WHICH PLACE HOLDS THE RECORD FOR RECEIVING THE HIGHEST RAINFALL IN INDIA?

Mawsynram is a town in the East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya state in Northeastern India, 60.9 kilometres from Shillong, the state capital. Mawsynram receives the highest rainfall in India. It is reportedly the wettest place on Earth, with an average annual rainfall of 11,872 millimetres (467.4 in), According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Mawsynram received 26,000 millimetres (1,000 in) of rainfall in 1985. Mawsynram received 745.2 mm of rainfall on 19 August 2015, probably the highest rainfall received by the town in recent times.] On June 17th 2022, Mawsynram set a new record by receiving 1003.6 mm in a span of 24 hours which has now become its highest single day record for the month of June and for its all time single day record beating its former record of 944.7 mm on June 7th 1966. 

Mawsynram is located at 25° 18? N, 91° 35? E, at an altitude of about 1,400 metres (4,600 ft), 15 km west of Cherrapunji, in the Khasi Hills in the state of Meghalaya (India). Under the Köppen climate classification, Mawsynram features a subtropical highland climate (Cwb) with an extraordinarily showery, rainy and long monsoonal season and a short dry season. Based on the data of a recent few decades, it appears to be the wettest place in the world, or the place with the highest average annual rainfall. Mawsynram receives over 10,000 millimeters of rain in an average year, and the vast majority of the rain it gets falls during the monsoon months. A comparison of rainfalls for Cherrapunji and Mawsynram for some years is given in Table 1. Mawsynram receives the highest rainfall in India. Although it is reportedly the wettest place on Earth, with an average annual rainfall of 11,872 millimetres (467.4 in), this claim is disputed by Lloró, Colombia, which reported an average yearly rainfall of 12,717 millimetres (500.7 in) between 1952 and 1989 and López de Micay, also in Colombia, which reported 12,892 mm (507.6 in) per year between 1960 and 2012. According to the records observed by the Indian Meterological Department, it was seen that while its neighbour, Cherrapunji is having a significant decreasing trend in rainfall, Mawsynram on the other hand is experiencing a slight increase in its rainfall pattern which put its average annual rainfall from 1950 to 2000 at 12393 mm and from 2000 to 2020 at 12120 mm. The precipitation table below shows the average monthly record from 1950-2000.

Credit : Wikipedia 

Picture Credit : Google 

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