Monday 2 November 2009

Wet, Wet, Wet

If the weatherman's right, it looks like the washing won't dry today, or tomorrow, or the day after... (sigh)



Not complaining....


The place that holds the record for being the wettest in the world is not in Malaysia


It is


CHERRAPUNJI, INDIA

Source: http://www.extremescience.com/wettest.htm

A Land of Contrasts


Location: In the Indian state of Meghalaya.

Facts: Cherrapunji, 1290 meters above sea level, receives an annual rainfall of 1270 cms. Once it rained 2290 cms in one season!


It's ironic that the wettest place in the world manages to thirst for water each winter when no rain falls at all for months at a time. The type of weather phenomenon that brings so much rain to this part of the world is called the monsoons. Monsoons are seasonal winds that blow from one direction for approximately six months, bringing torrential rains, and then blow from the opposite direction for the remaining six months, during which little rain falls. During the wet season moist air is cooled as it blows over rising land, letting abundant rain fall on the windward side of mountain ranges. But because of widespread destruction of conifer forests that protected the soil, the ground does not absorb the rain that falls so heavily during the monsoon season. The city of Cherrapunji is 1290 meters above sea level and much of the torrential rains run off the mountains into the valley below. The irrigation system for the town of Cherrapunji is insufficient to provide adequate amounts of clean, potable water from below during the dry season. People who live there frequently have to travel on foot for several kilometers to bathe and get drinking water.


What Causes so much Rainfall?


The oceans are the chief source of rain, but lakes and rivers also contribute to it. The sun's heat evaporates the water. It remains in the atmosphere as an invisible vapor until it condenses, first into clouds and then into raindrops. Condensation happens when the air is cooled. For raindrops to form there must be particulate matter in the air, such as dust or salt, at temperatures above freezing. These particles are called condensation nuclei. When the nuclei are cooled to temperatures below the freezing point, water condenses around them in layers. The particles become so heavy they resist updrafts and fall through the clouds as rain.

In Cherrapunji it rains so much for two reasons:

Elevation: because of the elevation of Cherrapunji, air that blows over the plains below is cooled as it rises to the higher elevation. This cooling of the air causes the moisture trapped in the air to condense, forming clouds, which then release rain.

Monsoons:
the prevailing winds in that part of the world are very heavily laden with moisture. The constant supply of moist air for six months straight results in almost continual rainfall.

Here's a place that holds a close second to Cherrapunji: Mount Waialeale, Kauai in Hawaii


This place holds the unofficial world record, because the record is an estimate
(523.6 in/13.3m): Lloro, Colombia

16 comments:

Tommy Yewfigure said...

Errrr….??????....scratching head…..oh like this one, now I get it;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPmbT5XC-q0

(Taking to yourself & feeling old?). OK, Next time, I bring back some sunshine 4u ya?

Tommy.

Capt's Longhouse said...

,,,used to be Taiping as the wettest in Malaysia, guess she still is ?.
,,,wow !! yellow Alfa, looks pretty polished up too. ...plus her owners hahaha, how tall is your RA ?. if you are 5'- 9" he must be 6'- something?.
,,,morning walkabout ?? O.K.!

Fadhil said...

Zen,

The yellow Alfa looks cool... but the owners look even coooooler. Romantik gitu :-)

Red Alfa said...

Capt

Both of us are equals (at 5'6").

It was not like your early morning walkabout. Picture was taken at 10 pm after the coffee at our local. If you really looked I was almost falling asleep. But Z still looked some hours yet.

Yes, I am still as ever eager to get to bed like I always used to after a great date. :-b

Red Alfa said...

Hi Oldstock

I would have thought the yellow Alfa would make both of us screaming young again on a date.

You say we did looked so coool. Well, she was VERY cool. So I also look just as cool. You know that very selamba type of cool? :-)

Zendra-Maria said...

Hi Tommy, did you have a luckful weekend? Been having overcast skies and thundery showers past few days here. Enough sun for 1 load of laundry, about all. There's a remedy for rainy days and Mondays though - I went shopping for shoes! Send me "Let the Sun Shine In" next time you drop by, hahahah.

Zendra-Maria said...

Capt, I'm 5ft 9 only when wearing 3" heels for lansing-lansing with old Uncle Lee lah (pssst Lee, sorry to call you old Uncle, but the boss man is here hehe). With some clever posing on our parts RA looks like a six-footer, hahah. Never trust cameras!

Rainy season ideal for morning lay-abouts only, don't you think so, Capt?

Zendra-Maria said...

Oldstock, by "cooooool" do you mean HOT? RA's "COOOL" means selamba. I think we just look like an ordinary KEWL couple... ;)

Zendra-Maria said...

RA, I learnt to be "cool" after visiting Oldstock's and MatBangka's blogs recently, hehe ;)

Zendra-Maria said...

PS. RA, do I still get a pink merc for my birthday?

Al-Manar said...

Zendra,
Not complaining ...... (you said)
That is good. For about one week now the sky around Almanar has been overcast, the sea 200 meters away is rough and it has been raining intermittenly day and night, all pointing to the arrival of monsoon - and I do nt need a weatherman to tell that the air will be salty for the next three months, killing trees with tender leaves. But we have chosen to make this our home -- so, like you, we are not complaining...
Pakcik.

Capt's Longhouse said...

,,,ha ha meself at 5' 8" and eldest daughter Elin 5' 9" and now 16 years old son Arai just hit 5' 10" plus still growing up !! Indeed, they are getting taller/bigger/..smarter ?? God knows !!.
,,,tips on model 156, any good ? However, if you dark brown 'woody' or blacken the skirtings, it would further grrrrr the Yellow Alfa-lah. Do it in the computer model to see it ?.

Zendra-Maria said...

Dear Pakcik, let's just enjoy the monsoon... when daytime temperatures dip below 30 degrees C and there's a reason to use the duvet at nights :)

Zendra-Maria said...

Capt, reading RA's comment it's probably me needing GRRRRing up HAHAHA!

Tommy Yewfigure said...

Madame de bon après-midi, j'ai juste pensé à vous tandis que je prends le déjeuner mon croissant & baguette. Depuis vous aime la langue française tellement, je consacrent cette chanson pour vous Appréciez et merci

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlMuwdmBhTk

Ayez un beau jour avec votre amoureux dans votre alpha jaune romeo.

À la votre,
Tomas

P/S – Those 2 are Kiwi comedians, Brett & Jemaine, I can’t help ROTFLOL just by looking at their faces….

Zendra-Maria said...

Bonjour et merci monsieur Tomas. Je l'ai apprécié beaucoup-beaucoup (haha banyak-banyak).

Parlez vous Francais?

Je dois employer le babelfish. Je ne parle pas français :(