Places to avoid in September

Monsoon on114 places

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

• 🇺🇸 Telluride · United States — Monsoon, 5 Jul – 5 Sep (usually) · instead March
  19
• 🇮🇳 Kolkata · India — Monsoon, 10 Jun – 25 Sep (usually) · instead January
  41
• 🇱🇦 Vientiane · Laos — Monsoon, 15 May – 15 Oct (usually) — The rain clears the smoke out and the Mekong comes up from a sandbank to a real river. · instead December
  43
• 🇲🇲 Yangon · Myanmar — Monsoon, 20 May – 15 Oct (usually) — Yangon takes one of the heaviest monsoons in the region and it rains for days at a time rather than in bursts. · instead January
  45
• 🇹🇭 Bangkok · Thailand — Monsoon, 15 May – 15 Oct (usually) · instead December
  46
• 🇰🇭 Phnom Penh · Cambodia — Monsoon, 15 May – 31 Oct (usually) — Late-afternoon downpours that flood the low streets for an hour and then clear. · instead January
  47

…and 108 more, 80 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own September verdict.

Hurricane season on101 places

Statistically quiet most weeks, occasionally catastrophic.

• 🇺🇸 Everglades National Park · United States — Hurricane season, 1 Jun – 30 Nov · instead January
  47
• 🇺🇸 Orlando · United States — Hurricane season, 1 Jun – 30 Nov · instead February
  53
• 🇲🇽 Puerto Vallarta · Mexico — Hurricane season, 15 May – 30 Nov — The eastern Pacific season runs mid-May to the end of November. · instead April
  54
• 🇲🇽 Acapulco · Mexico — Hurricane season, 15 May – 30 Nov — The official season runs from mid-May to the end of November, with September and October the active weeks. · instead April
  55
• 🇲🇽 Puerto Escondido · Mexico — Hurricane season, 15 May – 30 Nov — The eastern Pacific season opens in mid-May and runs to the end of November. · instead December
  55
• 🇲🇽 Valladolid · Mexico — Hurricane season, 1 Jun – 30 Nov — The Atlantic season runs June to November. · instead January
  55

…and 95 more, 57 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own September verdict.

Extreme heat on83 places

The weeks the city lives indoors.

• 🇦🇪 Dubai · United Arab Emirates — Extreme heat, 15 May – 30 Sep (usually) · instead January
  35
• 🇶🇦 Doha · Qatar — Extreme heat, 1 Jun – 20 Sep (usually) · instead January
  37
• 🇦🇪 Abu Dhabi · United Arab Emirates — Extreme heat, 15 May – 30 Sep (usually) · instead January
  40
• 🇸🇦 AlUla · Saudi Arabia — Extreme heat, 1 Jun – 15 Sep (usually) — Visits move to the first hour after sunrise and to the evening; the middle of the day is spent indoors. · instead February
  42
• 🇸🇦 Riyadh · Saudi Arabia — Extreme 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
  42
• 🇸🇦 Mecca · Saudi Arabia — Extreme heat, 15 May – 15 Sep — The city sits in a bare rock valley with nothing to soften the afternoon. · instead January
  43

…and 77 more, 45 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own September verdict.

Smoke season on66 places

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

• 🇨🇦 Revelstoke · Canada — Smoke season, 15 Jul – 15 Sep (usually) · instead February
  17
• 🇺🇸 Sun Valley · United States — Smoke season, 20 Jul – 15 Sep (usually) · instead February
  18
• 🇨🇦 Whistler · Canada — Smoke season, 20 Jul – 10 Sep (usually) · instead February
  18
• 🇺🇸 Park City · United States — Smoke season, 15 Jul – 20 Sep (usually) · instead January
  19
• 🇺🇸 Jackson · United States — Smoke season, 15 Jul – 15 Sep (usually) · instead February
  20
• 🇨🇦 Lake Louise · Canada — Smoke season, 15 Jul – 10 Sep (usually) · instead November
  32

…and 60 more, 44 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own September verdict.

