What’s The Wettest Place In The World?

“Wettest”, the word itself takes us to the place where rain is pouring down all day long. It feels like we are in a fairyland where clouds never leave the sky. Raining never stops…

Wait!!! It’s not the case. The world is not a fairy tale. Here, it rains when the climatic reasons are favorable. Though, several places in the world observe a heavy amount of rainfall per year in the rainy season.

Here, we are going to present the list of Top 10 Wettest Places on Earth.

Before moving to the list, let’s make ourselves familiar with some Geographical terms. It won’t be too long. It will help you to understand how heavy the rainfall actually is, in those places!

How is rainfall measured?

Rainfall is measured using an instrument called rain gauge. It is generally measured in millimeters (mm) which is equivalent to kg/m². In the English method of measuring rainfall, the unit of rainfall is expressed in centimeters (cm).

By using the rain gauge, precipitation per square meter area is calculated and it is observed for a long period to calculate the amount of rainfall of a particular area.

What is the average annual rainfall?

Meteorologists spend many years to calculate the average annual rainfall of a particular geographical location. Using the rain gauge, they measure the annual rainfall first. The process continues for 30 to 35 years. After receiving such a gigantic amount of data, they calculate the average annual rainfall of an area. What dedication! Without their help, it would be hard for us to present our list of Top 10 Wettest Places on Earth.

What are you waiting for! Here comes our list…

Top 10 Wettest Places on Earth

According to the latest data of 2019, here’s the Top 10 list of the wettest places on the planet. The date might vary a little in comparison to the latest meteorological reports. Stay till the end to know about our Winner!

Emei Shan, Sichuan Province, China

Average Annual Rainfall: 8,169 mm

Emei Shan is not the name of a place. It’s a mountain. It is one of the four sacred Buddhist mountains of China. Mount Emei is located in the Sichuan Province of China.

The height of the mountain is 10,167 feet or 3,099 meters. It is the highest mountain of the four sacred Buddhist mountains. The climate of this mountainous region is very interesting. It has long freezy winters and short staying summers. Most of the rainfall happens during this short summer season. And, it is very heavy! According to data, more than 70% of the annual rainfall occurs from June to September.

Number 9

Kukui, Maui, Hawaii

Average Annual Rainfall: 9,293 mm

Another mountain on the list! It is the highest peak of Mauna Kahalawai in Hawaii. The height of the mountain is 5,788 feet or 1764 meters. In Hawaiin language, it is called Puu Kukui.

According to the latest meteorological data, it is one of the wettest places in the world. Kukui is the third wettest place in the state. It receives an average of 9,820 mm rainfall in a year.

Hawaii bags 3 cool spots in the list including it. Scroll below to know more about 2 other places.

Number 8

Mount Waialeale, Kauai, Hawaii

Average Annual Rainfall: 9,763 mm

Mount Waialeale is a Volcanic shield mountain situated in Hawaii. It is the second-highest spot on the island of Kauai of the Hawaiian Islands.

Do you know what Waialeale means? It means overflowing water. So, there is no valid reason to take it out of our Top 10 list. Its name reflects the amount of rainfall the place annually receives.

The height of the mountain is 5,148 feet or 1,569 meters. The peak of the mountain is one of the rainiest spots in the world. According to reports, since 1912 it has received an average of 9,500 mm of rain per annum. The place recorded the highest amount of rainfall in 1982. It was 17,300 mm. Not a joke! It’s more than our winner on the list.

Number 7

Big Bog, Maui, Hawaii

Average Annual Rainfall: 10,272 mm

Big Bog is another mountain from Hawaii on the list. What’s a bog? A bog or bogland is a type of wetland. Again, there is a connection between the meaning behind the name and rainfall.

The latest data reported the place has an annual rainfall of 10,300 mm for the period 1992-2018.

Why are the numbers of annual rainfall and average annual rainfall differing? It’s simple! The average is calculated based on the data of 30 or 35 consecutive years. Annual rainfall only covers the rainfall in a particular year.

