Mahabaleshwar may replace Cherrapunji as the 'wettest place on Earth': Weather Channel

Mahabaleshwar, a hill station in the forested thickets of India’s Western Ghats, received an average of around 250 mm of rainfall every day over the last eight days, putting it in the running to be the wettest place on Earth, according to a report by The Weather Channel . So far, this is a title held by the Mawsynram district in the Meghalayan city of Cherrapunji, as per the Guinness Book of Records .

The record, held by Cherrapunji in Meghalaya, in the Guinness Book of world records stands at 9,300 mm in the month of July in 1861. Cherrapunji also holds the 12-month-record for the 26,461 mm of rainfall it received between 1 August 1860 and 31 July 1861.

Cherrapunji was declared the wettest land-based location on Earth after it received an average of 11,872 mm in annual rainfall  — more than 10 times India’s national average (of 1,083 mm). From 1 June, Mahabaleshwar received 5,486 mm of rainfall against 5,346 mm rainfall in Mawsynram. Cherrapunji’s location between the Bay of Bengal on one side and the Khasi Hills on the other justifies the heavy rainfall it receives. Moisture from the Arabian Sea brings heavy rainfall to Mahabaleshwar too.

The amount of precipitation in the region has also increased in recent years. Many regions in Maharashtra received above-average rainfall this month — Kadegaon received 293 mm, Shirala 326 mm, Walva Islampur 185 mm and Miraj 132.4 mm between 1-6 August,  according to The Weather Channel . In response to the unusual volume, many of these cities have been flooding.

Over 1.30 lakh people in Pune were affected by floods and heavy rains and were forced to shift to higher ground and safer places, according to the report. Three villages in Kolhapur — roughly 7,000 people — were cut off completely from their homes and communication links. Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and many other states in the Konkan region witnessed torrential rainfall over the past few days.

The latest IMD forecast predicts more heavy rainfall in the two to three days to come.