Mawsynram

Mawsynram
village
Mawsynram Show map of Meghalaya Mawsynram Show map of India Location in Meghalaya, India
Coordinates: 25°17′N 91°21′E / 25.28°N 91.35°E / 25.28; 91.35Coordinates: 25°17′N 91°21′E / 25.28°N 91.35°E / 25.28; 91.35
Country	India
State	Meghalaya
District	East Khasi Hills
Talukas	Mawsynram C.D. Block
Area
• Total	2,788 km2 (1,076 sq mi)
Elevation	2,000 m (7,000 ft)
Languages
• Official	English, Khasi
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	793113
Telephone code	03673
Vehicle registration	ML
Nearest city	Mawphlang
Climate	Cwb

Mawsynram (/ˈmɔːsɪnˌrʌm/) is a village in the East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya state in north-eastern India, 65 kilometres from Shillong. It is reportedly the wettest place on Earth, with an average annual rainfall of 11,872 millimetres (467.4 in),^[1][2][3][4] but that claim is disputed by Lloró, Colombia, which reported an average yearly rainfall of 12,717 millimetres (500.7 in) between 1952 and 1989^[5][6] and López de Micay, also in Colombia, which reported 12,892 mm (507.6 in) per year between 1960 and 2012.^[7][8] According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Mawsynram received 26,000 millimetres (1,000 in) of rainfall in 1985.

Location

Mawsynram is located at 25° 18′ N, 91° 35′ E, at an altitude of about 1,400 metres (4,600 ft), 16 km west of Cherrapunji, in the Khasi Hills in the state of Meghalaya (India) . The name of the village contains Maw, a Khasi word meaning stone, and thus might refer to certain megaliths in the surrounding area. Khasi Hills are rich with such megaliths.

Climate and rainfall

Under the Köppen climate classification, Mawsynram features a subtropical highland climate with an extraordinarily showery 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 nearly 10,000 millimeters of rain in an average year, and the vast majority of rain it falls during the monsoon months. A comparison of rainfalls for Cherrapunji and Mawsynram for some years is given in Table 1.^[9]

Primarily due to the high altitude, it seldom gets truly hot in Mawsynram. Average monthly temperatures range from around 11°C in January to just above 20°C in August. The village also experiences a brief but noticeably drier season from December until February, when monthly precipitation on average does not exceed 30 millimetres (1.2 in). The little precipitation during the village’s “low sun” season is something that is shared by many areas with this type of climate.

Table 1: Comparison of rainfalls for Cherrapunji and Mawsynram from 1970.

^{[10][11] [12][13] [14][15][16][17][18]}

Nature made stalagmite Shivalinga in Mawjymbuin Cave, Mawsynram Meghalaya.^[19]

Three reasons can be cited for high rainfall at Mawsynram:

1. The warm moist winds of the northward-moving air from the Bay of Bengal during the monsoon, which cover an extensive area but are forced to converge into the narrower zone over the Khasi Hills, thus concentrating their moisture.
2. 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).
3. Finally, uplift over the Khasi Hills is virtually continuous in the monsoon period because the lifted air is constantly being pulled up by vigorous winds in the upper atmosphere, hence the rainfall is more or less continuous.

Natural landmarks

Located in Mawsynram, is a cave named Mawjymbuin, known for its stalagmites.^[20] Inside this cave is a pair of notable speleothems - breast-shaped stalactite over a massive stalagmite which is shaped by nature to a structure resembling a Shivalinga.^[19][21]

References

External links

• The Tribune (India) - The dispute between Mawsynram and Cherrapunji for the title of "wettest place on earth"