Skip to content
✨ New: PhotoWeather is now available on iOS and Android
PhotoWeather
Get started
More Dramatic Seascapes in California Coast
Create your own alerts
Rule Dramatic Seascapes

Half Moon Bay - Dramatic Seascapes - California Coast

Half Moon Bay, California, United States

Dramatic coastal photography conditions - powerful waves combined with atmospheric drama and good visibility for seascape shots.

No opportunities right now
Here’s what usually blocks matches

No Dramatic Seascapes opportunities in the next 14 days

Get notified
Free alerts · takes 30 seconds
Rule requirements (key thresholds)
Coastal Drama Score · ≥ 75.0% Significant Wave Height · ≥ 1.5m Visibility · ≥ 5000.0m Wind Gusts · ≤ 22.0m/s

Tip: Scroll down to the 72-hour table to see exactly which condition fails hour by hour.

Most common blockers (next 72 hours)
Coastal Drama Score 100% failing
Significant Wave Height 100% failing

Currently

Real-time conditions
Coastal Drama Score
11%
Wave Height0.3m
Swell Height0.1m
Wind Speed6.3m/s (moderate winds)
Cloud Cover100%

Upcoming Opportunities

When all conditions match, PhotoWeather marks an opportunity window.

Times shown in America/Los_Angeles

No opportunities in the next 10 days

See the blocker timeline below to understand which conditions are preventing matches.

What this forecast looks for

Plain-language explanation from the rule

This forecast identifies when dramatic conditions align for coastal photography along California's legendary shoreline. We track cloud drama, visibility, and wind patterns to predict when the coast will come alive with photogenic conditions.

California's 840-mile coastline offers endless variety—from the towering cliffs of Big Sur to the sea stacks of Mendocino to the coves of Laguna Beach. The interplay between Pacific weather systems and the coastal mountains creates ever-changing conditions that can transform familiar locations.

What makes the California coast special for dramatic photography:

  • Dynamic weather - Pacific storms bring dramatic skies, and clearing conditions create spectacular light
  • Diverse geography - Sea stacks, arches, waterfalls, cliffs, and beaches in endless variety
  • Fog and mist - Marine layer creates moody atmosphere, especially summer mornings
  • Year-round access - Mild climate means photography opportunities in every season

The best dramatic conditions often occur during and after winter storms (November-March), when clearing skies can produce spectacular light. Summer brings reliable morning fog that burns off by midday, creating soft, ethereal conditions. Wind patterns affect wave action—some drama is good, but excessive gusts make shooting difficult. Check our forecast to time your coastal adventures.

Create your own Dramatic Seascapes alerts

Get notified when these conditions match at your own locations.

