Places to avoid in December

In December, 164 well-known destinations sit inside a hazard season: monsoon in 46 (Kakadu, Da Nang, Kuala Lumpur and 43 more), cyclone season in 18 (Chennai, Papeete, Bora Bora and 15 more), extreme cold in 13 (Ulaanbaatar, Edmonton, Winnipeg and 10 more) and winter smog in 13 (Warsaw, Kraków, Beijing and 10 more). By the numbers, of 1,360 destinations, 82 feel like 35 °C or more in the afternoon, 323 have 18 or more rainy days, 56 have poor air and 70 sit well below freezing. 34 well-known places are at peak crowds and 5 are partly closed for the season.

Not a forecast: these are the seasons in which the risk exists, and the climate normals for the month. Most weeks pass quietly; the numbers say how often they do not.

← November January →Best places to visit in December →

Hazard seasons on in December

Curated, sourced windows — hurricane, typhoon and cyclone seasons, the monsoon, smoke, floods, smog. Well-known places first, the month's lowest scores at the top.

Monsoon on59 places

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

🇦🇺 Kakadu · Australia — Monsoon, 1 Nov – 31 May (usually) · instead July
36
🇻🇳 Da Nang · Vietnam — Monsoon, 1 Sep – 15 Dec (usually) · instead March
48
🇲🇾 Kuala Lumpur · Malaysia — Monsoon, 1 Oct – 15 Dec (usually) · instead February
50
🇮🇩 Yogyakarta · Indonesia — Monsoon, 1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually) — Long afternoon storms roll off Merapi and the Prambanan open-air stage moves indoors for the season. · instead July
50
🇸🇬 Singapore · Singapore — Monsoon, 1 Nov – 31 Jan (usually) · instead February
51
🇳🇦 Etosha National Park · Namibia — Monsoon, 15 Dec – 15 Apr (usually) — The rain scatters the game across the whole park and the gravel roads west of Okaukuejo turn greasy. · instead June
54

…and 53 more, 40 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own December verdict.

Cyclone season on50 places

The southern-hemisphere storm season.

🇮🇳 Chennai · India — Cyclone season, 1 Oct – 15 Dec (usually) — A system or two a season comes close enough to shut the airport for a day and put the fishing fleet ashore. · instead February
65
🇵🇫 Papeete · French Polynesia — Cyclone season, 1 Nov – 30 Apr — The wet season doubles as the cyclone window. · instead August
67
🇵🇫 Bora Bora · French Polynesia — Cyclone season, 1 Nov – 30 Apr — The South Pacific storm season. · instead August
68
🇲🇬 Nosy Be · Madagascar — Cyclone season, 15 Dec – 31 Mar (usually) · instead July
68
🇦🇺 Port Douglas · Australia — Cyclone season, 1 Nov – 30 Apr — November to April brings the rain and the cyclone risk together. · instead September
70
🇵🇫 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
71

…and 44 more, 12 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own December verdict.

Extreme cold on37 places

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

🇲🇳 Ulaanbaatar · Mongolia — Extreme cold, 1 Dec – 28 Feb (usually) · instead June
29
🇨🇦 Edmonton · Canada — Extreme cold, 1 Dec – 28 Feb — Arctic air settles over the city for stretches of a week and extreme cold warnings become routine. · instead August
31
🇨🇦 Winnipeg · Canada — Extreme cold, 15 Dec – 20 Feb (usually) · instead June
31
🇨🇦 Toronto · Canada — Extreme cold, 15 Dec – 28 Feb (usually) · instead September
44
🇺🇸 Portland · United States — Extreme cold, 15 Dec – 20 Feb (usually) — East wind out of the Gorge meets valley cold and glazes the city in freezing rain most winters. · instead June
45
🇺🇸 Detroit · United States — Extreme cold, 10 Dec – 1 Mar (usually) — Two months of grey, freezing days with the wind coming off the lakes and a snow event most weeks. · instead September
46

…and 31 more, 7 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own December verdict.

Winter smog on35 places

Coal smoke and a valley inversion; the air, not the cold, is the problem.

