Places to avoid in July

In July, 358 well-known destinations sit inside a hazard season: extreme heat in 80 (Dubai, Doha, Merzouga and 77 more), monsoon in 99 (Telluride, Phoenix, Las Vegas and 96 more), hurricane season in 61 (New Orleans, Jacksonville, Orlando and 58 more) and smoke season in 44 (Jackson, Revelstoke, Sun Valley and 41 more). By the numbers, of 1,360 destinations, 258 feel like 35 °C or more in the afternoon, 425 have 18 or more rainy days, 8 have poor air and 1 sit well below freezing. 31 well-known places are at peak crowds and 2 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.

Hazard seasons on in July

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.

Extreme heat on138 places

The weeks the city lives indoors.

  • 🇦🇪 Dubai · United Arab EmiratesExtreme heat, 15 May – 30 Sep (usually) · instead January
    22
  • 🇶🇦 Doha · QatarExtreme heat, 1 Jun – 20 Sep (usually) · instead January
    24
  • 🇲🇦 Merzouga · MoroccoExtreme heat, 1 Jun – 5 Sep (usually) · instead February
    26
  • 🇸🇦 Riyadh · Saudi ArabiaExtreme heat, 1 Jun – 15 Sep (usually) — Dry heat with nothing to break it, and a city built to be driven through rather than walked. · instead February
    26
  • 🇺🇸 Grand Canyon National Park · United StatesExtreme heat, 15 May – 15 Sep · instead March
    27
  • 🇺🇸 Phoenix · United StatesExtreme heat, 1 May – 5 Oct (usually) — Five months over forty degrees with nights that no longer drop below thirty in July. · instead March
    29

…and 132 more, 74 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own July verdict.

Monsoon on133 places

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

…and 127 more, 93 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own July verdict.

Hurricane season on96 places

Statistically quiet most weeks, occasionally catastrophic.

…and 90 more, 55 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own July verdict.

Smoke season on57 places

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

…and 51 more, 38 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own July verdict.

Typhoon season on37 places

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

  • 🇻🇳 Hanoi · VietnamTyphoon season, 1 Jun – 15 Oct (usually) · instead December
    42
  • 🇵🇭 Manila · PhilippinesTyphoon season, 1 Jun – 30 Nov (usually) · instead February
    42
  • 🇯🇵 Kagoshima · JapanTyphoon season, 15 Jul – 30 Sep (usually) — More systems make landfall around here than anywhere else in the country. · instead November
    45
  • 🇹🇼 Taipei · TaiwanTyphoon season, 1 Jul – 15 Oct (usually) — A typhoon day is declared by the city and everything stops: offices, schools, the MRT above ground. · instead March
    47
  • 🇨🇳 Shanghai · ChinaTyphoon season, 15 Jul – 30 Sep (usually) · instead October
    48
  • 🇲🇴 Macau · MacaoTyphoon season, 1 Jul – 30 Sep (usually) — Signal eight closes the casinos, the ferries to Hong Kong and the bridge to the airport for the day. · instead December
    49

…and 31 more, 16 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own July verdict.

Flood season on25 places

The river comes into the streets most years.

…and 19 more, 5 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own July verdict.

Sargassum season on23 places

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

  • 🇵🇷 San Juan · Puerto RicoSargassum season, 1 Apr – 31 Aug (usually) · instead January
    66
  • 🇨🇴 San Andrés · ColombiaSargassum season, 1 Apr – 31 Aug (usually) · instead March
    67
  • 🇧🇿 Placencia · BelizeSargassum season, 1 Apr – 30 Sep (usually) — The long east-facing beach collects weed through the summer and the hotels rake their own stretch. · instead March
    70
  • 🇧🇿 Caye Caulker · BelizeSargassum 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
    79
  • 🇺🇸 Fort Lauderdale · United StatesSargassum season, 15 Apr – 30 Sep (usually) · instead March
    79
  • 🇧🇧 Bridgetown · BarbadosSargassum season, 1 Apr – 30 Sep (usually) · instead February
    80

…and 17 more, 14 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own July verdict.

Dust season on11 places

Spring dust and sandstorms; sensitive lungs stay in.

…and 5 more, 2 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own July verdict.

Storm season on7 places

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

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

Extreme cold on6 places

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

  • 🇦🇺 Cradle Mountain · AustraliaExtreme 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
    45
  • 🇳🇿 Tongariro · New ZealandExtreme cold, 1 May – 31 Oct (usually) — From May to October the Crossing is an alpine route: ice axe, crampons and the skills to use them, or a guide. · instead February
    59
  • 🇦🇺 Uluru · AustraliaExtreme cold, 1 Jun – 15 Aug (usually) · instead July
    92
  • 🇧🇴 Uyuni · BoliviaExtreme cold, 1 Jun – 31 Aug — Midwinter nights on the salt and at the lagoon refuges go far below freezing with no heating worth the name. · instead November
    78
  • 🇧🇴 Potosí · BoliviaExtreme cold, 1 Jun – 15 Aug (usually) · instead October
    81
  • 🇵🇪 Puno · PeruExtreme cold, 1 Jun – 15 Aug (usually) · instead August
    82

Algae & red tide on4 places

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

  • 🇺🇸 Austin · United StatesAlgae & red tide, 15 May – 31 Oct (usually) — The city posts warnings for toxic cyanobacteria on Lady Bird Lake through the warm months. · instead March
    49
  • 🇨🇳 Qingdao · ChinaAlgae & red tide, 20 May – 15 Aug (usually) · instead September
    75
  • 🇵🇱 Sopot · PolandAlgae & red tide, 5 Jul – 31 Aug (usually) · instead August
    83
  • 🇮🇹 Rimini · ItalyAlgae & red tide, 15 Jun – 31 Aug (usually) · instead June
    92

Winter smog on3 places

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

Avalanche season on3 places

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

Cyclone season on1 place

The southern-hemisphere storm season.

  • 🇴🇲 Muscat · OmanCyclone season, 15 May – 15 Nov (usually) — Two risk windows, before and after the Indian monsoon, and most years pass without one. · instead January
    46

Out of range by the numbers

Every destination whose July 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 numbers425 places

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

…and 417 more, 202 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own July verdict.

Too hot by the numbers258 places

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

…and 250 more, 131 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own July verdict.

Too cold by the numbers1 place

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

Bad air by the numbers8 places

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

Peak crowds31 places

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

…and 23 more, 23 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own July verdict.

Closed for the season2 places

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