Places to avoid in November

Hurricane season on96 places

Statistically quiet most weeks, occasionally catastrophic.

• 🇺🇸 Outer Banks · United States — Hurricane season, 1 Jun – 30 Nov — The Atlantic season runs June to November and peaks from mid-August to mid-October. · instead September
  62
• 🇭🇳 Roatán · Honduras — Hurricane season, 1 Jun – 30 Nov · instead May
  63
• 🇨🇴 San Andrés · Colombia — Hurricane season, 1 Jun – 30 Nov · instead March
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• 🇺🇸 Virginia Beach · United States — Hurricane season, 1 Jun – 30 Nov — The Atlantic season runs June to November, but this coast usually gets the outer edge rather than the eye. · instead September
  63
• 🇺🇸 Hilo · United States — Hurricane season, 1 Jun – 30 Nov · instead January
  64
• 🇵🇷 San Juan · Puerto Rico — Hurricane season, 1 Jun – 30 Nov — Maria came ashore in September 2017 and the island still plans around that month. · instead January
  64

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

Monsoon on59 places

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

• 🇦🇺 Kakadu · Australia — Monsoon, 1 Nov – 31 May (usually) · instead July
  33
• 🇲🇾 Kuala Lumpur · Malaysia — Monsoon, 1 Oct – 15 Dec (usually) · instead February
  44
• 🇱🇰 Colombo · Sri Lanka — Monsoon, 1 Oct – 20 Nov (usually) · instead February
  45
• 🇸🇬 Singapore · Singapore — Monsoon, 1 Nov – 31 Jan (usually) · instead February
  46
• 🇮🇩 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
  46
• 🇮🇳 Chennai · India — Monsoon, 15 Oct – 31 Dec (usually) · instead February
  48

…and 53 more, 41 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own November verdict.

Cyclone season on51 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
  48
• 🇮🇳 Pondicherry · India — Cyclone season, 15 Oct – 15 Dec (usually) · instead February
  62
• 🇵🇫 Papeete · French Polynesia — Cyclone season, 1 Nov – 30 Apr — The wet season doubles as the cyclone window. · instead August
  71
• 🇵🇫 Bora Bora · French Polynesia — Cyclone season, 1 Nov – 30 Apr — The South Pacific storm season. · instead August
  76
• 🇵🇫 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
  76
• 🇴🇲 Muscat · Oman — Cyclone season, 15 May – 15 Nov (usually) — Two risk windows, before and after the Indian monsoon, and most years pass without one. · instead January
  78

…and 45 more, 12 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own November verdict.

Winter smog on34 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
  55
• 🇵🇱 Kraków · Poland — Winter smog, 1 Nov – 15 Mar (usually) · instead June
  57
• 🇮🇹 Milan · Italy — Winter smog, 15 Nov – 28 Feb (usually) · instead September
  62
• 🇵🇱 Zakopane · Poland — Winter smog, 15 Nov – 15 Mar (usually) · instead January
  63
• 🇷🇸 Belgrade · Serbia — Winter smog, 1 Nov – 15 Mar (usually) · instead May
  65
• 🇮🇹 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
  65

…and 28 more, 7 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own November verdict.

Flood season on32 places

The river comes into the streets most years.

• 🇻🇳 Hội An · Vietnam — Flood season, 1 Oct – 15 Dec (usually) — The Thu Bon comes up into the lanes nearest the water most years, usually for one to three days at a time. · instead February
  48
• 🇻🇳 Hue · Vietnam — Flood season, 25 Sep – 15 Dec (usually) · instead February
  50
• 🇮🇹 Cinque Terre · Italy — Flood season, 1 Oct – 30 Nov (usually) — Autumn brings the downpours that flattened Vernazza and Monterosso in 2011. · instead July
  56
• 🇩🇪 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
  57
• 🇻🇳 Ho Chi Minh City · Vietnam — Flood season, 15 Sep – 15 Dec (usually) · instead February
  58
• 🇬🇧 York · United Kingdom — Flood season, 1 Nov – 28 Feb (usually) · instead August
  59

…and 26 more, 20 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own November verdict.

