Not a XPath solution, but something simple to do with XML::Smart:

  use XML::Smart ;

  my $date = '1-2-2004' ;
  
  my $xml = new XML::Smart('your_file.xml') ;
  
  my $node = $xml->{AnnualWeatherRecord}{DailyWeatherRecord}('date' , 
+'eq' , $date) ;
  
  my $max = $node->{temperature}{maxdrybulb}{number} ;

  my @array = ($date , $max) ;
[download]