Mawsynram

Mawsynram
village
Mawsynram

Location in Meghalaya, India

Coordinates: 25°17′N 91°21′E / 25.28°N 91.35°ECoordinates: 25°17′N 91°21′E / 25.28°N 91.35°E
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
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN 793113
Telephone code 03673
Nearest city Mawphlang
Climate wet (Köppen)

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 annual rainfall of 11,872 millimetres (467.4 in),[1][2] [3] but that claim is disputed by Lloró, Colombia, which had an average yearly rainfall of 12,717 millimetres (500.7 in) between 1952 and 1989 [4][5] and Lopez del Micay, also in Colombia, with 12892 mm between 1960 and 2012.[6][7] 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.[8] Khasi Hills are rich with such megaliths.

Climate and rainfall

Under the Köppen climate classification, Mawsynram features a subtropical highland climate with an extraordinarily rainy and lengthy monsoonal 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 12 metres of rain in an average year, and the vast majority of 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 10 degrees Celsius in January to just above 20 degrees Celsius in August. The village also experiences a brief but noticeably drier season from December until February, when monthly precipitation on average does not exceed 60 mm. The relative dearth of precipitation during the village’s “low sun” season is a trait shared by many areas with this climate.

Table 1: Comparison of rainfalls for Cherrapunji and Mawsynram for some years.

Year Cherrapunji Rainfall (mm) Mawsynram Rainfall (mm)
2010 13,472 13,300
2009 9,070 13,965
2008 11,415 14,985
2007 12,647 13,302
2006 8,734 8,082
2005 9,758 10,072
2004 14,791 14,026
2003 10,499 11,767
2002 12,262 11,118
2001 9,071 10,765
2000 11,221 13,561
1999 12,503 13,445
1998 14,536 16,720
Nature made stalagmite Shivalinga in Mawjymbuin Cave, Mawsynram Meghalaya.[10]

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.[11] 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.[10][12]

References

  1. ↑ "Meghalaya: The Wettest Place on Earth". The Atlantic. August 22, 2014. Retrieved 2014-08-23.
  2. ↑ "India's Mawsynram villagers who live in the wettest place in the world with 40 FEET of rain a year". Daily Mail Online. 22 October 2013. Retrieved 2014-08-23.
  3. ↑ "Mawsynram, India". National Geographic. February 4, 2013. Retrieved 2014-08-23.
  4. ↑ http://www.banrepcultural.org/blaavirtual/faunayflora/pacific1/cap10.htm
  5. ↑ Luiz Drude de Lacerda (2004). Environmental Geochemistry in Tropical and Subtropical Environments. Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 177–. ISBN 978-3-540-42540-3.
  6. ↑ "Weather Extremes : New Wettest Place on Earth Discovered? - Weather Underground". wunderground.com.
  7. ↑ "¿Descubierto en Colombia un nuevo lugar más húmedo en la Tierra?". tiempo.com.
  8. ↑ "Mawsynram". Wondermondo. 2010-08-28. Retrieved 2010-08-29.
  9. ↑ The Tribune, Chandigarh, August 2003.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 The Scotland of the East! The Hindu, October 15 2007
  11. ↑ "Khasi Hills: Mawsynram". Department of Tourism, Government of Meghalaya. Retrieved 2014-08-23.
  12. ↑ "Mawjymbuin Cave". Wondermondo. 2010-08-28. Retrieved 2010-08-29.

External links