Sun paths behind the terrain
The grey silhouette is the terrain as it appears against the sky from the calculation point. Where the sun path disappears behind the silhouette, the point is in shadow.
Where exactly it was calculated: the measuring point
Aerial photo SWISSIMAGE © swisstopo, marker = measuring point
All times on this page apply to exactly one point: at the mountain inn, 1,150 m above sea level (LV95 coordinates 2748508 / 1237269). The calculation starts from the highest terrain point within 20 m, 2 m above ground. The point matters: just 50 m further on, for example on the opposite shore or behind a terrain edge, the sun can disappear earlier or arrive later. If you want to check a specific spot, choose it yourself in the app. View the measuring point on map.geo.admin.ch
Sun path in 3D: Seealpsee over the course of the day
View from the point towards the sun, calculated with the real terrain, buildings and trees from the official 3D data. Choose a date, then move through the day with the slider.
Sun path from the SunPlot app: terrain swissALTI3D, buildings swissBUILDINGS3D, trees swissSURFACE3D, aerial photo SWISSIMAGE – all © swisstopo. Without clouds or weather.
Winter and summer compared
On 21 December the sun stays behind the terrain all day: Alpstein to the south rises to 45° above the horizon, while at midday the sun only reaches 19°. On the evening of 21 June, the sun disappears behind Alpstein to the west (27° above the horizon, 2 km away). On the morning of 21 June, the horizon to the north-east is practically clear.
Over the year that makes 2,161 hours of sunshine; without the terrain it would be 4,401: the terrain takes 2,239 hours, or 51%.
Sun month by month (on the 15th of each month)
| Month | Sun windows | Hours | Possible |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | no sun | 0.0 h | 8.7 h |
| February | 13:36–15:52 | 2.3 h | 10.1 h |
| March | 12:32–16:52 | 4.3 h | 11.7 h |
| April | 7:48–8:24 · 9:24–9:36 · 10:08–17:52 | 8.5 h | 13.5 h |
| May | 7:08–18:12 | 11.1 h | 14.9 h |
| June | 5:44–18:24 | 12.7 h | 15.7 h |
| July | 5:56–18:24 | 12.5 h | 15.4 h |
| August | 7:40–18:16 | 10.6 h | 14.1 h |
| September | 11:28–11:36 · 12:40–17:40 | 5.2 h | 12.4 h |
| October | 13:36–16:32 · 16:36–17:00 | 3.3 h | 10.7 h |
| November | 14:08–14:32 · 14:48–15:00 | 0.6 h | 9.2 h |
| December | no sun | 0.0 h | 8.3 h |
Times CET/CEST, calculated without clouds; “possible” = sun above the mathematical horizon.
How this is calculated
- Terrain: swissALTIRegio (10 m) around the point, up to 25 km away, horizon in 1° steps from a distance of 30 m. Standpoint: highest terrain point within 20 m, eye level 2 m. Required source attribution (editions from 2025): Bundesamt für Landestopografie swisstopo; Tarquini S., I. Isola, M. Favalli, A. Battistini, G. Dotta (2023). TINITALY, a digital elevation model of Italy with a 10 meters cell size (Version 1.1). Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV). https://doi.org/10.13127/tinitaly/1.1; DGM Österreich, geoland.at; DGM1, Bayerische Vermessungsverwaltung – www.geodaten.bayern.de; DGM 1 Baden-Württemberg: LGL, www.lgl-bw.de, dl-de/by-2-0”; RGEAlti, Institut National de l’information géographique et forestière, données originales tétéchargées sur https://geoservices.ign.fr/rgealti#telechargement5m, mise à jour du juillet 2023
- Only the terrain casts shadows; buildings, trees and clouds are not taken into account.
- Astronomical sun position (NOAA approximation), year 2026, times CET/CEST. As of 2026-09-22.
- Sources: terrain and names © swisstopo. Not a weather forecast; no guarantee for individual cases.
Short answers
When does Seealpsee get sun in winter?
Not at all on 21 December: from 18 November to 24 January the sun stays behind the terrain. From 24 January it appears briefly around midday, then for longer every day; the monthly table above shows the times for the 15th of each month.
Where does the shadow come from?
On 21 December the sun stays behind the terrain all day: Alpstein to the south rises to 45° above the horizon, while at midday the sun only reaches 19°.
How accurate is this?
The times come from the official terrain model and the astronomical position of the sun at the stated point. A few metres further on, or a tree in front, can make a difference of a few minutes. Weather is not included.