🇵🇱 Warsaw · Poland — Winter smog, 1 Nov – 15 Mar (usually) · instead June
43
🇵🇱 Kraków · Poland — Winter smog, 1 Nov – 15 Mar (usually) · instead June
45
🇨🇳 Beijing · China — Winter smog, 15 Nov – 28 Feb (usually) · instead April
50
🇷🇸 Belgrade · Serbia — Winter smog, 1 Nov – 15 Mar (usually) · instead May
57
🇮🇹 Milan · Italy — Winter smog, 15 Nov – 28 Feb (usually) · instead September
57
🇮🇹 Turin · Italy — Winter smog, 1 Oct – 31 Mar — The city sits in a bowl with the Alps on three sides, and winter inversions trap particulates for days. · instead September
60

…and 29 more, 7 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own December verdict.

Flood season on32 places

The river comes into the streets most years.

🇦🇺 Uluru · Australia — Flood season, 1 Dec – 15 Mar (usually) · instead July
46
🇩🇪 Hamburg · Germany — Flood season, 15 Sep – 31 Mar — The city counts its storm tide season from mid-September to the end of March. · instead August
47
🇬🇧 York · United Kingdom — Flood season, 1 Nov – 28 Feb (usually) · instead August
51
🇩🇪 Cologne · Germany — Flood season, 1 Dec – 31 Mar (usually) · instead June
52
🇬🇧 Oxford · United Kingdom — Flood season, 1 Dec – 28 Feb (usually) — The Thames spreads across Port Meadow most winters and the towpath north of Walton Well goes under. · instead July
52
🇬🇧 Keswick · United Kingdom — Flood season, 1 Nov – 15 Feb (usually) · instead May
53

…and 26 more, 16 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own December verdict.

Smoke season on18 places

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

🇦🇷 San Carlos de Bariloche · Argentina — Smoke season, 1 Dec – 31 Mar (usually) · instead July
17
🇲🇳 Ulaanbaatar · Mongolia — Smoke season, 1 Nov – 31 Mar · instead June
29
🇰🇿 Almaty · Kazakhstan — Smoke season, 15 Nov – 1 Mar (usually) — Coal heating and a valley inversion pin the smoke over the city for weeks at a time once the cold sets in. · instead September
42
🇺🇸 Salt Lake City · United States — Smoke season, 15 Dec – 20 Feb (usually) · instead May
53
🇺🇸 Santa Barbara · United States — Smoke season, 15 Sep – 15 Dec (usually) · instead August
67
🇺🇸 San Diego · United States — Smoke season, 15 Sep – 15 Dec (usually) · instead August
71

…and 12 more, 11 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own December verdict.

Dust season on18 places

Spring dust and sandstorms; sensitive lungs stay in.

🇨🇮 Abidjan · Côte d'Ivoire — Dust season, 10 Dec – 15 Feb (usually) — Abidjan sits at the far southern edge of the harmattan. · instead August
66
🇬🇭 Accra · Ghana — Dust season, 5 Dec – 10 Feb (usually) · instead August
68
🇹🇬 Lomé · Togo — Dust season, 5 Dec – 15 Feb (usually) · instead August
68
🇧🇯 Cotonou · Benin — Dust season, 5 Dec – 10 Feb (usually) · instead January
69
🇬🇭 Cape Coast · Ghana — Dust season, 1 Dec – 15 Feb (usually) · instead August
70
🇱🇷 Monrovia · Liberia — Dust season, 10 Dec – 10 Feb (usually) · instead January
70

…and 12 more, all lesser-known. Every destination page carries its own December verdict.

Storm season on16 places

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

🇳🇴 Svolvær · Norway — Storm season, 15 Oct – 15 Mar (usually) · instead July
12
🇳🇴 Ålesund · Norway — Storm season, 15 Oct – 28 Feb (usually) · instead July
28
🇮🇪 Dingle · Ireland — Storm season, 15 Oct – 28 Feb (usually) — Named lows come in off the ocean from mid-autumn and the peninsula takes them first. · instead June
37
Tórshavn · Faroe Islands — Storm season, 1 Oct – 31 Mar (usually) · instead July
43
🇫🇷 La Rochelle · France — Storm season, 1 Nov – 28 Feb (usually) · instead August
45
🇺🇸 Seattle · United States — Storm season, 1 Nov – 28 Feb (usually) · instead July
49

…and 10 more, 6 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own December verdict.