Get this template

72-hour requirements breakdown

What passed or failed, hour by hour
0matching hours in the next 95 hours
AND logic: all conditions required
Meets requirement
Misses requirement
Time
America/Los_Angeles
Coastal Drama Score
≥ 75.0%
Significant Wave Height
≥ 1.5m
Visibility
≥ 5000.0m
Wind Gusts
≤ 22.0m/s
Precipitation Chance
≤ 30.0%
Tue, Apr 14
18:008.9%0.22m24135m8.7m/s0%
19:0010%0.43m24135m7.9m/s0%
20:0020%0.11m24135m8.1m/s0%
21:002.9%0.24m24135m7.9m/s0%
22:003%0.25m24135m7.9m/s0%
23:003%0.26m24135m8.3m/s0%
Wed, Apr 15
24:003%0.26m24134m7.8m/s0%
01:003%0.27m24135m8m/s0%
02:003%0.27m24135m8.6m/s0%
03:003.5%0.17m24135m9.2m/s0%
04:005.5%0.17m24135m9.1m/s0%
05:004.5%0.21m24134m8.6m/s0%
06:0010%0.21m24135m7.8m/s0%
07:0012%0.2m24135m8.8m/s0%
08:009.3%0.2m24134m8.2m/s0%
09:0011%0.2m24135m8.5m/s0%
10:0013%0.21m24135m9.1m/s0%
11:0011%0.18m24134m8.9m/s0%
12:008.8%0.2m24134m8.7m/s0%
13:007.9%0.23m24135m8.7m/s0%
14:006.6%0.23m24134m8.7m/s0%
15:005.8%0.24m24135m8.8m/s0%
16:008.5%0.3m24134m9.3m/s0%
17:006.8%0.31m24134m9.6m/s0%
18:009.2%0.31m24134m9.6m/s0%
19:0011%0.3m24134m9.9m/s0%
20:0011%0.3m24135m10m/s0%
21:004%0.28m24135m9.7m/s0%
22:003.8%0.26m24135m9.6m/s0%
23:003.5%0.24m24135m9m/s0%
Thu, Apr 16
24:005%0.23m24135m9m/s0%
01:003.9%0.22m24134m9.6m/s0%
02:003.9%0.21m24134m9.6m/s0%
03:003.4%0.24m24134m9.6m/s0%
04:003.9%0.26m24134m9.4m/s0%
05:003.9%0.29m24135m9.7m/s0%
06:0012%0.35m24134m7.8m/s0%
07:0010%0.42m24135m4.2m/s0%
08:007.7%0.48m24134m4.7m/s0%
09:008.3%0.55m24134m7.9m/s0%
10:007.5%0.61m24135m8.3m/s0%
11:006.2%0.68m24135m8.4m/s0%
12:005.8%0.75m24135m8.5m/s0%
13:0012%0.82m24135m8m/s0%
14:0013%0.89m24135m7.8m/s0%
15:0014%0.88m24135m8m/s0%
16:0017%0.86m24134m7.6m/s0%
17:0017%0.85m24134m9m/s0%
18:0020%0.8m24134m9.5m/s0%
19:0022%0.76m24135m9.5m/s0%
20:0025%0.71m24135m10m/s0%
21:007.3%0.66m24134m9.1m/s0%
22:004.2%0.61m24135m7.7m/s0%
23:003.9%0.56m24134m5.2m/s0%
Fri, Apr 17
24:003.9%0.51m24134m5.5m/s0%
01:003.5%0.47m24135m4.5m/s0%
02:003.5%0.42m24134m4.8m/s0%
03:003.5%0.39m24134m3.9m/s0%
04:003.3%0.36m24135m3.8m/s0%
05:003.5%0.33m24135m3.9m/s0%
06:008.2%0.31m24134m3.6m/s0%
07:0011%0.28m24135m3.2m/s0%
08:0012%0.26m24135m3m/s0%
09:009.2%0.25m24135m4.3m/s0%
10:009.3%0.23m24134m4.6m/s0%
11:009.4%0.22m24135m4.4m/s0%
12:006.2%0.22m24134m4m/s0%
13:008.5%0.22m24135m3.8m/s0%
14:006.2%0.22m24134m3.3m/s0%
15:004.4%0.24m24134m3.9m/s0%
16:005%0.26m24134m4m/s0%
17:005%0.28m24135m4.3m/s0%
18:006.2%0.31m24134m5.1m/s0%
19:007.4%0.34m24134m6m/s0%
20:008%0.37m24134m6.4m/s0%
21:002.5%0.46m24135m6.4m/s0%
22:002.7%0.54m24135m6.4m/s0%
23:003.2%0.63m24135m6.4m/s0%
Sat, Apr 18
24:002.7%0.65m24135m4.9m/s0%
01:002.7%0.68m24135m3.4m/s0%
02:002.7%0.7m24135m2m/s0%
03:002.7%0.72m24135m1.8m/s0%
04:002.7%0.75m24135m1.6m/s0%
05:002.7%0.77m24135m1.4m/s0%
06:007.8%0.74m24135m1.7m/s0%
07:008.8%0.71m24135m2m/s0%
08:006.8%0.68m24135m2.3m/s0%
09:006.8%0.6m24135m2.8m/s0%
10:006.8%0.52m24135m3.3m/s0%
11:005.1%0.44m24135m3.8m/s0%
12:004.9%0.37m24135m4.4m/s0%
13:004.1%0.31m24135m4.9m/s0%
14:004.1%0.24m24135m5.5m/s0%
15:004.1%0.23m24135m5.5m/s0%
16:006%0.21m24135m5.4m/s0%
How to read: colored cells show whether each predicate requirement is met; highlighted rows mean the full rule matched (an opportunity).

What does Coastal Drama Score mean?

Inputs that drive the score

This derived score summarizes multiple raw weather signals. The table below shows the supporting inputs hour by hour, so you can see what's pushing the score up or down.

