Places to avoid in July

In July, 377 well-known destinations sit inside a hazard season: extreme heat in 82 (Dubai, Doha, Merzouga and 79 more), monsoon in 94 (Telluride, Phoenix, Delhi and 91 more), hurricane season in 61 (New Orleans, Jacksonville, Orlando and 58 more) and smoke season in 47 (Banff, Jackson, Revelstoke and 44 more). By the numbers, of 1,387 destinations, 261 feel like 35 °C or more in the afternoon, 433 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 on

141 places

The weeks the city lives indoors.

  1. Dubai 🇦🇪 United Arab EmiratesExtreme heat, 15 May – 30 Sep (usually) · instead January22
  2. Doha 🇶🇦 QatarExtreme heat, 1 Jun – 20 Sep (usually) · instead January24
  3. Merzouga 🇲🇦 MoroccoExtreme heat, 1 Jun – 5 Sep (usually) · instead February26
  4. 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 February26
  5. Grand Canyon National Park 🇺🇸 United StatesExtreme heat, 15 May – 15 Sep · instead March27
  6. 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 March29

…and 135 more, 76 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own July verdict.

Monsoon on

125 places

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

  1. Telluride 🇺🇸 United StatesMonsoon, 5 Jul – 5 Sep (usually) · instead March12
  2. Phoenix 🇺🇸 United StatesMonsoon, 15 Jun – 30 Sep · instead March29
  3. Delhi 🇮🇳 IndiaMonsoon, 25 Jun – 25 Sep (usually) — The rains usually reach Delhi in the last week of June and break the heat in a single afternoon. · instead February35
  4. Kolkata 🇮🇳 IndiaMonsoon, 10 Jun – 25 Sep (usually) · instead January37
  5. Rishikesh 🇮🇳 IndiaMonsoon, 1 Jul – 15 Sep (usually) · instead December37
  6. Ranthambore 🇮🇳 IndiaMonsoon, 1 Jul – 30 Sep — Zones 1 to 5, the core of the park, shut on 1 July for the breeding season and the rain. · instead January40

…and 119 more, 88 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own July verdict.

Hurricane season on

98 places

Statistically quiet most weeks, occasionally catastrophic.

  1. New Orleans 🇺🇸 United StatesHurricane season, 1 Jun – 30 Nov — The Gulf coast's exposure peaks from mid-August into September. · instead March47
  2. Jacksonville 🇺🇸 United StatesHurricane season, 1 Jun – 30 Nov · instead November49
  3. Orlando 🇺🇸 United StatesHurricane season, 1 Jun – 30 Nov · instead February51
  4. Everglades National Park 🇺🇸 United StatesHurricane season, 1 Jun – 30 Nov · instead January52
  5. Houston 🇺🇸 United StatesHurricane season, 1 Jun – 30 Nov — The risk concentrates from mid-August into September. · instead March53
  6. Valladolid 🇲🇽 MexicoHurricane season, 1 Jun – 30 Nov — The Atlantic season runs June to November. · instead January56

…and 92 more, 55 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own July verdict.

Smoke season on

61 places

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

  1. Banff 🇨🇦 CanadaSmoke season, 1 Jul – 15 Sep (usually) — Smoke from fires in British Columbia and Alberta settles in the Bow Valley most summers, worst in August. · instead February12
  2. Jackson 🇺🇸 United StatesSmoke season, 15 Jul – 15 Sep (usually) · instead February12
  3. Revelstoke 🇨🇦 CanadaSmoke season, 15 Jul – 15 Sep (usually) · instead February12
  4. Sun Valley 🇺🇸 United StatesSmoke season, 20 Jul – 15 Sep (usually) · instead February12
  5. Big Sky 🇺🇸 United StatesSmoke season, 15 Jul – 30 Sep (usually) — Most Augusts bring some smoke into the Gallatin Canyon from fires in Montana, Idaho and further west. · instead February14
  6. Lake Louise 🇨🇦 CanadaSmoke season, 15 Jul – 10 Sep (usually) · instead November14

…and 55 more, 41 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own July verdict.

