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Photo locations · Valais · Switzerland

Nax Balcon du Ciel: sunset photography forecast

Nax is signposted as the Balcony of the Sky and the name is fair: you stand high above the Rhône valley with the Valais peaks stacked opposite. No cable car, no long walk — which makes it one of the few high viewpoints you can commit to when the forecast is uncertain.

Will today's sunset be worth it?

Simplified forecast from the open model run. The full forecast — a second model, your exact viewpoint, the hourly cloud timeline — is in the app.

Low cloud is resting on the viewpoint, so you will be inside it.

in 51m

Blocked grey lid

Wet, broken light · moody rain shots; bright gaps if the sky opens

Little usable cloud structure, or the viewpoint sits inside a uniform lid.

High confidence · event-time scene

Sky colors

Golden hour
Sunset

Light corridor

Viewer's line of sight, tangent to the Earth at your locationNear-ground relative humidity8% cover — too thin to draw as cloud11% cover — too thin to draw as cloud18% cover — too thin to draw as cloud18% cover — too thin to draw as cloud10% cover — too thin to draw as cloud10% cover — too thin to draw as cloud14% cover — too thin to draw as cloud10% cover — too thin to draw as cloudConnected cloud layer · 0–100% cover · 100–100% visual uncertaintyConnected cloud layer · 0–100% cover · 45–45% visual uncertaintyConnected cloud layer · 100–100% cover · 10–25% visual uncertaintyConnected cloud layer · 0–100% cover · 100–100% visual uncertaintyConnected cloud layer · 59–59% cover · 10–10% visual uncertaintyConnected cloud layer · 100–100% cover · 45–45% visual uncertaintyConnected cloud layer · 100–100% cover · 10–25% visual uncertaintylow cloud · 100% reported, 0% resolved on a pressure surface — 100% is somewhere between 2.36 and 3 kmlow cloud · 88% reported, 52% resolved on a pressure surface — 36% is somewhere between 1.99 and 3 kmlow cloud · 79% reported, 33% resolved on a pressure surface — 46% is somewhere between 0.83 and 3 kmlow cloud · 99% reported, 64% resolved on a pressure surface — 35% is somewhere between 1.55 and 3 km

-5 km

Behind you

8/8L 100 · M 87 · H 8892% · rain 0.2 mm18.9 km

Your location

1990 m asl

8/8L 88 · M 84 · H 8990%23.2 km

5 km

Nearby

8/8L 79 · M 100 · H 8496%13 km

20 km

Near horizon

7/8L 40 · M 84 · H 1683%31 km

50 km

Light path

8/8L 99 · M 70 · H 0100%400 m

100 km

Light path

8/8L 100 · M 93 · H 293%16.7 km

150 km

Far light path

8/8L 92 · M 73 · H 096%2 km

200 km

Far light path

7/8L 48 · M 74 · H 081%31.2 km

300 km

Far light path

1/8L 18 · M 0 · H 070%37.8 km

350 km

Far light path

5/8L 62 · M 0 · H 067%38.3 km
cloud-cover fieldinterpolation uncertaintysun directionnear-ground humiditycloud at unresolved heightmodelled underlightunderlight · height uncertainunderlight · lit on one readinglit but hidden behind nearer cloud

Terrain is drawn for illustration only — it is not used to calculate underlight or obstruction.

Clouds: Lit canvas above you, but you are inside the cloud

Your viewpoint is in cloud or fog (23.2 km visibility) — the colour above will be hard to see from here.

Very thick mid/high cover (100%) — colour likely only at cloud edges.

Low cloud deck overhead (77%) hides the coloured undersides.

Most clouds above you sit in shadow — their undersides are unlikely to catch colour.

Cloud cover is nearly solid and uniform across the near scene — a flat lid rather than separated layers.

Cloud is distributed across low, middle and high levels, creating strong vertical depth.

Rain is likely nearby (0.5 mm) — expect wet, grey light, though a showery sky can still open up at the horizon.

Broken low cloud (81%) — expect the light to come and go.

A thick mid-level deck (85%) dims the low sun — light will be weak and flat.

Light corridor is blocked

Cloud at the light ray's height along the far path (100%) will block most direct light.

Sun likely hidden. You're inside the cloud at the viewpoint (23.2 km visibility) — the sun will not be visible from here.

Clarity: Reduced

High humidity (90%) may soften and mute colors.

Forecast refreshed a few hours before sunset.

Know the light
before it happens

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For photographers: shooting Nax Balcon du Ciel

Best months

Spring through autumn. Clear winter evenings are excellent too, when cold air scrubs the valley haze.

Suggested focal lengths

70–200 mm for the overlapping ridges opposite; 24–70 mm when cloud fills the valley and becomes the subject

Composition

Let the valley do the work: use the ridge lines as receding layers and keep the foreground simple.

Recommended arrival

Around 45 minutes before sunset is enough — the walk from parking is short.

Access planning

Drive up from Sion, or take the PostBus. The viewpoint is a short walk from parking.

Parking: Village parking in Nax; short signed walk to the terrace

Approach: Short, mostly level walk from the car

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