in 20h 41m
Blocked grey lid
Every evening has a chance of good light.
Know if it’s worth going.
LightChance reads the sky up to 350 km along the sun line and tells you whether to go: Go, Maybe or Skip. With the reasons.
- Built and tested in the Swiss Alps
- Checked against real evenings: photos, webcams and ratings
- Two weather models compared when available
- Every forecast explains its reasons
Today's forecast for sunset at Manarola Viewpoint
Light corridor: blocked
Why your weather app gets sunsets wrong
A sunset is not weather above your head. It's an optics problem spanning hundreds of kilometres, and that's what we compute.
The color comes from far away
At sunset, light grazes the lower atmosphere for hundreds of kilometres before it reaches the clouds above you. A clear slot on the horizon up to 350 km away, not the sky overhead, is what turns cloud undersides red.
We sample the whole corridor
Layered cloud, cloud base, humidity and aerosols at 10 points along the sun line, curvature-aware, so a distant cloud only counts if the light ray actually passes through it.
You get a verdict, not homework
A 0–5 score, GO / MAYBE / SKIP, the reasons in plain words, and the golden-hour outlook. The full sky cross-section is right there when you want to argue with it.
Weather forecast for landscape photography
Not another weather app that gives you homework of data analysis and assumptions.
Map for sunset underlight potential
Check where red sky is possible tonight before you pick a spot. We run the analysis over the whole atmosphere several times a day, as the weather models update.
Weather worth going out for
You know what to expect. Fog in the valley, a storm clearing, alpenglow, rainbows, the Milky Way: we tell you what, when and how likely, never a ‘drive here’.
Dark sky visibility forecast
No more juggling three apps to answer one question: will I see stars? One map shows where and when the night gets properly dark, with the cloud on top.
Your day at a glance
Golden hours, sunrise, sunset and night in one list, with times, duration, temperature and light quality. Pick the window, then dig into it.
Sunset with sky rating and colors
A sunset sky prediction from the atmosphere, the light path, the geometry and the clouds, read from two weather models, as reliable as the data allows.
Simple verdict + data to dig deeper
A clear recommendation first. Then the reasons and the uncertainty behind it, as deep as you want to go.
Made by landscape photographers for other photographers with data in mind
Built and tested in the Swiss Alps
Mountains make sunsets hard: cloud below you, cloud above you, a horizon hundreds of kilometres away. We built this where we shoot, so it answers the question we ask every evening: is it worth going out?
Validated against real observations
Every forecast is kept with the model version that produced it and graded against what the evening actually did: photos, webcams and your own ratings. The model is young, and that is exactly how it gets better.
48 hours of cloud and weather data
See a deck arriving before it arrives. Hourly cloud maps and meteograms for the next two days, so you plan the drive around the weather and not the other way round.
Every forecast explains itself
Main reason, supporting factors and risks, in sentences, not symbols. If we say SKIP, you’ll know exactly which clouds are to blame.
Progressive Web App
It is a website that installs like an app on Android and iOS. No store, nothing to download. Android app coming soon.
We use AI to make the data easier to understand
The forecast model decides the verdict. AI then turns its numbers into shooting tips in plain words: what to shoot, where to look and when the light is at its best. It works only from what we measured, so it never changes a score or invents a better sky.
Simple pricing
Explore today and tomorrow at your first location.
€3.33/ monthinstead of €5.99
Billed annually: €39.99
- Free: one day at one place. Then €3.33/month with a 14-day trial.
- Maps for underlights, clouds, night sky
- Two-day outlook and cloud timeline
- 20 sunrise/sunset checks per day
Prices include tax. Cancel anytime from the billing portal. The trial does not charge until day 14, and we email you before it does.
Fair questions
What is LightChance?
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It finds your chances for good light (sunrise, sunset, fog, alpenglow, Milky Way), scores them, and tells you which are worth it.
Is the score a probability?
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No. It rates how good the light should be, from 0 to 5. The verdict (Go, Maybe, Skip) combines the score with how sure the forecast is.
How accurate is it?
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It gives an honest verdict, not a promise. We compare it with a second forecast when available and show when their ratings differ. We also store the scoring version behind every prediction and measure forecasts against real outcomes.
It's overcast at my house. Why would the app say GO?
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Because the color doesn't come from above you. At sunset, light travels hundreds of kilometres through the lower atmosphere before it reaches the clouds over your head. Overcast overhead with a clear slot on the horizon up to 350 km away often means the underside of that overcast turns red. The best sunsets frequently look hopeless until minutes before. The reverse also holds: a clear sky above you with a wall of cloud on the horizon gives nothing.
What data does it use?
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Commercial Open-Meteo forecast data. Every run samples layered and pressure-level cloud cover along the light corridor out to 350 km, plus cloud base, humidity, precipitation and aerosol optical depth. A second forecast is used for comparison when available; if their ratings differ, we show both.
Can I install it on Android?
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Yes. LightChance installs to your home screen like any app, with no app store and nothing to download. Open lightchance.com in Chrome, tap the browser menu, and choose “Add to home screen” (some phones call it “Install app”). It then opens full-screen from your home screen, so the forecast is one tap away.
How do I install it on iPhone?
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Open lightchance.com in Safari, tap the Share button at the bottom of the screen, scroll down and choose “Add to Home Screen”. It then opens full-screen from your home screen, so the forecast is one tap away.
If you opened this from an email or another app, you are in that app’s built-in browser and the option will not appear. Tap the … or Share menu, choose “Open in Safari” first.
Is my sunset spot safe to reach?
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That's yours to judge, and we say so plainly. LightChance forecasts light, not trail conditions, avalanche risk, or road access. Check official sources like MeteoSwiss and the SLF bulletin before heading into terrain.
Can I try it before paying?
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Yes. Choose a location and explore the rest of today and all of tomorrow, free: Overview, Sunrise, Daytime, Sunset and Night, with real forecasts. Your results and that location are saved. After it, a 14-day free trial starts when you decide to continue, and nothing is charged until it ends. Everything you saved stays yours either way.
Why do you ask for a card before the trial?
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Because the alternative is asking you to decide twice: once now and once in two weeks, when the novelty has worn off. The card is not charged during the 14-day trial. We email you before the first charge, you can cancel in two clicks from the billing portal, and cancelling during the trial charges nothing at all.
Can I cancel the paid plan?
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Anytime, in two clicks, from the billing portal. You keep access until the end of the period you have already paid for. After that forecasts stop, but nothing you saved is deleted. Your spots and history are waiting if you come back. The 14-day trial does not charge until it ends, and we send a reminder before it does.
