מזג האוויר במלאקה בדצמבר

December sits in the north-east monsoon, and the first thing regulars say is that it belongs to the other side of the peninsula: the mountain range shields this city and the west coast, and the flooding people read about is an east-coast story. What falls here is heavy and short - a thunderstorm in the late afternoon or evening for a couple of hours, with sun earlier in the day. Our 270.6mm across 25.5 days is that pattern at its wettest, under 32C reading as 38C at 88 percent humidity. The compensation is the air: AQI 87, the cleanest month of this city's year, because the rain that soaks December also washes it. The record: 8 hours of sun.

Forum posters describe July as falling within the southwest monsoon, running roughly May through September, which affects Malaysia's west coast including Malacca - posters are consistent that this means a higher chance of rain on any given day rather than a guarantee of rain all day. Posters describe a typical July day as hot, humid and sunny, or hot, humid with some rain mixed in, with real luck-of-the-draw variability from one day to the next. Posters consistently warn that longer-range weather forecasts for this part of Malaysia aren't reliable, recommending flexible, lightweight clothing and an umbrella on hand regardless of what any forecast predicts. Posters generally rate July as a warm, humid, moderately unpredictable month to visit Malacca, manageable with the right mindset about rain.

January puts Malacca on the right coast at the right time, and the forum's framing is comparative: the west coast, KL and Melaka included, gets a dry, breezy stretch from mid-December through January, while the east coast of the peninsula is in the north-east monsoon and best avoided — much more rain, rough seas. That said, regulars are firm that there is no such thing as "no rain" in a tropical country: the record still shows fourteen wet days here, arriving as an hour or three of rain and then sun again. Near 29°C by day, 25 overnight, sea at 29.