Places to avoid in April

Cyclone season on48 places

The southern-hemisphere storm season.

• 🇵🇫 Papeete · French Polynesia — Cyclone season, 1 Nov – 30 Apr — The wet season doubles as the cyclone window. · instead August
  74
• 🇦🇺 Port Douglas · Australia — Cyclone season, 1 Nov – 30 Apr — November to April brings the rain and the cyclone risk together. · instead September
  75
• 🇫🇯 Nadi · Fiji — Cyclone season, 1 Nov – 30 Apr — The South Pacific storm season, at its most active in January and February. · instead July
  76
• Aitutaki · Cook Islands — Cyclone season, 1 Nov – 30 Apr — The South Pacific season runs November to April, with the risk highest between December and February. · instead August
  77
• 🇵🇫 Moorea · French Polynesia — Cyclone season, 1 Nov – 30 Apr — The wet half of the year is also the cyclone window in the Society Islands. · instead August
  77
• 🇵🇫 Bora Bora · French Polynesia — Cyclone season, 1 Nov – 30 Apr — The South Pacific storm season. · instead August
  78

…and 42 more, 10 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own April verdict.

Dust season on31 places

Spring dust and sandstorms; sensitive lungs stay in.

• 🇪🇸 Sierra Nevada · Spain — Dust season, 15 Feb – 15 Jun (usually) · instead January
  37
• 🇮🇳 Delhi · India — Dust season, 15 Apr – 20 Jun (usually) · instead February
  58
• 🇲🇳 Ulaanbaatar · Mongolia — Dust season, 15 Mar – 31 May (usually) · instead June
  70
• 🇪🇬 Luxor · Egypt — Dust season, 1 Mar – 15 May (usually) — Spring southerlies fill the valley with sand for a day or two at a time and ground the dawn balloon flights. · instead February
  71
• 🇦🇪 Abu Dhabi · United Arab Emirates — Dust season, 1 Mar – 15 Jun (usually) · instead January
  72
• 🇲🇦 Merzouga · Morocco — Dust season, 15 Mar – 31 May (usually) · instead February
  72

…and 25 more, 16 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own April verdict.

Monsoon on26 places

The wet season proper — heavy, daily, and the reason prices fall.

• 🇦🇺 Kakadu · Australia — Monsoon, 1 Nov – 31 May (usually) · instead July
  51
• 🇰🇪 Amboseli · Kenya — Monsoon, 15 Mar – 20 May (usually) — The long rains push the game away from the swamps and turn the black-cotton tracks to grease. · instead July
  57
• 🇪🇨 Quito · Ecuador — Monsoon, 1 Oct – 31 May (usually) · instead August
  58
• 🇹🇿 Zanzibar · Tanzania — Monsoon, 20 Mar – 31 May (usually) · instead September
  59
• 🇮🇩 Lake Toba · Indonesia — Monsoon, 1 Oct – 30 Apr (usually) — Afternoon and evening storms roll down the crater walls onto the lake, and the ferry to Samosir gets choppy. · instead July
  62
• 🇨🇳 Yangshuo · China — Monsoon, 15 Apr – 31 Aug (usually) — Guangxi's rain lands between April and August, May heaviest. · instead December
  62

…and 20 more, 15 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own April verdict.

Smoke season on25 places

Burning fields or forests; the air, not the weather, is the problem.

• 🇹🇭 Bangkok · Thailand — Smoke season, 25 Jan – 15 Apr (usually) — Agricultural fires north and west of the city put a lid of smoke over Bangkok through the late dry season. · instead December
  51
• 🇹🇭 Chiang Mai · Thailand — Smoke season, 1 Feb – 20 Apr (usually) · instead January
  54
• 🇱🇦 Luang Prabang · Laos — Smoke season, 1 Mar – 30 Apr (usually) · instead December
  56
• 🇱🇦 Vientiane · Laos — Smoke season, 15 Feb – 30 Apr (usually) · instead December
  56
• 🇦🇺 Margaret River · Australia — Smoke season, 15 Nov – 15 Apr (usually) · instead February
  79
• 🇦🇺 Kangaroo Island · Australia — Smoke season, 15 Nov – 15 Apr (usually) — National parks here close on catastrophic fire danger days, which lands squarely in the summer holidays. · instead February
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…and 19 more, 4 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own April verdict.

Sargassum season on19 places

The months the seaweed comes ashore on Caribbean and Gulf beaches.