Time
America/Los_Angeles
High Clouds
%
Low Clouds
%
Mid-Level Clouds
%
Primary Swell Height
m
Primary Wave Direction
°
Sea Salt AOD (550nm)
Solar Elevation
°
Total Cloud Coverage
%
Wind Direction
°
Wind Speed
m/s
Wind Wave Height
m
Wind Wave Period
s
Wed, Apr 15 Sunrise 06:33 Sunset 19:45
19:00 ☾
100% 22% 0% 0.14m 181° 0.03 8.1° 100% 305° 6.3m/s 0.28m 3.6s
20:00 ☾
100% 35% 0% 0.15m 180° 0.03 -3.6° 100% 308° 6.4m/s 0.27m 3.8s
21:00 ☾
85% 79% 0% 0.17m 183° 0.04 -15° 91% 310° 6.8m/s 0.24m 4.1s
22:00 ☾
5% 90% 0% 0.18m 186° 0.04 -25° 90% 317° 6.6m/s 0.2m 4.4s
23:00 ☾
5% 100% 0% 0.2m 188° 0.03 -34° 100% 314° 6.7m/s 0.17m 4.7s
Thu, Apr 16 Sunrise 06:33 Sunset 19:45
24:00 ☾
5% 39% 0% 0.19m 187° 0.03 -40° 39% 315° 6.7m/s 0.15m 5s
01:00 ☾
5% 0% 0% 0.18m 185° 0.03 -42° 5% 313° 7.2m/s 0.12m 5.2s
02:00 ☾
2% 0% 0% 0.17m 183° 0.02 -41° 2% 310° 7.6m/s 0.1m 5.5s
03:00 ☾
4% 0% 0% 0.15m 168° 0.01 -36° 4% 312° 7.7m/s 0.15m 4.7s
04:00 ☾
5% 0% 0% 0.14m 153° 0.01 -28° 5% 315° 7.5m/s 0.2m 3.9s
05:00 ☾
5% 0% 0% 0.12m 138° 0.009 -18° 5% 320° 7.7m/s 0.25m 3s
06:00 ☾
5% 0% 0% 0.19m 128° 0.008 -7.1° 5% 330° 6.5m/s 0.28m 3s
07:00
5% 0% 0% 0.26m 119° 0.006 4.5° 5% 4° 3.5m/s 0.32m 3s
08:00
5% 0% 0% 0.33m 109° 0.005 16° 5% 39° 3.3m/s 0.35m 3s
09:00
5% 0% 0% 0.34m 96° 0.004 28° 5% 32° 4.1m/s 0.42m 3.2s
10:00
5% 0% 0% 0.35m 82° 0.003 40° 5% 24° 6m/s 0.5m 3.4s
11:00
5% 0% 0% 0.36m 69° 0.003 50° 5% 13° 6.2m/s 0.57m 3.5s
12:00
5% 0% 0% 0.45m 86° 0.003 59° 5% 351° 6.6m/s 0.59m 4s
13:00
5% 0% 0% 0.53m 103° 0.003 63° 5% 334° 6.6m/s 0.62m 4.5s
14:00
5% 0% 0% 0.62m 121° 0.004 61° 5% 322° 7.6m/s 0.64m 4.9s
15:00
5% 0% 0% 0.63m 123° 0.004 53° 5% 320° 8m/s 0.61m 5.1s
16:00
5% 0% 0% 0.64m 125° 0.004 43° 5% 315° 7.6m/s 0.58m 5.2s
17:00 ☾
0% 0% 0% 0.65m 127° 0.005 32° 0% 318° 8.1m/s 0.55m 5.3s
18:00 ☾
0% 0% 0% 0.63m 127° 0.005 20° 0% 321° 8.2m/s 0.51m 5.3s
19:00 ☾
0% 0% 0% 0.61m 127° 0.006 8.3° 0% 323° 8m/s 0.46m 5.2s
20:00 ☾
0% 0% 0% 0.59m 128° 0.006 -3.4° 0% 324° 8.1m/s 0.42m 5.2s
21:00 ☾
0% 0% 0% 0.56m 128° 0.006 -15° 0% 326° 7.3m/s 0.37m 5s
22:00 ☾
0% 0% 0% 0.52m 129° 0.005 -25° 0% 324° 6.1m/s 0.31m 4.9s
23:00 ☾
2% 0% 0% 0.49m 130° 0.004 -33° 2% 332° 4.4m/s 0.26m 4.8s
Fri, Apr 17 Sunrise 06:32 Sunset 19:46
24:00 ☾
0% 0% 0% 0.45m 131° 0.003 -39° 0% 333° 4.1m/s 0.2m 4.6s
01:00 ☾
5% 0% 0% 0.42m 133° 0.003 -42° 5% 348° 3.4m/s 0.15m 4.5s
02:00 ☾
0% 0% 0% 0.38m 134° 0.002 -41° 0% 345° 3.8m/s 0.09m 4.4s
03:00 ☾
1% 0% 0% 0.35m 138° 0.002 -35° 1% 358° 3.2m/s 0.09m 4.3s
04:00 ☾
14% 0% 0% 0.31m 142° 0.002 -28° 14% 24° 2.8m/s 0.1m 4.3s
05:00 ☾
10% 0% 0% 0.28m 147° 0.002 -18° 10% 23° 2.8m/s 0.1m 4.2s
