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Photo locations · Valais · Switzerland

Nax Balcon du Ciel: sunrise 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.

Sunset todaySunset tomorrowSunset Monday

Will today's sunrise 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 3h 51m

Blocked grey lid

Flat grey light · moody close-ups at best

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

High confidence · event-time scene

Sky colors

Golden hour
Sunrise

Light corridor

Viewer's line of sight, tangent to the Earth at your locationNear-ground relative humidity15% cover — too thin to draw as cloud11% cover — too thin to draw as cloud11% cover — too thin to draw as cloud7% cover — too thin to draw as cloudConnected cloud layer · 0–100% cover · 45–100% visual uncertaintyConnected cloud layer · 0–100% cover · 10–100% visual uncertaintyConnected cloud layer · 42–42% cover · 10–10% visual uncertaintyConnected cloud layer · 100–100% cover · 10–10% visual uncertaintyConnected cloud layer · 40–100% cover · 10–100% visual uncertaintyConnected cloud layer · 0–100% cover · 10–65% visual uncertaintyConnected cloud layer · 0–100% cover · 10–65% visual uncertaintyConnected cloud layer · 0–100% cover · 10–45% visual uncertainty5 km · 2.0 km of air with no pressure level in it — the decks above and below are measured, this span is not20 km · 1.7 km of air with no pressure level in it — the decks above and below are measured, this span is not20 km · 2.0 km of air with no pressure level in it — the decks above and below are measured, this span is not50 km · 1.7 km of air with no pressure level in it — the decks above and below are measured, this span is not50 km · 2.0 km of air with no pressure level in it — the decks above and below are measured, this span is not100 km · 1.7 km of air with no pressure level in it — the decks above and below are measured, this span is not100 km · 2.0 km of air with no pressure level in it — the decks above and below are measured, this span is notlow cloud · 67% reported, 41% resolved on a pressure surface — 26% is somewhere between 0.68 and 3 kmlow cloud · 91% reported, 56% resolved on a pressure surface — 35% is somewhere between 1.99 and 3 kmlow cloud · 98% reported, 0% resolved on a pressure surface — 98% is somewhere between 2.52 and 3 kmlow cloud · 91% reported, 0% resolved on a pressure surface — 91% is somewhere between 2.71 and 3 kmmid cloud · 84% reported, 65% resolved on a pressure surface — 19% is somewhere between 3 and 8 km50 km · the model says the lowest depicted cloud underside may catch red light100 km · the model says the lowest depicted cloud underside may catch orange light

-5 km

Behind you

8/8L 67 · M 96 · H 10094% · rain 0.2 mm15.2 km

Your location

1990 m asl

8/8L 91 · M 80 · H 10091% · rain 0.5 mm20 km

5 km

Nearby

8/8L 98 · M 99 · H 10097% · rain 0.7 mm1.7 km

20 km

Near horizon

8/8L 91 · M 99 · H 10097% · rain 0.2 mm5.3 km

50 km

Light path

8/8L 0 · M 84 · H 10067%39.3 km

100 km

Light path

8/8L 0 · M 100 · H 10074%38.6 km

150 km

Far light path

8/8L 33 · M 91 · H 10082%33 km

200 km

Far light path

8/8L 73 · M 0 · H 10082%31.5 km

300 km

Far light path

8/8L 39 · M 60 · H 10079%32.9 km

350 km

Far light path

6/8L 80 · M 0 · H 095%13.1 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.

Forecast refreshed a few hours before sunrise.

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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