Cherrapunji

Cherrapunji (also spelled as Cherrapunjee), is a town in East Khasi Hills district in the Indian state of Meghalaya. It is credited as being the wettest place on Earth. However, nearby Mawsynram has more rainfall nowadays.

It is the traditional capital of a hima (Khasi tribal chieftainship constituting a petty state) known as Sohra or Churra.

History

The original name for this town was Sohra, pronounced as "Churra" by the British before morphing into the present one. Despite perennial rain, Cherrapunji faces an acute water shortage and the inhabitants often have to trek for miles to obtain potable water. Irrigation is also hampered due to excessive rain washing away the topsoil as a result of human encroachment into the forests. Now the Meghalaya State government has decided to rename Cherrapunjee to its local name "Sohra". There is a monument to David Scott (British Administrator in NE India, 1802-31) in Cherrapunji cemetery.

Geography

Cherrapunji is located at 25.30°N 91.70°E / 25.30; 91.70. It has an average elevation of 1484 metres (4872 feet).

Cherrapunji sits on the southern tip of the Khasi Hills, facing Bangladesh. The cliffs of Cherrapunji receive heavy rainfall due to monsoon winds blowing from the Bay of Bengal. Thus, the region is home to extremely wet weather.

Climate

Cherrapunji's yearly rainfall average stands at 11,430 millimetres (450 in). This figure places it behind only nearby Mawsynram, Meghalaya, whose average is 11,873 mm (467 in). Cherrapunji receives both the Southwest and Northeast monsoon showers which give it a single monsoon season. It lies in the windward side of the Khasi Hills. Orographic precipitation results, and monsoon winds are forced to deposit much of their moisture

In the winter months it receives the northeast monsoon showers which travel down the Brahmaputra valley.

It holds two Guinness world records:

• For receiving the maximum amount of rainfall in a single year: 22,987 mm (904.9 inches) of rainfall between August 1860 and July 1861
• For receiving the maximum amount of rainfall in a single month: 9,300 mm (366.14 inches) in July 1861.

Climate data for Cherrapunji
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Source: Climate Charts

Cherrapunji
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     9.5     15 6     23     16 8     110     20 13     363     21 14     645     22 16     1299     23 18     1277     23 18     902     22 18     560     23 17     216     23 16     25     20 12     6     17 8 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °C █ Precipitation totals in mm Source: Allmetsat. For graphing purposes, the blue numbers of this graph are at a scale of 1:2. (All figures for that part of the graph have been halved.)
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     0.4     59 43     0.9     61 46     4.3     68 55     14     70 57     25     72 61     51     73 64     50     73 64     35     72 64     22     73 63     8.5     73 61     1     68 54     0.2     63 46 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F █ Precipitation totals in inches

Causes of High Rainfall

Cherrapunjee receives rains from the Bay of Bengal arm of the Indian Summer Monsoon. The monsoon clouds fly unhindered over the plains of Bangladesh for about 400 km. Thereafter, they hit the Khasi Hills which abruptly rise out of the plains to reach a height of about 1370 m above mean sea level within of 2 to 5 km. The geography of the hills with many deep valleys channels the low-flying (150-300 m) moisture-laden clouds from a wide area to converge over Cherrapunji. The winds push the rain clouds through these gorges and up the steep slopes. The rapid ascent of the clouds into the upper atmosphere hastens the cooling and helps vapours to condense. Most of Cherrapunji's rain is the result of air being lifted as a large body of water vapour. The extremely large amount of rainfall at Cherrapunji is perhaps the best-known feature of orographic rain in northeast India.

Occasionally, cloudbursts can occur in one part of Cherrapunji while other areas may be totally or relatively dry depicting high spatial variability of rainfall. Atmospheric humidity is extremely high during the peak monsoon period.

The major part of the rainfall at Cherrapunji can be attributed to the orographic features. When the clouds are blown over the hills from the south, they are funneled through the valley. The clouds strike Cherrapunjee perpendicularly and the low flying clouds are pushed up the steep slopes. It is not surprising to find that the heaviest rainfalls occur when the winds blow directly on the Khasi Hills.

A notable feature of monsoon rain at Cherrapunji is that most of it falls in the morning. This could be partly due to two air masses coming together. During the monsoon months, the prevailing winds along the Brahmaputra valley generally blow from the east or the northeast, but the winds over Meghalaya are from the south. These two winds systems usually ome together in the vicinity of the Khasi Hills. Apparently the winds that are trapped in the valley at night begin upward ascent only after they are warmed during the day. This explains, partially, the frequency of morning rainfall. Apart from orographic features, atmospheric convection plays an important role during the monsoon and the period just preceding it.

Demographics

As of 2001 India census, Cherrapunji had a population of 10,086. Males constitute 49% of the population and females 51%. Cherrapunji has an average literacy rate of 74%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with male literacy of 74% and female literacy of 74%. 19% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Culture

Khasi children (1944)

The locals living in and around Cherrapunjee are known as Khasis. It is a matrilineal culture. After the wedding, the husband goes to live with his wife's family and the children take on the surname of the mother.

Cherrapunji is also famous for its living bridges. Over hundreds of years the people in Cherrapunji have developed techniques for growing roots of trees into large bridges. The process takes 10-15 years and the bridges typically last hundreds of years, the oldest ones in use being over 500 years old.

External links

• Guinness World Records 2005; pg-51 ISBN 0-85112-192-6 ; [2], [3]
• http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001431.html
• http://fmd.dpri.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~flood/data/worldrec.html
• Rain - MSN Encarta (Archived 2009-10-31)
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2977169.stm
• 'For a Rainy Day', The Indian Express, 20 April 2008, by Arjun Razdan
• http://www.cherrapunjee.com/