Avalanche season on12 places

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

🇬🇧 Fort William · United Kingdom — Avalanche season, 15 Dec – 15 Apr (usually) — The Lochaber forecast runs from mid-December to mid-April and covers Ben Nevis and the Aonachs. · instead May
49
🇬🇪 Mestia · Georgia — Avalanche season, 15 Nov – 15 May (usually) · instead September
53
🇬🇧 Aviemore · United Kingdom — Avalanche season, 15 Dec – 15 Apr (usually) · instead January
65
🇬🇪 Kazbegi · Georgia — Avalanche season, 1 Dec – 15 Apr (usually) · instead September
65
🇦🇹 Innsbruck · Austria — Avalanche season, 1 Dec – 30 Apr (usually) · instead April
67
🇨🇦 Whistler · Canada — Avalanche season, 1 Dec – 15 Mar (usually) · instead February
82

…and 6 more, 5 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own December verdict.

Extreme heat on9 places

The weeks the city lives indoors.

🇦🇺 Kakadu · Australia — Extreme heat, 1 Oct – 15 Dec (usually) · instead July
36
🇦🇺 Uluru · Australia — Extreme heat, 1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually) · instead July
46
🇳🇦 Etosha National Park · Namibia — Extreme heat, 1 Oct – 10 Dec (usually) — October and November are the hard end of the dry season, when the heat builds until the rains break it. · instead June
54
🇳🇦 Sossusvlei · Namibia — Extreme heat, 1 Oct – 31 Dec (usually) · instead July
59
🇦🇺 Adelaide · Australia — Extreme heat, 15 Nov – 15 Mar (usually) · instead November
91
🇦🇺 Darwin · Australia — Extreme heat, 1 Oct – 15 Dec (usually) · instead July
49

…and 3 more, all lesser-known. Every destination page carries its own December verdict.

Typhoon season on5 places

A system a summer stops the trains for a day; it rarely ruins a week.

🇵🇭 Cebu City · Philippines — Typhoon season, 1 Jun – 20 Dec (usually) — The central Visayas are in the track and the December storms have done the most damage here in recent memory. · instead February
51
🇻🇳 Nha Trang · Vietnam — Typhoon season, 1 Oct – 15 Dec (usually) · instead March
66
🇵🇭 Bohol · Philippines — Typhoon season, 1 Jun – 20 Dec (usually) — The Visayas take a few landfalls a year and the late-season ones have been the worst here. · instead April
67
🇻🇳 Quy Nhon · Vietnam — Typhoon season, 15 Sep – 15 Dec (usually) · instead March
53
🇵🇭 Siargao · Philippines — Typhoon season, 1 Sep – 31 Dec — Siargao sits where systems make landfall and it was flattened in December 2021. · instead September
58

Algae & red tide on5 places

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

🇺🇸 Pensacola · United States — Algae & red tide, 1 Aug – 15 Dec (usually) · instead May
61
🇺🇸 Clearwater · United States — Algae & red tide, 1 Aug – 28 Feb (usually) · instead April
73
🇺🇸 Sarasota · United States — Algae & red tide, 1 Sep – 1 Mar (usually) · instead March
78
🇺🇸 Naples, Florida · United States — Algae & red tide, 1 Sep – 28 Feb (usually) — Blooms of Karenia brevis drift onto this coast most often between autumn and late winter. · instead April
82
🇺🇸 Tampa · United States — Algae & red tide, 1 Sep – 28 Feb (usually) · instead February
87

Out of range by the numbers

Every destination whose December normals cross a line the comfort score will not forgive: 18 or more rainy days, afternoons that feel like 35 °C, air in the poor band, or well below freezing. Worst first.

