:0027%23%24134m
13:0026%30%24135m
14:0026%38%24134m
15:0027%44%24134m
16:0018%50%24135m
17:0027%56%24135m
18:0029%53%22784m
19:0097%50%21432m
20:0096%47%20081m
21:000%46%21432m
22:000%44%22784m
23:000%43%24135m
Fri, Aug 21
24:000%48%21557m
01:000%54%18979m
02:000%59%16401m
03:000%48%13849m
04:000%37%11297m
05:000%26%8744m
06:0043%40%7646m
07:0046%54%6547m
08:000%68%5448m
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/New_York
Golden Hour
High Clouds
%
Low Clouds
%
Mid-Level Clouds
%
Relative Humidity
%
Solar Elevation
°
Total Cloud Coverage
%
Wind Speed
m/s
Tue, Aug 18 Sunrise 06:47 Sunset 20:12
10:00
- 0% 95% 0% 89% 38° 95% 2.9m/s
11:00
- 0% 11% 0% 78% 49° 11% 3m/s
12:00
- 0% 1% 0% 60% 59° 1% 3.5m/s
13:00
- 0% 0% 0% 53% 66° 0% 3.6m/s
14:00
- 1% 0% 0% 49% 66° 1% 3.5m/s
15:00
- 3% 0% 0% 48% 59° 3% 3.8m/s
16:00
- 0% 2% 0% 47% 49° 2% 4.1m/s
17:00
- 0% 1% 0% 48% 38° 1% 3.9m/s
18:00
- 0% 3% 0% 53% 26° 3% 3.4m/s
19:00
- 0% 0% 0% 66% 14° 0% 3.1m/s
20:00
- 0% 0% 0% 84% 0% 2.1m/s
21:00
- 0% 0% 0% 88% -9.7° 0% 1.8m/s
22:00
- 0% 0% 0% 90% -20° 0% 1.6m/s
23:00
- 0% 0% 0% 91% -30° 0% 1.8m/s
Wed, Aug 19 Sunrise 06:48 Sunset 20:11
24:00
- 0% 0% 0% 93% -37° 0% 1.8m/s
01:00
- 0% 0% 0% 93% -41° 0% 1.4m/s
02:00
- 0% 0% 0% 92% -41° 0% 1.3m/s
03:00
- 0% 0% 0% 91% -37° 0% 1.1m/s
04:00
- 0% 0% 0% 90% -30° 0% 1.2m/s
05:00
- 0% 0% 0% 90% -21° 0% 1.3m/s
06:00
- 5% 0% 0% 89% -9.9° 5% 1.2m/s
07:00
- 19% 0% 0% 89% 1.8° 19% 0.85m/s
08:00
- 0% 0% 0% 84% 13° 0% 0.59m/s
09:00
- 0% 0% 0% 68% 25° 0% 0.46m/s
10:00
- 0% 0% 0% 58% 37° 0% 0.21m/s
11:00
- 0% 0% 0% 51% 49° 0% 0.8m/s
12:00
- 0% 0% 0% 47% 59° 0% 1.7m/s
13:00
- 4% 0% 0% 41% 66° 4% 2.1m/s
14:00
- 2% 0% 0% 38% 66° 2% 2.8m/s
15:00
- 0% 2% 0% 35% 59° 2% 3.9m/s
16:00
- 0% 2% 0% 35% 49° 2% 3.4m/s
17:00
- 5% 1% 0% 37% 38° 6% 2.9m/s
18:00
- 0% 0% 0% 44% 26° 0% 2.4m/s
19:00
- 1% 0% 0% 63% 13° 1% 2.2m/s
20:00
- 3% 0% 0% 75% 1.8° 3% 1.8m/s
21:00
- 4% 0% 4% 73% -10° 4% 0.59m/s
22:00
- 0% 0% 5% 72% -21° 5% 1.2m/s
23:00
- 0% 0% 5% 71% -30° 5% 0.94m/s
Thu, Aug 20 Sunrise 06:49 Sunset 20:10
24:00
- 0% 0% 5% 68% -37° 5% 0.72m/s
01:00
- 0% 1% 18% 66% -41° 18% 0.52m/s
02:00
- 0% 2% 65% 64% -41° 65% 0.53m/s
03:00
- 1% 0% 5% 59% -37° 5% 1.1m/s
04:00
- 0% 0% 5% 65% -30° 5% 0.58m/s
05:00
- 40% 0% 5% 66% -21° 40% 0.53m/s
06:00
- 100% 49% 57% 68% -10° 100% 2.7m/s
07:00
- 5% 0% 5% 71% 1.6° 5% 1.9m/s
08:00
- 100% 0% 5% 78% 13° 100% 1.2m/s
09:00
- 58% 0% 99% 70% 25° 99% 0.86m/s
10:00
- 5% 0% 97% 60% 37° 97% 1.3m/s
11:00
- 5% 0% 65% 47% 49° 65% 3.2m/s
12:00
- 61% 0% 86% 46% 59° 92% 4m/s
13:00
- 100% 5% 99% 52% 65° 100% 2.8m/s
14:00
- 100% 5% 100% 51% 65° 100% 2.3m/s
15:00
- 68% 3% 67% 62% 59° 68% 2.1m/s
16:00
- 36% 2% 33% 73% 49° 36% 1.9m/s
17:00
- 4% 0% 0% 84% 37° 4% 1.7m/s
18:00
- 14% 0% 0% 87% 25° 14% 1.4m/s
19:00
- 24% 0% 0% 90% 13° 24% 1.2m/s
20:00
- 35% 0% 0% 93% 1.6° 35% 0.93m/s
21:00
- 56% 14% 3% 95% -10° 56% 1.2m/s
22:00
- 78% 29% 7% 96% -21° 78% 1.4m/s
23:00
- 100% 43% 10% 98% -30° 100% 1.6m/s
Fri, Aug 21 Sunrise 06:50 Sunset 20:09
24:00
- 100% 62% 7% 98% -37° 100% 1.5m/s
01:00
- 99% 81% 4% 98% -41° 100% 1.4m/s
02:00
- 99% 100% 2% 98% -41° 100% 1.2m/s
03:00
- 82% 100% 11% 98% -37° 100% 1.4m/s
04:00
- 65% 100% 20% 97% -30° 100% 1.6m/s
05:00
- 48% 100% 29% 96% -21° 100% 1.8m/s
06:00
- 33% 100% 33% 97% -10° 100% 1.5m/s
07:00
- 18% 100% 37% 97% 1.5° 100% 1.1m/s
08:00
- 4% 100% 42% 97% 13° 100% 0.79m/s
09:00
- 2% 100% 31% 96% 25° 100% 0.74m/s
How to read: these inputs help produce the derived score; they are not requirements by themselves.

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.

Forecast generated

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