06:00 ☾
99% 0% 0% 0.25m 148° - -6.9° 99% 17° 3m/s 0.15m 4.2s
07:00
91% 0% 0% 0.23m 148° - 4.8° 91% 13° 2.7m/s 0.2m 4.1s
08:00
46% 0% 54% 0.2m 149° - 17° 60% 13° 2.4m/s 0.25m 4.1s
09:00
5% 0% 88% 0.2m 147° - 28° 88% 352° 2.5m/s 0.19m 4.8s
10:00
5% 0% 72% 0.19m 145° - 40° 72% 353° 2.7m/s 0.13m 5.6s
11:00
49% 0% 3% 0.19m 143° - 51° 49% 337° 3.2m/s 0.07m 6.3s
12:00
96% 0% 0% 0.18m 143° - 59° 96% 326° 3.3m/s 0.08m 6.4s
13:00
22% 0% 0% 0.18m 144° - 63° 22% 315° 3.7m/s 0.1m 6.4s
14:00
100% 0% 1% 0.17m 145° - 61° 100% 299° 3.6m/s 0.11m 6.5s
15:00
100% 0% 19% 0.17m 166° - 53° 100% 284° 5m/s 0.15m 5.3s
16:00
100% 0% 37% 0.16m 188° - 43° 100% 287° 4.8m/s 0.18m 4.2s
17:00 ☾
100% 0% 100% 0.16m 209° - 32° 100% 296° 4.6m/s 0.22m 3s
18:00 ☾
100% 0% 100% 0.16m 223° - 20° 100% 308° 5.1m/s 0.26m 2.9s
19:00 ☾
100% 0% 100% 0.15m 236° - 8.4° 100% 316° 5.6m/s 0.3m 2.7s
20:00 ☾
100% 0% 100% 0.15m 250° - -3.2° 100% 316° 5.5m/s 0.34m 2.6s
21:00 ☾
100% 0% 100% 0.15m 249° - -14° 100% 318° 5.3m/s 0.43m 2.9s
22:00 ☾
100% 0% 100% 0.14m 248° - -24° 100% 322° 5.3m/s 0.53m 3.1s
23:00 ☾
56% 0% 100% 0.14m 247° - -33° 100% 321° 5.2m/s 0.62m 3.4s
Sat, Apr 18 Sunrise 06:30 Sunset 19:47
24:00 ☾
71% 2% 100% 0.13m 244° - -39° 100% 314° 4m/s 0.64m 3.5s
01:00 ☾
85% 4% 100% 0.13m 241° - -42° 100% 307° 2.9m/s 0.66m 3.6s
02:00 ☾
100% 6% 100% 0.12m 238° - -40° 100% 300° 1.8m/s 0.68m 3.7s
03:00 ☾
88% 5% 99% 0.12m 238° - -35° 100% 297° 1.8m/s 0.71m 3.8s
04:00 ☾
76% 4% 98% 0.12m 239° - -27° 100% 294° 1.8m/s 0.73m 3.8s
05:00 ☾
64% 3% 97% 0.12m 239° - -17° 99% 291° 1.8m/s 0.76m 3.9s
06:00 ☾
76% 4% 98% 0.11m 239° - -6.6° 100% 285° 2.3m/s 0.73m 3.9s
07:00
88% 5% 99% 0.09m 239° - 5° 100% 278° 2.8m/s 0.71m 3.9s
08:00
100% 6% 100% 0.08m 238° - 17° 100% 271° 3.2m/s 0.68m 3.9s
09:00
77% 4% 100% 0.11m 236° - 29° 100% 278° 3.5m/s 0.62m 3.8s
10:00
55% 2% 99% 0.15m 234° - 40° 99% 285° 3.7m/s 0.55m 3.7s
11:00
32% 0% 99% 0.18m 232° - 51° 99% 292° 4m/s 0.49m 3.7s
12:00
22% 0% 99% 0.16m 227° - 59° 99% 300° 4.2m/s 0.39m 3.5s
13:00
12% 0% 100% 0.13m 221° - 64° 100% 308° 4.4m/s 0.29m 3.4s
14:00
2% 0% 100% 0.11m 215° - 61° 100% 316° 4.6m/s 0.19m 3.2s
15:00
3% 0% 100% 0.12m 201° - 54° 100% 320° 4.3m/s 0.16m 3.9s
16:00
4% 0% 100% 0.12m 186° - 44° 100% 323° 4.1m/s 0.13m 4.6s
17:00 ☾
5% 0% 99% 0.13m 172° - 32° 99% 326° 3.9m/s 0.1m 5.3s
18:00 ☾
30% 1% 98% 0.15m 173° - 20° 98% 325° 3.4m/s 0.1m 5.3s
How to read: these inputs help produce the derived score; they are not requirements by themselves.

Get Notified of Opportunities

Create your own custom alerts for this location and more.

Create Free Account