Mawsynram () is a town in the East Khasi Hills district of

Meghalaya Meghalaya (; "the abode of clouds") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeast India. Its capital is Shillong. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the Assam: the United Khasi Hills an ...

state in Northeastern India, 69 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 Rain is a form of precipitation where water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. ...

of . According to the ''

Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

'', Mawsynram received of

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 17 June 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 7 June 1966.

Location

Mawsynram is located at 25° 18′ N, 91° 35′ E, at an altitude of about 1,400 meters (4,600 ft), 15 km west of Cherrapunji, in the

Khasi Hills The Khasi Hills () are a low mountain formation on the Shillong Plateau in the Meghalaya state of India. The Khasi Hills are part of the Garo-Khasi-Jaintia range and connect with the Purvanchal Range and the larger Patkai Range further east. The ...

in the state of

(

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Climate and rainfall

Under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

, Mawsynram features a

subtropical highland climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring c ...

(''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 of rain in an average year, and the vast majority of the rain it gets falls during the

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

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 , this claim is disputed by Lloró, Colombia, which reported an average yearly rainfall of between 1952 and 1989 and López de Micay, also in Colombia, which reported per year between 1960 and 2012. According to the records observed by the Indian Meteorological 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 and from 2000 to 2020 at . The precipitation table below shows the average monthly record from 1950 to 2000. Primarily due to the high altitude, it seldom gets truly hot in Mawsynram. Average monthly temperatures range from around in January to just above in August. The village also experiences a brief but noticeably drier season from December until February, when monthly precipitation on average does not exceed . The little precipitation during the village's "low sun" season is something that is shared by many areas with this type of climate. The following table is a comparison of rainfalls for Cherrapunji and Mawsynram between 1970 and 2010. Source: Nature made Shivalinga in Mawjymbuin Cave Mawsynram Meghalaya India

Nature made Shivalinga in Mawjymbuin Cave Mawsynram Meghalaya India

Three reasons can be cited for high rainfall at Mawsynram: #The warm moist winds of the northward-moving air from the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region. Many South Asian and Southe ...

during the

, which cover an extensive area but are forced to converge into the narrower zone over the Khasi Hills, thus concentrating their moisture. #The alignment of the Khasi Hills (east to west) places them directly in the path of the airflow from the Bay of Bengal, producing a significant uplift (plus cooling, further condensation and thus more rain). #Finally, uplift over the Khasi Hills is virtually continuous in the

period because the lifted air is constantly being pulled up by vigorous winds in the upper

atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

; hence, the rainfall is more or less continuous.

Natural landmarks

Located in Mawsynram, is a cave named Mawjymbuin, known for its stalagmites. Inside this cave is a pair of notable

speleothem A speleothem (; ) is a geological formation made by mineral deposits that accumulate over time in natural caves. Speleothems most commonly form in calcareous caves due to carbonate dissolution reactions. They can take a variety of forms, depen ...

s - stalactites shaped like a cow's udder over a large stalagmite (Shivling). The area is known for its many caves, both commercialized and non-commercialized.

References

{{reflist * Middleton, Nick. Going to Extremes. Pan, 2012.

External links

The Tribune (India) - The dispute between Mawsynram and Cherrapunji for the title of "wettest place on earth"
Villages in East Khasi Hills district Weather extremes of Earth Geography of Meghalaya