| Debundscha | |
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| — Village — | |
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Debundscha
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Cameroon |
| Region | Southwest Region |
| Division | Fako |
| Elevation | 36 m (118 ft) |
| Time zone | WAT (UTC+1) |
Debundscha is a village in the Southwestern Region, of the republic of Cameroon. It is found at the foot of the Mount Cameroon,at its south western slope, directly facing the south Atlantic ocean on the Cameroon coast.
Debundscha has been popular, for been the wettest town on the African continent due to the super heavy annual rainfalls it receives,[1] but rainfall records have placed it behind the town of Ureka, on the island of Bioko in Equatorial Guinea, Ureka receives about 10,450 millimeters (418 ins) of rainfall annually, making it the wettest place in Africa,[2] this is followed closely by Debundscha, coming second with an annual rainfall of about 10,299 millimeters (411.9 ins)[2] in overall rainfall average in Africa.
The village of Debundscha is included among five rainiest places in the world which includes Lloró, Mawsynram, Mount Waialeale and Cherrapunji, with each of them receiving over 10,000 millimeters (400 ins) of rain annually.[3]
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The Germans installed a lighthouse in Debundscha in 1904.[4] [5]
Debundscha's proximity to the Equator, which is hot and humid throughout the year, gives Debundscha a continuous rainy season and a short dry season in a year. Debundscha is located on the coast and Mount Cameroon behind the town intercepts warm moist ocean winds to supply Debundscha with abundant rainfall throughout the year.
Debundscha's coastal location with the giant Mount Cameroon behind it, a giant mountain massive rising from the coast of the South Atlantic ocean to a height of about 4,095 metres (13,435 ft) above sealevel.[6] results in an almost all year round rainy season, with little dry season breaks.
Mount Cameroon has a profound influence on the climate of Debundscha. Orographic cloud building activities on the mountain supply most of Debundscha's precipitation. As warm moist air masses from the South Atlantic ocean meet the mountain at the coast[7] and are forced to rise adiabatically, rapid cooling of the warm Atlantic airmass causes condensation of the water vapour in the airmass, increasing as the airmass rises up Mount Cameroon, and leads to heavy cloud building and heavy rainfall on and around the mountain.
The rain falls on the ocean-facing south-western slope of Mount Cameroon and on Debundscha, at the foot of this slope.[8][9]