Typhoon season on59 places

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

• 🇻🇳 Hue · Vietnam — Typhoon season, 1 Sep – 30 Nov (usually) · instead February
  42
• 🇻🇳 Hanoi · Vietnam — Typhoon season, 1 Jun – 15 Oct (usually) · instead December
  44
• 🇻🇳 Hội An · Vietnam — Typhoon season, 1 Sep – 30 Nov (usually) — Central Vietnam takes the landfalls. · instead February
  44
• 🇵🇭 Manila · Philippines — Typhoon season, 1 Jun – 30 Nov (usually) · instead February
  45
• 🇲🇴 Macau · Macao — Typhoon 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
  46
• 🇨🇳 Shenzhen · China — Typhoon season, 1 Jul – 30 Sep (usually) · instead December
  46

…and 53 more, 28 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own September verdict.

Flood season on35 places

The river comes into the streets most years.

• 🇻🇳 Hue · Vietnam — Flood season, 25 Sep – 15 Dec (usually) · instead February
  42
• 🇻🇳 Ho Chi Minh City · Vietnam — Flood season, 15 Sep – 15 Dec (usually) · instead February
  43
• 🇮🇳 Mumbai · India — Flood season, 15 Jun – 15 Sep (usually) · instead January
  43
• 🇵🇭 Manila · Philippines — Flood season, 1 Jun – 15 Oct (usually) · instead February
  45
• 🇹🇭 Bangkok · Thailand — Flood season, 15 Sep – 15 Nov (usually) · instead December
  46
• 🇮🇳 Varanasi · India — Flood season, 25 Jul – 15 Sep (usually) · instead December
  49

…and 29 more, 16 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own September verdict.

Sargassum season on15 places

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

• 🇺🇸 Fort Lauderdale · United States — Sargassum season, 15 Apr – 30 Sep (usually) · instead March
  72
• 🇧🇿 Placencia · Belize — Sargassum 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
  73
• 🇧🇿 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
  75
• 🇯🇲 Montego Bay · Jamaica — Sargassum season, 1 May – 30 Sep (usually) · instead January
  76
• 🇲🇽 Cancún · Mexico — Sargassum season, 1 Apr – 30 Sep (usually) — Rafts of brown seaweed pile up on the east-facing beaches, worst between May and August. · instead March
  78
• 🇲🇽 Isla Mujeres · Mexico — Sargassum season, 1 Apr – 30 Sep (usually) — The east-facing side takes the seaweed and the smell that comes with it once it rots. · instead March
  78

…and 9 more, 7 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own September verdict.

Dust season on7 places

Spring dust and sandstorms; sensitive lungs stay in.

• 🇺🇸 Phoenix · United States — Dust season, 1 Jul – 10 Sep (usually) · instead March
  49
• 🇯🇵 Kagoshima · Japan — Dust season, 15 May – 30 Sep (usually) · instead November
  55
• 🇲🇦 Marrakesh · Morocco — Dust season, 15 Jun – 15 Sep (usually) · instead March
  75
• 🇵🇪 Cusco · Peru — Dust season, 1 May – 30 Sep (usually) — Bright still days, hard frost at night at 3,400 metres, and dust on the trails by August. · instead June
  92
• 🇪🇸 Tenerife · Spain — Dust season, 15 Jun – 15 Sep (usually) · instead June
  96
• 🇺🇸 Scottsdale · United States — Dust season, 15 Jun – 30 Sep · instead March
  52

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

Algae & red tide on6 places

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

• 🇺🇸 Austin · United States — Algae & red tide, 15 May – 31 Oct (usually) — The city posts warnings for toxic cyanobacteria on Lady Bird Lake through the warm months. · instead March
  66
• 🇺🇸 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
  75
• 🇺🇸 Sarasota · United States — Algae & red tide, 1 Sep – 1 Mar (usually) · instead March
  79
• 🇺🇸 Clearwater · United States — Algae & red tide, 1 Aug – 28 Feb (usually) · instead April
  80
• 🇺🇸 Pensacola · United States — Algae & red tide, 1 Aug – 15 Dec (usually) · instead May
  82
• 🇺🇸 Tampa · United States — Algae & red tide, 1 Sep – 28 Feb (usually) · instead February
  57