Typhoon season on22 places

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

• 🇻🇳 Hội An · Vietnam — Typhoon season, 1 Sep – 30 Nov (usually) — Central Vietnam takes the landfalls. · instead February
  48
• 🇻🇳 Hue · Vietnam — Typhoon season, 1 Sep – 30 Nov (usually) · instead February
  50
• 🇵🇭 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
  52
• 🇻🇳 Da Nang · Vietnam — Typhoon season, 1 Sep – 30 Nov (usually) — The central coast takes the storms that cross from the Philippines, usually one or two that matter. · instead March
  54
• 🇻🇳 Nha Trang · Vietnam — Typhoon season, 1 Oct – 15 Dec (usually) · instead March
  60
• 🇵🇭 Boracay · Philippines — Typhoon season, 1 Jun – 30 Nov (usually) — Aklan sits inside the storm track. · instead April
  63

…and 16 more, 7 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own November verdict.

Smoke season on18 places

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

• 🇲🇳 Ulaanbaatar · Mongolia — Smoke season, 1 Nov – 31 Mar · instead June
  40
• 🇰🇿 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
  56
• 🇺🇸 Big Sur · United States — Smoke season, 15 Jul – 1 Nov (usually) · instead August
  71
• 🇺🇸 Santa Barbara · United States — Smoke season, 15 Sep – 15 Dec (usually) · instead August
  77
• 🇺🇸 San Diego · United States — Smoke season, 15 Sep – 15 Dec (usually) · instead August
  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 12 more, 10 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own November 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
  19
• 🇳🇴 Ålesund · Norway — Storm season, 15 Oct – 28 Feb (usually) · instead July
  38
• 🇮🇪 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
  44
• Tórshavn · Faroe Islands — Storm season, 1 Oct – 31 Mar (usually) · instead July
  52
• 🇫🇷 La Rochelle · France — Storm season, 1 Nov – 28 Feb (usually) · instead August
  53
• 🇺🇸 Seattle · United States — Storm season, 1 Nov – 28 Feb (usually) · instead July
  57

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

Extreme heat on8 places

The weeks the city lives indoors.

• 🇦🇺 Kakadu · Australia — Extreme heat, 1 Oct – 15 Dec (usually) · instead July
  33
• 🇳🇦 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
  51
• 🇿🇼 Victoria Falls · Zimbabwe — Extreme heat, 20 Sep – 10 Nov (usually) — The local name for the weeks before the rains break, when the valley bakes and the bush is grey. · instead June
  59
• 🇦🇺 Uluru · Australia — Extreme heat, 1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually) · instead July
  60
• 🇳🇦 Sossusvlei · Namibia — Extreme heat, 1 Oct – 31 Dec (usually) · instead July
  63
• 🇦🇺 Adelaide · Australia — Extreme heat, 15 Nov – 15 Mar (usually) · instead November
  94

…and 2 more, all lesser-known. Every destination page carries its own November verdict.

Extreme cold on6 places

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

• 🇺🇸 Cleveland · United States — Extreme cold, 15 Nov – 15 Mar · instead September
  65
• 🇦🇺 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
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• 🇷🇺 Yakutsk · Russia — Extreme cold, 20 Nov – 5 Mar (usually) · instead June
  31
• 🇷🇺 Murmansk · Russia — Extreme cold, 15 Nov – 15 Apr (usually) · instead July
  35
• 🇷🇺 Chita · Russia — Extreme cold, 1 Nov – 15 Mar (usually) — Winters here are severely continental: January averages around -24. · instead June
  39
• 🇺🇸 Traverse City · United States — Extreme cold, 15 Nov – 31 Mar (usually) · instead June
  59

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
  77
• 🇺🇸 Clearwater · United States — Algae & red tide, 1 Aug – 28 Feb (usually) · instead April
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• 🇺🇸 Sarasota · United States — Algae & red tide, 1 Sep – 1 Mar (usually) · instead March
  86
• 🇺🇸 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
  88
• 🇺🇸 Tampa · United States — Algae & red tide, 1 Sep – 28 Feb (usually) · instead February
  82

Dust season on3 places

Spring dust and sandstorms; sensitive lungs stay in.

