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Against the normal figure of 27.3mm, December only recorded a trace of rainfall, which was the second lowest for the month on record, along with eight other years. The annual rainfall of 1,738.6mm in 2004 was about 21% below the normal figure of 2,214.3mm.
December was warmer than normal despite a cold snap in the last few days. With a mean temperature of 19.1 degrees, it was the sixth highest for December.
The first two days of December were sunny and warm. It turned cloudy the following day, but a dry northeast monsoon arrived on the south China coast on December 4 that brought fine weather to Hong Kong until December 20. Under dry weather, a hill fire in Pat Sin Leng on December 5 and 6 destroyed about 11,000 trees.
Cold end
A fresh to strong easterly airstream prevailed over southeastern China on December 21 and 22, bringing cloudy weather.
With the passage of a cold front on the 22nd, local weather turned fine on the 23rd and continued on the following three days. But it was hazy on Christmas Day with visibility at Hong Kong International Airport dropping to 4.3 kilometres in the afternoon.
While it was sunny and mild during the day on the 27th, the temperature started to fall that evening when an intense winter monsoon reached the coast of Guangdong. It was cold throughout the rest of the month, with temperatures falling to the month's lowest of 8.2 degrees in the urban area on the morning of the 31st.
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