• 🇵🇷 San Juan · Puerto Rico — Sargassum season, 1 Apr – 31 Aug (usually) · instead January
  72
• 🇺🇸 Fort Lauderdale · United States — Sargassum season, 15 Apr – 30 Sep (usually) · instead March
  88
• 🇩🇴 Samaná · Dominican Republic — Sargassum season, 1 Apr – 31 Aug (usually) — The north-facing beaches around Las Terrenas and the peninsula's eastern end take the weed. · instead January
  88
• 🇧🇧 Bridgetown · Barbados — Sargassum season, 1 Apr – 30 Sep (usually) · instead February
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• 🇧🇿 Caye Caulker · Belize — Sargassum season, 1 Apr – 30 Sep (usually) — The east shore and the Split collect weed through the summer and crews rake it at dawn. · instead March
  89
• 🇸🇽 Philipsburg · Sint Maarten — Sargassum season, 1 Apr – 31 Aug (usually) · instead March
  89

…and 13 more, 12 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own April verdict.

Extreme heat on16 places

The weeks the city lives indoors.

• 🇮🇳 Hyderabad · India — Extreme heat, 20 Mar – 5 Jun (usually) — Heat advisories start in late March and the middle of the day goes indoors until the rains break. · instead January
  44
• 🇮🇳 Jodhpur · India — Extreme heat, 20 Apr – 25 Jun (usually) · instead January
  47
• 🇮🇳 Varanasi · India — Extreme heat, 15 Apr – 20 Jun (usually) — The Gangetic plain at its worst: the ghats are empty between ten and five and the stone is too hot to sit on. · instead December
  51
• 🇲🇲 Yangon · Myanmar — Extreme heat, 1 Mar – 15 May (usually) · instead January
  51
• 🇮🇳 Jaipur · India — Extreme heat, 25 Apr – 20 Jun (usually) · instead February
  55
• 🇮🇳 Udaipur · India — Extreme heat, 25 Apr – 20 Jun (usually) · instead January
  58

…and 10 more, 3 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own April verdict.

Flood season on12 places

The river comes into the streets most years.

• 🇨🇦 Winnipeg · Canada — Flood season, 1 Apr – 10 May (usually) · instead June
  68
• 🇳🇿 Franz Josef · New Zealand — Flood season, 1 Jan – 31 Dec · instead February
  71
• 🇧🇷 Foz do Iguaçu · Brazil — Flood season, 1 Nov – 30 Apr (usually) · instead July
  72
• 🇺🇸 Cincinnati · United States — Flood season, 1 Feb – 15 Apr (usually) · instead September
  76
• 🇺🇸 St. Louis · United States — Flood season, 1 Apr – 30 Jun (usually) · instead May
  80
• 🇭🇺 Budapest · Hungary — Flood season, 1 Mar – 30 Apr (usually) — Snowmelt upstream pushes the river over the lower quays most springs. · instead September
  88

…and 6 more, all lesser-known. Every destination page carries its own April verdict.

Avalanche season on10 places

Backcountry and passes on forecast; the weeks the road closes after a dump.

• 🇬🇧 Aviemore · United Kingdom — Avalanche season, 15 Dec – 15 Apr (usually) · instead January
  46
• 🇮🇹 Cortina d'Ampezzo · Italy — Avalanche season, 15 Dec – 10 Apr (usually) · instead January
  54
• 🇨🇭 Davos · Switzerland — Avalanche season, 10 Dec – 15 Apr (usually) — The national avalanche institute is based here, which tells you something. · instead January
  64
• 🇬🇪 Mestia · Georgia — Avalanche season, 15 Nov – 15 May (usually) · instead September
  76
• 🇬🇪 Gudauri · Georgia — Avalanche season, 1 Dec – 15 Apr (usually) · instead March
  78
• 🇬🇪 Kazbegi · Georgia — Avalanche season, 1 Dec – 15 Apr (usually) · instead September
  78

…and 4 more, 3 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own April verdict.

Storm season on9 places

Tornadoes, derechos, hail — the afternoons to watch the sky.

• 🇮🇳 Kolkata · India — Storm season, 20 Mar – 20 May (usually) · instead January
  59
• 🇺🇸 St. Louis · United States — Storm season, 15 Mar – 15 Jun (usually) · instead May
  80
• 🇺🇸 Nashville · United States — Storm season, 15 Mar – 20 May (usually) · instead May
  82
• 🇺🇸 Austin · United States — Storm season, 15 Apr – 15 Jun (usually) · instead March
  84
• 🇦🇺 Brisbane · Australia — Storm season, 1 Nov – 30 Apr — Queensland's storm season runs November to April. · instead September
  84
• 🇺🇸 Memphis · United States — Storm season, 15 Mar – 31 May (usually) · instead October
  85

…and 3 more, 3 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own April verdict.