Too wet by the numbers323 places

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

🇵🇪 Aguas Calientes · Peru — 31 rainy days, 316 mm · instead July
66
🇵🇪 Ollantaytambo · Peru — 30 rainy days, 262 mm · instead July
75
🇮🇩 Lake Toba · Indonesia — 30 rainy days, 334 mm · instead July
58
🇪🇨 Quito · Ecuador — 30 rainy days, 332 mm · instead August
60
🇮🇩 Raja Ampat · Indonesia — 29 rainy days, 305 mm · instead February
68
🇵🇭 Bohol · Philippines — 29 rainy days, 301 mm · instead April
67
🇲🇬 Nosy Be · Madagascar — 29 rainy days, 272 mm · instead July
68
🇨🇷 Jacó · Costa Rica — 29 rainy days, 279 mm · instead February
72

…and 315 more, 149 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own December verdict.

Too hot by the numbers82 places

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

🇲🇽 Acapulco · Mexico — 38°C afternoons · instead April
89
🇨🇴 Cartagena · Colombia — 38°C afternoons · instead January
88
🇮🇳 Kochi · India — 38°C afternoons · instead January
70
🇻🇳 Ho Chi Minh City · Vietnam — 37°C afternoons · instead February
69
🇹🇭 Khao Lak · Thailand — 37°C afternoons · instead February
83
🇲🇾 Langkawi · Malaysia — 37°C afternoons · instead February
77
🇰🇪 Mombasa · Kenya — 37°C afternoons · instead February
86
🇹🇭 Phuket · Thailand — 37°C afternoons · instead February
81

…and 74 more, 22 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own December verdict.

Too cold by the numbers70 places

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

🇨🇦 Churchill · Canada — -23°C afternoons · instead July
26
🇲🇳 Ulaanbaatar · Mongolia — -18°C afternoons · instead June
29
🇮🇳 Leh · India — -13°C afternoons · instead August
44
🇬🇱 Ilulissat · Greenland — -12°C afternoons · instead July
27
🇨🇦 Lake Louise · Canada — -11°C afternoons · instead November
79
🇫🇮 Levi · Finland — -11°C afternoons · instead March
76
🇨🇦 Winnipeg · Canada — -11°C afternoons · instead June
31
🇺🇸 Killington · United States — -10°C afternoons · instead March
83

…and 62 more, 25 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own December verdict.

Bad air by the numbers56 places

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

🇸🇦 Riyadh · Saudi Arabia — AQI 691, unhealthy air · instead February
83
🇨🇳 Beijing · China — AQI 183, unhealthy air · instead April
50
🇨🇳 Chengdu · China — AQI 174, unhealthy air · instead April
69
🇮🇳 Agra · India — AQI 173, unhealthy air · instead February
86
🇮🇳 Delhi · India — AQI 171, unhealthy air · instead February
88
🇨🇳 Chongqing · China — AQI 166, unhealthy air · instead March
69
🇮🇳 Kolkata · India — AQI 166, unhealthy air · instead January
88
🇮🇳 Varanasi · India — AQI 165, unhealthy air · instead December
92

…and 48 more, 19 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own December verdict.

Peak crowds34 places

The editor's peak month for the place: full, expensive, and booked well ahead.

🇦🇺 Melbourne · Australia — Peak crowds — Boxing Day Test · instead March
92
🇲🇽 Mexico City · Mexico — Peak crowds — Virgin of Guadalupe pilgrimage · instead November
92
🇿🇦 Cape Town · South Africa — Peak crowds — South African summer holidays · instead November
91
🇵🇪 Lima · Peru — Peak crowds — Christmas and New Year · instead November
91
🇰🇪 Nairobi · Kenya — Peak crowds — Jamhuri Day · instead August
91
🇲🇽 Oaxaca · Mexico — Peak crowds — Noche de Rabanos · instead November
91
🇳🇿 Auckland · New Zealand — Peak crowds — Cruise season · instead March
90
🇪🇬 Cairo · Egypt — Peak crowds — school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it · instead March
90

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

Closed for the season5 places

Hotels, lifts, ferries or the sights themselves shut for the month.

🇭🇷 Dubrovnik · Croatia — some of the town shuts for the month · instead July
50
🇵🇹 Lisbon · Portugal — some of the town shuts for the month · instead May
75
🇯🇵 Osaka · Japan — some of the town shuts for the month · instead November
73
🇬🇷 Santorini · Greece — some of the town shuts for the month · instead September
65
🇯🇵 Tokyo · Japan — some of the town shuts for the month · instead May
69