 |
1.Cherrapunjee
- the Rain Capital of the World | 2.Rainfall
Distribution at Cherrapunjee | 3.Heavy
Rainfall at Cherrapunjee | 4.The
terrain in and around Cherrapunjee | 5.The
People | 6.The
Language | 7.Iew-Sohra
– Market Day at Cherrapunjee
| 8.The
Welsh Influence in | Cherrapunjee | 9.Recommended
Reading
Heavy Rainfall at Cherrapunjee
Scientific recording of rainfall at
Cherrapunjee was begun by the British after the Khasi Hills was annexed
to the British Empire in the 1830s.
After India attained Independence from the British rule, the job
was taken over by the India Meteorological Department.
Earlier rainfall readings were being taken by the Post Office at
Cherrapunjee. Rev. Fr.Christopher
Becker SDS (Germany) has this to say about Cherrapunjee in his book on
the Catholic Missions in North East India (1890–1915): “Not without reason
has Cherrapunjee achieved fame as being the place with the heaviest rainfall
on earth. One must experience it to have an idea of the immense quantity
of rain which comes down from the skies, at times day and night without
a stop. It is enough to go
a few steps from the house to be drenched from head to foot. An umbrella serves no purpose.
The heaviest rainfall occurs from May to October.
For several years there has been an official hydrometer at the
Catholic Mission. The missionary
sent the report of the measurement of rainfall to the government once
a month, to be published in the official gazette.
The rainfall at home is about sixty centimetres per year, but the
average rainfall at Cherrapunjee during the last thirty years has been
nearly twelve metres (488” – i.e. 12512 mm).
There were several years when the rainfall was more than fifteen
metres. You can well imagine
what a large sea there would be if this amount of water were stored up!”
The Observatory of India Meteorological Department was set up at
Cherrapunjee in 1978. Now,
the said Department is preparing to enlarge the scope of its operations
at their Cherrapunjee Observatory with more research personnel.
The heavy rainfall at Cherrapunjee does not make much sense to
the average person unless the same is viewed against the rainfall at places
around the world. Then the
deluge at Cherrapunjee comes into perspective.
Please peruse the Average Annual Rainfall around the world and
compare.
|
Place
|
Rain
in mm
|
|
Place
|
Rain
in mm
|
|
Cherrapunjee
(36 Year Avg.- 1973-2008)
|
11937.2
|
|
Americas
|
|
|
Rest
of India
|
|
|
Mount
Weialeale, Hawaii
|
11680.0
|
|
Shillong
(Meghalaya)
|
2193.8
|
|
Washington
D.C.
|
1108.1
|
|
Guwahati
(Assam)
|
1676.4
|
|
New
York
|
1128.9
|
|
Kolkata
(Calcutta)
|
1600.8
|
|
Los
Angeles
|
323.1
|
|
New
Delhi
|
706.4
|
|
Oakland,
California
|
607.5
|
|
Mumbai
(Bombay)
|
2397.3
|
|
Toronto
|
817.5
|
|
Chennai
(Madras)
|
1276.0
|
|
Cook
Inlet, Alaska
|
481.1
|
|
Rest
of Asia
|
|
|
Mexico
City
|
634.3
|
|
Dhaka,
Bangladesh
|
1997.3
|
|
Rio
de Janerio
|
1101.1
|
|
Sylhet,
Bangladesh
|
4401.6
|
|
Buenos
Aires
|
1005.2
|
|
Bangkok,
Thailand
|
1466.9
|
|
Lima-Callao,
Peru
|
19.7
|
|
Kuala
Lumpur
|
2393.6
|
|
Europe
|
|
|
Singapore
|
2272.2
|
|
London
|
615.0
|
|
Hong
kong
|
2216.0
|
|
Paris
|
627.0
|
|
Beijing
|
635.3
|
|
Madrid
|
438.9
|
|
Seoul
|
1364.8
|
|
Manchester,
U.K.
|
899.6
|
|
Tokyo
|
1523.1
|
|
Frankfurt
|
640.6
|
|
Islamabad
|
965.1
|
|
Berlin-Dahlem
|
588.7
|
|
Kabul
|
289.3
|
|
Moskva
(Moscow)
|
600.6
|
|
Tehran
|
240.7
|
|
Copenhagen,
Denmark
|
589.7
|
|
Baghdad
|
154.8
|
|
Stockholm,
Sweden
|
502.8
|
|
Riyadh
|
112.7
|
|
Istanbul,
Turkey
|
697.2
|
|
Africa
|
|
|
|
|
|
Alexandria
|
197.4
|
|
Australia
|
|
|
Algiers
|
659.9
|
|
Sydney
|
1222.7
|
|
Cairo
|
24.8
|
|
Darwin
|
1573.5
|
|
Lagos,
Nigeria
|
1740.7
|
|
Cape
Nelson
|
785.2
|
|
Cape
Town
|
612.5
|
|
Auckland,
New Zealand
|
1,160.0
|
Note:
Annual Rainfall of Places around the World given above sourced from
www.worldclimate.com
|
 |