Storm season on5 places

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

• 🇺🇸 Aspen · United States — Storm season, 5 Jul – 5 Sep (usually) — Midsummer pulls moisture up the Rockies and builds thunderheads over the peaks most afternoons. · instead January
  20
• 🇺🇸 Denver · United States — Storm season, 5 Jul – 5 Sep (usually) — Moisture pulled up from the southwest sets off thunderstorms most afternoons in high summer. · instead September
  90
• 🇺🇸 White Sands National Park · United States — Storm season, 1 Jul – 15 Sep (usually) · instead March
  61
• 🇺🇸 Petrified Forest National Park · United States — Storm season, 1 Jul – 15 Sep (usually) · instead October
  79
• 🇺🇸 Indiana Dunes National Park · United States — Storm season, 1 Jun – 31 Oct (usually) · instead May
  84

Avalanche season on3 places

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

• 🇳🇿 Aoraki Mount Cook · New Zealand — Avalanche season, 1 Jun – 31 Oct (usually) — The regional advisory runs through winter and into spring. · instead February
  60
• 🇳🇿 Te Anau · New Zealand — Avalanche season, 1 May – 30 Nov (usually) · instead January
  69
• 🇳🇿 Taupo · New Zealand — Avalanche season, 1 May – 31 Oct · instead January
  67

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
  53
• 🇳🇿 Tongariro · New Zealand — Extreme 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
  63

Cyclone season on1 place

The southern-hemisphere storm season.

• 🇴🇲 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
  58

Winter smog on1 place

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

• 🇮🇩 Jakarta · Indonesia — Winter smog, 15 Jun – 15 Oct (usually) · instead August
  68

Too wet by the numbers427 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, 720 mm · instead February
  56
• 🇵🇦 Boquete · Panama — 30 rainy days, 382 mm · instead February
  58
• 🇵🇦 Panama City · Panama — 30 rainy days, 269 mm · instead February
  51
• 🇨🇷 Nosara · Costa Rica — 30 rainy days, 425 mm · instead February
  57
• 🇳🇵 Kathmandu · Nepal — 29 rainy days, 438 mm · instead November
  50
• 🇲🇽 Puerto Vallarta · Mexico — 29 rainy days, 348 mm · instead April
  54
• 🇮🇳 Darjeeling · India — 29 rainy days, 527 mm · instead November
  66
• 🇳🇵 Manang · Nepal — 29 rainy days, 368 mm · instead November
  68

…and 419 more, 194 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own September verdict.

Too hot by the numbers134 places

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

• 🇦🇪 Ras Al Khaimah · United Arab Emirates — 46°C afternoons · instead November
  78
• 🇶🇦 Doha · Qatar — 44°C afternoons · instead January
  37
• 🇦🇪 Dubai · United Arab Emirates — 44°C afternoons · instead January
  35
• 🇦🇪 Abu Dhabi · United Arab Emirates — 43°C afternoons · instead January
  40
• 🇸🇦 Jeddah · Saudi Arabia — 41°C afternoons · instead January
  87
• 🇸🇦 Mecca · Saudi Arabia — 41°C afternoons · instead January
  43
• 🇴🇲 Nizwa · Oman — 41°C afternoons · instead January
  47
• 🇮🇳 Chennai · India — 40°C afternoons · instead February
  58

…and 126 more, 52 of them well-known. Every destination page carries its own September verdict.

Bad air by the numbers8 places

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

• 🇨🇳 Beijing · China — AQI 155, unhealthy air · instead April
  84
• 🇨🇳 Chengdu · China — AQI 140, poor air · instead April
  61
• 🇨🇳 Hangzhou · China — AQI 112, poor air · instead October
  60
• 🇧🇷 São Paulo · Brazil — AQI 104, poor air · instead July
  84
• Laayoune · Western Sahara — AQI 219, unhealthy air · instead March
  74
• Dakhla · Western Sahara — AQI 185, unhealthy air · instead October
  87
• 🇨🇳 Hotan · China — AQI 149, poor air · instead April
  87
• 🇨🇳 Ürümqi · China — AQI 128, poor air · instead September
  92