Throughout the year, the temperature generally ranges from 45°F to 67°F and is rarely lower than 38°F or above 76°F. In Half Moon Bay, summers are comfortable, arid, and mostly clear, and winters are cold, humid, windy, and partly cloudy. The racial makeup of Half Moon Bay was 8,580 (75.8%) white, 82 (0.7%) African American, 71 (0.6%) Native American, 490 (4.3%) Asian, 9 (0.1%) Pacific Islanders, 1710 (15.1%) from other races, and 382 (3.4%) from two or more races. The month with the least humid days in Half Moon Bay is July, with an average of 0.1 days with at least 0.04 inches of precipitation. The area within 2 miles of Half Moon Bay is covered by artificial surfaces (23%), water (22%), grassland (15%) and grassy vegetation (13%), within 10 miles by water (40%) and trees (24%), and within 50 miles by water (55%) and grassland (13%).
The Montara State Marine Reserve and the Pillar Point State Marine Conservation Area extend offshore from Montara, just north of Half Moon Bay. The cloudiest month of the year in Half Moon Bay is January, during which, on average, the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy 53% of the time. The month with the fewest daily hours of sunshine in Half Moon Bay is January, with an average of 5.8 hours of Sun a day. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Half Moon Bay for activities in warm climates is from early September to early October, with a maximum score in the second week of September.
For each station, the records are corrected taking into account the difference in elevation between that station and Half Moon Bay according to the International Standard Atmosphere, and according to the relative change present in the reanalysis carried out between the two locations during the MERRA-2 satellite era. The album Half Moon Bay was recorded by jazz pianist Bill Evans in 1973 at the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society in Half Moon Bay. The calmest month of the year in Half Moon Bay is October, with an average hourly wind speed of 8.2 miles per hour. The month of the year in Half Moon Bay with the coldest water is April, with an average temperature of 53°F.
In 2024, California Governor Gavin Newsom criticized Half Moon Bay politicians for repeatedly delaying approval of a 40-unit apartment building for high-ranking farmworkers. The coldest month of the year in Half Moon Bay is January, with an average low of 45°F and a high of 57°F. Half Moon Bay began as a rural agricultural area, used primarily by the Mission of Saint Francis of Assisi (established in 177) for grazing cattle, horses and oxen. Half Moon Bay's economy is dominated by a handful of companies, the largest of which is the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay, which employs 500 people and is a major source of property tax and tourism revenues for the city. Temperatures in Half Moon Bay are warm enough throughout the year that it is not entirely significant to talk about the growing season in these terms.
