Question

Which of the following places in India receives maximum rainfall in a year?
1. Mawsynram
2. Dehradun
3. Dibrugarh
4. Kolkata

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 1 : Mawsynram

The correct answer is Mawsynram.

• India receives maximum rainfall in a year in the place Mawsynram.
  • Mawsynram is located in the East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya state.
  • It is the wettest place on earth, It receives an average rainfall of 11, 872 mm (467 inches) during peak monsoons in India and is 1400 m above sea level. It receives the highest rainfall.
  • Mawsynram has a subtropical highland climate with an extraordinarily showery and long monsoonal season and a short dry season.
  • According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Mawsynram received 26,000 millimeters (1,000 in) of rainfall in 1985.

• Three reasons can be cited for high rainfall at Mawsynram:
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • The 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.