Flood season on

42 places

The river comes into the streets most years.

  1. Grand Canyon National Park 🇺🇸 United StatesFlood season, 1 Jul – 15 Sep (usually) · instead March27
  2. Joshua Tree National Park 🇺🇸 United StatesFlood season, 1 Jul – 15 Sep (usually) — Summer storms drop a season's rain in an hour and wash out the dirt roads and the washes people park in. · instead March30
  3. Las Vegas 🇺🇸 United StatesFlood season, 1 Jul – 15 Sep (usually) · instead March31
  4. Varanasi 🇮🇳 IndiaFlood season, 25 Jul – 15 Sep (usually) · instead December31
  5. Moab 🇺🇸 United StatesFlood season, 10 Jul – 15 Sep (usually) · instead April34
  6. Mumbai 🇮🇳 IndiaFlood season, 15 Jun – 15 Sep (usually) · instead January35

…and 36 more, 7 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own July verdict.

Typhoon season on

39 places

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

  1. Hanoi 🇻🇳 VietnamTyphoon season, 1 Jun – 15 Oct (usually) · instead December42
  2. Manila 🇵🇭 PhilippinesTyphoon season, 1 Jun – 30 Nov (usually) · instead February42
  3. Hangzhou 🇨🇳 ChinaTyphoon season, 15 Jul – 30 Sep (usually) — Most summers one storm comes ashore on the Zhejiang coast close enough to matter. · instead October44
  4. Kagoshima 🇯🇵 JapanTyphoon season, 15 Jul – 30 Sep (usually) — More systems make landfall around here than anywhere else in the country. · instead November45
  5. 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 March47
  6. Shanghai 🇨🇳 ChinaTyphoon season, 15 Jul – 30 Sep (usually) · instead October48

…and 33 more, 17 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own July verdict.

Sargassum season on

24 places

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

  1. San Juan 🇵🇷 Puerto RicoSargassum season, 1 Apr – 31 Aug (usually) · instead January66
  2. San Andrés 🇨🇴 ColombiaSargassum season, 1 Apr – 31 Aug (usually) · instead March67
  3. 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 March70
  4. 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 March79
  5. Fort Lauderdale 🇺🇸 United StatesSargassum season, 15 Apr – 30 Sep (usually) · instead March79
  6. Bridgetown 🇧🇧 BarbadosSargassum season, 1 Apr – 30 Sep (usually) · instead February80

…and 18 more, 15 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own July verdict.

Landslide season on

17 places

The hill roads slip and shut for days; getting there, not being there, is the problem.

  1. Rishikesh 🇮🇳 IndiaLandslide season, 1 Jul – 15 Sep (usually) · instead December37
  2. Kathmandu 🇳🇵 NepalLandslide season, 15 Jun – 15 Sep (usually) · instead November43
  3. Kasol 🇮🇳 IndiaLandslide season, 25 Jun – 10 Sep (usually) · instead October56
  4. Darjeeling 🇮🇳 IndiaLandslide season, 15 Jun – 20 Sep (usually) · instead November64
  5. Lake Atitlán 🇬🇹 GuatemalaLandslide season, 1 Jun – 31 Oct (usually) · instead January75
  6. Auli 🇮🇳 IndiaLandslide season, 1 Jul – 15 Sep (usually) — The highway up from Rishikesh is the only way in and it loses sections most weeks in these months. · instead January11

…and 11 more, all lesser-known. Every destination page carries its own July verdict.

