Rain gods poured in their full fury in Cherrapunji on Monday, as a whopping 776 mm of rain was recorded in the city. This is the second highest rainfall in a decade, recorded in a span of 24 hours.
776 mm of rain might not be the highest rainfall ever recorded but there was enough reason to celebrate as this was the heaviest of the season so far. The heaviest rain Cherrapunji has ever recorded in a day, in the last ten years, was 793 mm on 19th July, 2004.
The heaviest rainfall it has ever received in 24 hours, has been 838.2 mm on 12th July, 1910. Cherrapunji isn’t called one of the rainiest cities on Earth for no reason. Even in the El Nino years, rain figures did not decrease. In year 2009, Cherrapunji recorded 453.6 mm of rain in a day (29th July). The only time Cherrapunji has been unlucky was on 1st July, 2011, when 140 mm of rain had been recorded due to the lack of a strong Monsoon system.
“Heavy rainfall in Cherrapunji is nothing abnormal. Owing to its geographical location and topography, Meghalaya is notorious for such heavy Monsoon rains. Currently the reason for torrential rain in Cherrapunji can be attributed to a Monsoon trough extending from the foothills of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, right up to Arunachal Pradesh”, says meteorologist Samar Chaudhury.
According to the latest weather update by Skymet Meteorology Division in India, after a day of torrential rain, showers may reduce on Wednesday. Barring isolated pockets of Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh, rain will reduce in Cherrapunji, becoming mainly moderate.
Despite good Monsoon rain, Meghalaya seems to be facing a rain deficit (till 7th July) of about 25%. Rain deficiency is about 29% in Arunachal Pradesh which has also received some heavy showers in the last few days. These rain deficit figures are currently the lowest in the entire country. In places like Rajasthan and Gujarat it has mounted to 70% so far.
