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Rule Painted Sky

Painted Sky Forecast for Sylva, Smoky Mountains & Blue Ridge

Sylva, North Carolina, United States

Sylva's courthouse-topped main street sits in a narrow wooded valley, with nearby ridgelines and the southern Blue Ridge Parkway adding elevation.

1 matching opportunities in the 14-day forecast.

Hourly forecast scores

Forecast valid from Oct 9, 2026, 1:00 PM UTC (one hour; not an observation)
Low Cloud Cover78%
Mid Cloud Cover0%
High Cloud Cover100%
Sun Elevation16.2°

Upcoming Opportunities

When all conditions match, PhotoWeather marks an opportunity window.

Times shown in America/New_York
golden-clouds weather icon
First upcoming window
Excellent Painted Sky at Sunset
Sylva
Thu, Oct 15 · 18:23–19:13 · 1h window
Low confidence
31%
🌤️Painted Sky Potential82.5-89.5%
Low Cloud Cover: 38%
Mid Cloud Cover: 25%
High Cloud Cover: 0%
Sun Elevation: -1.1° (Civil twilight)

72-hour requirements breakdown

When available, this detailed table covers only the stated 72-hour horizon (typically 72–168 hours, depending on available hourly data). Opportunity records above span the full 14-day forecast period, so this table does not explain that entire period. Times shown in America/New_York.

Requirements breakdown is temporarily unavailable or expired. This does not mean no opportunities.

Supporting forecast inputs

Additional hourly values for interpreting the forecast and any derived scores. See the separate requirements breakdown for rule logic; missing values are unavailable.

Forecast time (America/New_York)Golden HourHigh CloudsLow CloudsMid-Level CloudsSolar ElevationTotal Cloud CoverageVisibility
Fri, Oct 9, 2026Sunrise · Sunset
Unavailable100%78%0%16°100%12700m
Unavailable100%28%0%27°100%19700m
Unavailable100%0%0%37°100%33000m
Unavailable100%0%86%44°100%59200m
Unavailable100%0%100%48°100%67100m
Unavailable100%0%100%47°100%72300m
Unavailable100%0%100%42°100%74600m
Unavailable100%0%100%34°100%76700m
Unavailable100%0%100%24°100%78900m
Unavailable100%0%100%12°100%75900m
Unavailable100%0%100%0.71°100%67600m
NightUnavailable100%0%100%-12°100%62000m
NightUnavailable100%0%70%-24°100%52100m
NightUnavailable100%0%58%-36°100%59300m
NightUnavailable100%0%100%-47°100%56500m
Sat, Oct 10, 2026Sunrise · Sunset
NightUnavailable91%0%77%-56°91%60900m
NightUnavailable100%0%100%-61°100%58100m
NightUnavailable100%0%100%-60°100%57800m
NightUnavailable100%0%100%-53°100%58600m
NightUnavailable100%100%100%-43°100%26300m
NightUnavailable100%100%100%-32°100%24100m
NightUnavailable100%0%100%-20°100%26000m
NightUnavailable100%0%80%-7.9°100%30600m
Unavailable93%0%65%4.4°93%34800m
Unavailable100%0%100%16°100%35000m
Unavailable0%28%100%27°100%33700m
Unavailable0%98%100%37°100%27800m
Unavailable0%100%100%44°100%28100m
Unavailable6%100%100%48°100%26500m
Unavailable0%83%100%47°100%25300m
Unavailable89%100%100%42°100%4300m
Unavailable1%100%100%33°100%20000m
Unavailable100%92%100%23°100%23200m
Unavailable8%86%100%12°100%11500m
Unavailable67%100%100%0.48°100%13700m
NightUnavailable0%98%100%-12°100%17400m
NightUnavailable0%69%100%-24°100%3100m
NightUnavailable97%82%29%-36°97%17200m
NightUnavailable19%93%31%-47°93%16200m
Sun, Oct 11, 2026Sunrise · Sunset
NightUnavailable76%100%75%-56°100%6710m
NightUnavailable3%100%47%-61°100%4750m
NightUnavailable35%100%29%-60°100%2985m
NightUnavailable5%100%0%-54°100%3180m
NightUnavailable0%100%0%-44°100%2800m
NightUnavailable0%100%0%-32°100%2220m
NightUnavailable0%100%0%-20°100%3160m
NightUnavailable0%100%0%-8.1°100%2740m
Unavailable0%100%0%4.2°100%3500m
Unavailable0%100%0%16°100%1420m
Unavailable0%100%0%27°100%24140m
Unavailable0%57%0%36°59%24140m
Unavailable0%86%0%44°87%24140m
Unavailable0%100%0%47°100%23580m
Unavailable0%100%0%46°100%24140m
Unavailable0%100%0%41°100%24140m
Unavailable0%100%0%33°100%24140m
Unavailable0%100%0%23°100%24140m
Unavailable0%100%0%12°100%24140m
Unavailable0%100%0%0.25°100%24140m
NightUnavailable0%99%0%-12°99%24140m
NightUnavailable0%100%0%-25°100%20080m
NightUnavailable0%100%0%-37°100%18720m
NightUnavailable0%100%0%-48°100%5040m
Mon, Oct 12, 2026Sunrise · Sunset
NightUnavailable0%100%0%-57°100%2120m
NightUnavailable0%100%0%-62°100%740m
NightUnavailable0%100%0%-61°100%700m
NightUnavailable0%100%0%-54°100%8740m
NightUnavailable0%100%0%-44°100%11320m
NightUnavailable0%100%0%-32°100%10740m
NightUnavailable0%65%0%-20°66%10200m
NightUnavailable0%98%0%-8.2°99%10360m
Unavailable0%96%0%4°97%10180m

How this forecast is evaluated

See which weather signals PhotoWeather uses to identify Painted Sky conditions across Smoky Mountains & Blue Ridge. The requirements and hourly values above show how those signals apply at Sylva.

Explore Painted Sky conditions across Smoky Mountains & Blue Ridge →

Recorded match history

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

Last 30 days
0
recorded matching windows
Last 90 days
1
recorded matching window · 83% average confidence
Last 365 days
8
recorded matching windows · 75% average confidence

Only 8 completed matches are recorded in the last 365 days—insufficient history to identify a reliable typical start time or month.

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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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.

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