Storm season on

13 places

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

  1. Aspen 🇺🇸 United StatesStorm season, 5 Jul – 5 Sep (usually) — Midsummer pulls moisture up the Rockies and builds thunderheads over the peaks most afternoons. · instead January12
  2. Sarasota 🇺🇸 United StatesStorm season, 1 Jun – 30 Sep · instead March76
  3. Mesa Verde National Park 🇺🇸 United StatesStorm season, 5 Jul – 10 Sep (usually) — Afternoon thunderstorms build over the mesa most days from early July. · instead May77
  4. Denver 🇺🇸 United StatesStorm season, 5 Jul – 5 Sep (usually) — Moisture pulled up from the southwest sets off thunderstorms most afternoons in high summer. · instead September81
  5. Bryce Canyon National Park 🇺🇸 United StatesStorm season, 10 Jul – 10 Sep (usually) — Thunderstorms build over the plateau most summer afternoons and the rim is the highest thing for miles. · instead September86
  6. Rocky Mountain National Park 🇺🇸 United StatesStorm season, 5 Jul – 5 Sep (usually) · instead August88

…and 7 more, all lesser-known. Every destination page carries its own July verdict.

Dust season on

12 places

Spring dust and sandstorms; sensitive lungs stay in.

  1. Doha 🇶🇦 QatarDust season, 15 May – 15 Aug (usually) · instead January24
  2. Phoenix 🇺🇸 United StatesDust season, 1 Jul – 10 Sep (usually) · instead March29
  3. Kagoshima 🇯🇵 JapanDust season, 15 May – 30 Sep (usually) · instead November45
  4. Marrakesh 🇲🇦 MoroccoDust season, 15 Jun – 15 Sep (usually) · instead March49
  5. Bukhara 🇺🇿 UzbekistanDust season, 15 Mar – 31 Aug (usually) · instead April50
  6. Jeddah 🇸🇦 Saudi ArabiaDust season, 1 Mar – 31 Jul (usually) · instead January88

…and 6 more, 3 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own July verdict.

Rip currents & big surf on

7 places

Red flags for weeks at a time; the calm-looking water is the one that pulls people out.

  1. Goa 🇮🇳 IndiaRip currents & big surf, 1 Jun – 30 Sep (usually) · instead January44
  2. Khao Lak 🇹🇭 ThailandRip currents & big surf, 15 May – 31 Oct (usually) — Rip currents on this stretch of coast are the real risk, and the red flags go up for weeks at a time. · instead February63
  3. Krabi 🇹🇭 ThailandRip currents & big surf, 15 May – 15 Oct (usually) · instead February66
  4. Phuket 🇹🇭 ThailandRip currents & big surf, 15 May – 31 Oct (usually) · instead February66
  5. Destin 🇺🇸 United StatesRip currents & big surf, 1 Mar – 31 Oct · instead May80
  6. Palomino 🇨🇴 ColombiaRip currents & big surf, 1 Jan – 31 Dec · instead January64

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

Extreme cold on

6 places

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

  1. 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 January45
  2. 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 February59
  3. Uluru 🇦🇺 AustraliaExtreme cold, 1 Jun – 15 Aug (usually) · instead July92
  4. 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 November78
  5. Potosí 🇧🇴 BoliviaExtreme cold, 1 Jun – 15 Aug (usually) · instead October81
  6. Puno 🇵🇪 PeruExtreme cold, 1 Jun – 15 Aug (usually) · instead August82

Algae & red tide on

4 places

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

  1. 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 March49
  2. Qingdao 🇨🇳 ChinaAlgae & red tide, 20 May – 15 Aug (usually) · instead September75
  3. Sopot 🇵🇱 PolandAlgae & red tide, 5 Jul – 31 Aug (usually) · instead August83
  4. Rimini 🇮🇹 ItalyAlgae & red tide, 15 Jun – 31 Aug (usually) · instead June92

Winter smog on

3 places

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

  1. Jakarta 🇮🇩 IndonesiaWinter smog, 15 Jun – 15 Oct (usually) · instead August69
  2. Johannesburg 🇿🇦 South AfricaWinter smog, 1 Jun – 31 Aug (usually) · instead August85
  3. Pretoria 🇿🇦 South AfricaWinter smog, 1 Jun – 31 Aug (usually) · instead August88

Avalanche season on

3 places

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

  1. Aoraki Mount Cook 🇳🇿 New ZealandAvalanche season, 1 Jun – 31 Oct (usually) — The regional advisory runs through winter and into spring. · instead February55
  2. Te Anau 🇳🇿 New ZealandAvalanche season, 1 May – 30 Nov (usually) · instead January65
  3. Taupo 🇳🇿 New ZealandAvalanche season, 1 May – 31 Oct · instead January57

Cyclone season on

1 place

The southern-hemisphere storm season.

