MONSOONS
The dramatic terrain drenched by the torrential downpours of the South West Monsoons gives birth to numerous water falls, streams and rivers all of which drain into the flood plain of Bangladesh.
The flat plain of Bangladesh contrasting with the near perpendicular hill sides and the deep lush green valleys embraced by the monsoon clouds and streaked by milky white waterfalls make Cherrapunji a majestic place and leaves almost every one spell bound.
Rainfall has been recorded in Cherrapunji since the time the British arrived in the Hills in 1833. The British civil servants, the Welsh and German Missionaries wrote back home about the exceptional rainfall received in the place and mentioned it in School Books and brought it World wide fame.
The average annual rainfall received at Cherrapunji from 1973 – 2018 is 11613.3 mm (i.e. 38.10 feet). In 1974, it rained 24555.3 mm (i.e. 80.56 feet)- the highest recorded rainfall in any one place, in any one year in the whole world. On 16th June 1995, it rained 1563 mm in 24 hours (i.e. 5.12 feet).
98% of Cherrapunji’s annual rainfall is received in just 8 months from March to October. About 47% of the rainfall is received in just 2 months, June & July. The fact that Cherrapunji falls directly on the path of the South West Monsoon and the Orography of the hills at about Cherrapunji helps to funnel and converge the monsoon clouds of a wide area to a relatively small area and deflect them upwards to cooler climes contribute to such heavy rainfall.
Meteorologically speaking, the heavy rainfall area indicated by Cherrapunji is estimated to cover 100 to 200 square kilometers.
Average Monthly Rainfall Distribution at Cherrapunji
| Month | Rainfall in mm |
|---|---|
| January | 13.5 |
| February | 71.4 |
| March | 319.9 |
| April | 865.9 |
| May | 1293.9 |
| June | 2470.8 |
| July | 2999.9 |
| August | 1781.6 |
| September | 1221.9 |
| October | 507.5 |
| November | 54.5 |
| December | 20.2 |
| Annual Rainfall | 11621.0 |
Comparative Average Annual Rainfall
| Place | Rainfall in mm |
|---|---|
| Cherrapunji | 11621.0 |
| Mt. Waialeale, Hawaii | 9495.0 |
| Shillong | 2193.8 |
| Kolkata | 1600.8 |
| New Delhi | 706.4 |
| Mumbai | 2397.3 |
| Chennai | 1276.3 |
| Tokyo | 1523.1 |
| Sydney | 1222.7 |
| Washington DC | 1108.1 |
| Rio de Janerio | 1101.1 |
| London | 615.0 |
| Moskva | 600.6 |