Cherrapunjee - The Rain Capital of the World

It has been raining cats and dogs in India's northern states, but Cherrapunjee (renamed Sohra) - known as one of the wettest places on the earth - nestled in the abode of clouds in Meghalaya in is "burning hot" at over 28 degrees Celsius!

Residents of the hilltop in northeastern India say their heavenly abode is hotter and drier than ever before - due to global warming.

Sohra has been burning hot for months. In the past, residents of Cheerapunji  used umbrellas only to shield ourselves from the rains, but these days everyone in this town is carrying an umbrella to protect them from the scorching sun.

Cherrapunjee is on the edge of a plateau on the southern slopes in the East Khasi Hills district. Located 1,290 metres above sea level and 56 km from state capital Shillong, it is known to receive the highest rainfall in the world.This town records an average rainfall of 12,000 mm a year, with the maximum occurring over the southern slopes of the Khasi Hills. The highest recorded total annual rainfall was 24,555 mm in 1974. But that doesn?t seem to ever happen again.

The average temperature in Cherrapunjee in June is 23 degrees Celsius but this time it has already reached 28.3 degree Celsius on June 12. When we talk about the rainfall, from June 1 till today (June 18), Cherrapunjee received 618.8 mm of rainfall against its normal (average) 1,509.2 mm.

Seriously what has the world come to.  The rampant illegal mining and massive massive deforestation at such ecologically sensitive places has brought us at a point where we are witnessing the unimaginable. God bless us all but things are looking really bad.