  1. Muscat 🇴🇲 OmanCyclone season, 15 May – 15 Nov (usually) — Two risk windows, before and after the Indian monsoon, and most years pass without one. · instead January46

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 numbers

433 places

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

  1. Goa 🇮🇳 India31 rainy days, 1134 mm · instead January44
  2. Kathmandu 🇳🇵 Nepal31 rainy days, 832 mm · instead November43
  3. Jacó 🇨🇷 Costa Rica31 rainy days, 685 mm · instead February58
  4. Manang 🇳🇵 Nepal31 rainy days, 632 mm · instead November66
  5. Darjeeling 🇮🇳 India31 rainy days, 972 mm · instead November64
  6. Mumbai 🇮🇳 India31 rainy days, 718 mm · instead January35
  7. Yangon 🇲🇲 Myanmar31 rainy days, 525 mm · instead January41
  8. Boquete 🇵🇦 Panama31 rainy days, 399 mm · instead February60

…and 425 more, 202 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own July verdict.

Too hot by the numbers

261 places

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

  1. Ras Al Khaimah 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates48°C afternoons · instead November66
  2. Doha 🇶🇦 Qatar47°C afternoons · instead January24
  3. Dubai 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates47°C afternoons · instead January22
  4. Abu Dhabi 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates46°C afternoons · instead January33
  5. Nizwa 🇴🇲 Oman45°C afternoons · instead January30
  6. Muscat 🇴🇲 Oman43°C afternoons · instead January46
  7. Phoenix 🇺🇸 United States43°C afternoons · instead March29
  8. Dead Sea 🇯🇴 Jordan42°C afternoons · instead April87

…and 253 more, 131 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own July verdict.

Too cold by the numbers

1 place

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

  1. Valle Nevado 🇨🇱 Chile-5°C afternoons · instead July95

Bad air by the numbers

8 places

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

  1. Santiago 🇨🇱 ChileAQI 138, poor air · instead November70
  2. Laayoune Western SaharaAQI 422, unhealthy air · instead March74
  3. Salalah 🇴🇲 OmanAQI 239, unhealthy air · instead January90
  4. Dakhla Western SaharaAQI 191, unhealthy air · instead October87
  5. Ürümqi 🇨🇳 ChinaAQI 165, unhealthy air · instead September75
  6. Hotan 🇨🇳 ChinaAQI 137, poor air · instead April75
  7. Bandung 🇮🇩 IndonesiaAQI 136, poor air · instead July78
  8. Nouakchott 🇲🇷 MauritaniaAQI 107, poor air · instead January73

Peak crowds

31 places

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

  1. Vancouver 🇨🇦 CanadaPeak crowds — Canada Day · instead July97
  2. Tenerife 🇪🇸 SpainPeak crowds — Summer holidays in Spain · instead June96
  3. Dubrovnik 🇭🇷 CroatiaPeak crowds — Cruise season · instead July94
  4. London 🇬🇧 United KingdomPeak crowds — Wimbledon · instead July94
  5. Oslo 🇳🇴 NorwayPeak crowds — Fellesferien · instead July94
  6. Cusco 🇵🇪 PeruPeak crowds — Andean dry season · instead June93
  7. Helsinki 🇫🇮 FinlandPeak crowds — Summer holidays in Finland · instead July93
  8. Honolulu 🇺🇸 United StatesPeak crowds — Independence Day · instead June93

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

Closed for the season

2 places

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

  1. Goa 🇮🇳 Indiasome of the town shuts for the month · instead January44
  2. Oslo 🇳🇴 Norwaysome of the town shuts for the month · instead July94