Extreme cold on2 places

The weeks the city stops going outside — dzud, ice storms, minus thirty.

• 🇦🇺 Cradle Mountain · Australia — Extreme cold, 1 Jan – 31 Dec — Snow falls on this plateau in every month of the year and the summit track can be a whiteout in January. · instead January
  71
• 🇷🇺 Murmansk · Russia — Extreme cold, 15 Nov – 15 Apr (usually) · instead July
  57

Algae & red tide on1 place

Blooms that close beaches and clear the water of fish for a few weeks; not the Caribbean weed.

• 🇵🇭 Boracay · Philippines — Algae & red tide, 15 Feb – 31 May (usually) · instead April
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Too wet by the numbers230 places

Eighteen or more rainy days, or a soaked month by volume — the real rainy season, not afternoon showers.

• 🇪🇨 Quito · Ecuador — 30 rainy days, 333 mm · instead August
  58
• 🇵🇪 Aguas Calientes · Peru — 29 rainy days, 183 mm · instead July
  78
• 🇮🇩 Lake Toba · Indonesia — 28 rainy days, 252 mm · instead July
  62
• 🇮🇳 Darjeeling · India — 28 rainy days, 377 mm · instead November
  70
• 🇲🇾 Kuala Lumpur · Malaysia — 28 rainy days, 308 mm · instead February
  45
• 🇨🇴 Medellín · Colombia — 28 rainy days, 357 mm · instead January
  60
• 🇨🇷 Jacó · Costa Rica — 28 rainy days, 243 mm · instead February
  75
• 🇵🇪 Ollantaytambo · Peru — 28 rainy days, 144 mm · instead July
  84

…and 222 more, 89 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own April verdict.

Too hot by the numbers188 places

Afternoons that feel like 35 °C or more, or heat the humidity turns sticky. A dry, sunny month cannot average this away.

• 🇹🇭 Bangkok · Thailand — 42°C afternoons · instead December
  51
• 🇮🇳 Chennai · India — 42°C afternoons · instead February
  54
• 🇰🇭 Phnom Penh · Cambodia — 42°C afternoons · instead January
  54
• 🇲🇲 Yangon · Myanmar — 42°C afternoons · instead January
  51
• 🇲🇲 Bagan · Myanmar — 41°C afternoons · instead January
  35
• 🇹🇭 Chiang Mai · Thailand — 41°C afternoons · instead January
  54
• 🇮🇳 Hyderabad · India — 41°C afternoons · instead January
  44
• 🇮🇳 Kochi · India — 41°C afternoons · instead January
  63

…and 180 more, 74 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own April verdict.

Too cold by the numbers9 places

Afternoons that feel like −5 °C or below. Fine for a ski trip; not for walking a city.

• 🇨🇦 Churchill · Canada — -10°C afternoons · instead July
  53
• 🇬🇱 Ilulissat · Greenland — -5°C afternoons · instead July
  55
• 🇺🇸 Gates of the Arctic National Park · United States — -13°C afternoons · instead July
  53
• 🇺🇸 Wrangell-St Elias National Park · United States — -10°C afternoons · instead July
  55
• 🇺🇸 Kobuk Valley National Park · United States — -8°C afternoons · instead June
  59
• 🇸🇯 Longyearbyen · Svalbard and Jan Mayen — -8°C afternoons · instead July
  59
• 🇺🇸 Lake Clark National Park · United States — -7°C afternoons · instead July
  56
• 🇷🇺 Magadan · Russia — -6°C afternoons · instead July
  53

…and 1 more, all lesser-known. Every destination page carries its own April verdict.

Bad air by the numbers34 places

A monthly mean air-quality index in the poor or unhealthy bands.

• 🇸🇦 Riyadh · Saudi Arabia — AQI 150, poor air · instead February
  74
• 🇨🇳 Chengdu · China — AQI 133, poor air · instead April
  88
• 🇻🇳 Hanoi · Vietnam — AQI 129, poor air · instead December
  64
• 🇨🇳 Beijing · China — AQI 122, poor air · instead April
  91
• 🇨🇳 Chongqing · China — AQI 119, poor air · instead March
  77
• 🇨🇳 Hangzhou · China — AQI 117, poor air · instead October
  84
• 🇦🇪 Abu Dhabi · United Arab Emirates — AQI 116, poor air · instead January
  72
• 🇨🇱 Santiago · Chile — AQI 113, poor air · instead November
  86

…and 26 more, 4 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own April verdict.