WORLD'S WETTEST PLACE

Meghalaya enjoys the distinction of having two of the world's wettest places: Cherrapunji and Mawsynram. These two places are only 16 kilometres apart.
Cherrapunji (also spelled as Cherrapunjee), is located at 25.30° N 91.70° E. It has an average elevation of 1484 metres (4872 feet). It is a town in East Khasi Hills district in the Indian state of Meghalaya. It holds the world records of being the wettest place on Earth.
Mawsynram is located at 25º 18' N, 91º 35' E in the state of Meghalaya. Its altitude is about 1400 m. It is about 16 km west of Cherrapunji.
Cherrapunji's current yearly rainfall average stands at 11,430 mm (450 in). This figure places it behind only nearby Mawsynram, Meghalaya, whose average is 11,873 mm (467 in) and Mount Waialeale on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, whose average is 11,684 mm (460 in).
Cherrapunji 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: 9299.96 mm (366.14 inches) in July 1861.
But these records are carried forward from an era almost 150 years back. Compare these figures with the present situation of 11,873 mm (467 in) at Mawsynram and 11,430 mm (450 in) at Cherrapunji. Thus we see that the wettest places are drying up.
Cherrapunji sits on the southern tip of a plateau that looms over Bangladesh. The cliffs of Cherrapunji are the first place hit by the moisture filled clouds that forms over the Bay of Bengal. All the rain lands on arid, deforested, ground. As there is no reservoir to store the rain water, it rapidly runs down the hill towards the plains of Bangladesh, forming massive waterfalls such as the Seven sisters and Nokalikai. 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 Khasi hills which abruptly erupt out of the plains to reach a height of about 1370 m within a short distance of 2 to 5 km. The orography of the hills with many deep valleys channels the low flying (150-300 m) moisture laden clouds from a wide area to converge over Cherrapunjee which falls in the middle of the path of this stream. The winds push the rain clouds through these gorges and up the steep slopes. The rapid ascendance of the clouds into the upper atmosphere hastens the cooling and helps vapours to condense. Most of Cherrapunjee's rain is the consequence of air being lifted as a large body of water vapour. Extremely large amount of rainfall at Cherrapunjee is perhaps the most well known feature of orographic rain in northeast India.