• 🇹🇩 N'Djamena · Chad — Dust season, 25 Nov – 10 Mar (usually) — Sahelian dust on a north-easterly, cold mornings and a sky the colour of weak tea. · instead January
  64
• 🇲🇷 Nouakchott · Mauritania — Dust season, 25 Nov – 15 Apr (usually) · instead January
  80
• 🇨🇻 Praia · Cabo Verde — Dust season, 15 Nov – 15 Mar (usually) — Saharan dust crosses the archipelago in the cool months and turns the sky milky for days at a time. · instead June
  93

Avalanche season on3 places

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

• 🇬🇪 Mestia · Georgia — Avalanche season, 15 Nov – 15 May (usually) · instead September
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• 🇺🇸 Vail · United States — Avalanche season, 15 Nov – 31 Mar (usually) · instead January
  76
• 🇳🇿 Te Anau · New Zealand — Avalanche season, 1 May – 30 Nov (usually) · instead January
  81

Too wet by the numbers318 places

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

• 🇨🇷 Jacó · Costa Rica — 30 rainy days, 623 mm · instead February
  61
• 🇵🇪 Aguas Calientes · Peru — 30 rainy days, 237 mm · instead July
  74
• 🇵🇦 Boquete · Panama — 30 rainy days, 557 mm · instead February
  61
• 🇮🇩 Lake Toba · Indonesia — 29 rainy days, 378 mm · instead July
  56
• 🇲🇾 Cameron Highlands · Malaysia — 29 rainy days, 362 mm · instead February
  61
• 🇵🇪 Ollantaytambo · Peru — 29 rainy days, 206 mm · instead July
  80
• 🇲🇾 Penang · Malaysia — 29 rainy days, 410 mm · instead February
  57
• 🇲🇾 Kuala Lumpur · Malaysia — 29 rainy days, 400 mm · instead February
  44

…and 310 more, 146 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own November verdict.

Too hot by the numbers105 places

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

• 🇦🇺 Kakadu · Australia — 42°C afternoons · instead July
  33
• 🇲🇽 Acapulco · Mexico — 39°C afternoons · instead April
  84
• 🇹🇭 Bangkok · Thailand — 38°C afternoons · instead December
  65
• 🇮🇳 Mumbai · India — 38°C afternoons · instead January
  71
• 🇲🇲 Yangon · Myanmar — 38°C afternoons · instead January
  69
• 🇲🇽 Zihuatanejo · Mexico — 38°C afternoons · instead April
  86
• 🇹🇭 Chiang Mai · Thailand — 37°C afternoons · instead January
  74
• 🇮🇳 Goa · India — 37°C afternoons · instead January
  83

…and 97 more, 23 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own November verdict.

Too cold by the numbers34 places

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

• 🇨🇦 Churchill · Canada — -13°C afternoons · instead July
  38
• 🇲🇳 Ulaanbaatar · Mongolia — -10°C afternoons · instead June
  40
• 🇬🇱 Ilulissat · Greenland — -9°C afternoons · instead July
  34
• 🇫🇮 Levi · Finland — -8°C afternoons · instead March
  80
• 🇫🇮 Rovaniemi · Finland — -6°C afternoons · instead July
  35
• 🇫🇮 Ruka · Finland — -6°C afternoons · instead March
  71
• 🇺🇸 Anchorage · United States — -5°C afternoons · instead July
  36
• 🇨🇦 Lake Louise · Canada — -5°C afternoons · instead November
  93

…and 26 more, 1 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own November verdict.

Bad air by the numbers36 places

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

• 🇸🇦 Riyadh · Saudi Arabia — AQI 437, unhealthy air · instead February
  81
• 🇮🇳 Agra · India — AQI 178, unhealthy air · instead February
  88
• 🇮🇳 Delhi · India — AQI 176, unhealthy air · instead February
  84
• 🇮🇳 Kolkata · India — AQI 167, unhealthy air · instead January
  76
• 🇨🇳 Beijing · China — AQI 166, unhealthy air · instead April
  67
• 🇮🇳 Varanasi · India — AQI 165, unhealthy air · instead December
  82
• 🇨🇳 Chengdu · China — AQI 148, poor air · instead April
  78
• 🇮🇳 Jaipur · India — AQI 139, poor air · instead February
  83

…and 28 more, 10 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own November verdict.