Number 6

Debundscha, Cameroon, Africa

Average Annual Rainfall: 10,299 mm

Debundscha, a small village of the Republic of Cameroon, has an extremely wet climate. The village of Debundscha is counted among the five rainiest places on earth.

The place records an average rainfall of 10,299 mm per year.

Being too close to the equator, it receives such a huge amount of annual rainfall. It is also close to the coast of the South Atlantic ocean. It is another reason behind the heavy rainfall in the area.

Number 5

San Antonio de Ureca, Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea

Average Annual Rainfall: 10,450 mm

San Antonio de Ureca is also popular as Ureka or Ureca. It is a village situated in Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea.

This village is counted among the wettest areas in the world. According to the latest reports of 2004, it receives an average of 10,450 mm of annual rainfall.

An interesting fact about Ureca: It is the wettest place in Africa.

You can read more about Africa here. You can also read about 10 Fascinating African Tribes here.

Number 4

Cropp River, New Zealand

Average Annual Rainfall: 11,516 mm

Here is the only wettest river basin of the world on our list from New Zealand. The Cropp river basin is counted among the top five highest annual average rainfall places in the world.

Recently, the river basin made a new record. On 25-26 March 2019, the place received 1,086 mm of rainfall. It is a new record of rainfall for 48 hours for New Zealand.

Number 3

Tutunendo, Colombia, South America

Average Annual Rainfall: 11,770 mm

Tutunendo is a strong contender on our list. It can take the number 2 spot or our winner’s spot in near future. Who knows?

However, Tutunendo is a Colombian district. This place is officially declared as “a site of greater rainfall and Biodiversity“.

It has a wet tropical rainforest climate. That’s why it receives such an amount of rainfall per year. For the climatic advantage, it grabs the number 3 spot with ease.

According to the latest report of 2020, the place recorded 11,596.1 mm average rainfall in the last year.

Number 2

Cherrapunji, Meghalaya, India

Average Annual Rainfall: 11,777 mm

India bags top two spots in our Top 10 list.

Cherrapunji or Sohra is situated in the State of Meghalaya in India. It is the traditional capital region of the Khasi tribal kingdom.

Cherrapunji is often taken as the wettest place on the planet. But, it’s not true. A place nearby Cherrapunji grabs the Winner’s spot.

The place recorded an average of 26,461 mm of rainfall between 1 August 1860 and 31 July 1861.

A Quick Fact: It holds the all-time Guinness World Record for “the most rainfall in a calendar month as well as a year“.

The Winner!!!

Mawsynram, Meghalaya, India

Average Annual Rainfall: 11,872 mm

Cheers for staying that long! We’re presenting our winner.

Mawsynram, a town of Meghalaya in northeastern India, receives the highest amount of average annual rainfall in the world. Yes, Mawsynram is the wettest place in the world!

The claim to the first position is disputed by Lloró in Columbia. However, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, Mawsynram amounted to an average of 26,000 mm of rainfall in 1985. 26,000 mm!!!

So, Mawsynram is still our Winner. It holds the number 1 position on our list.

Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for such interesting Top 10 lists here at SafarisAfricana.com.

You can read about The Longest Rivers In The World here.

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Frequently asked questions about “the wettest place on earth'”?

Is Hawaii the wettest place on earth?

Three places from Hawaiin Islands namely Big Bog, Mt. Waialeale, and Kukui are counted in the top 10 wettest places on earth. But, it’s not the wettest place on earth. Mawsynram is the wettest place on earth.

What is the wettest and driest place on Earth?

Mawsynram is the wettest place in the world. The driest place on earth is the Atacama Desert in Chile.

You can read more about the Top 9 Deserts in Africa here.

Which country gets the most rain?

According to the list of Average Precipitation in depth (mm per year), the country which gets the most rainfall is Colombia. It receives an average of 3,240 mm of rainfall per year.

Is there a place where it never stops raining?

No, there is not any such place where it never stops raining. If you want to know about a place observing rainfall daily, it is one of the equatorial regions. In any place of that region observes daily rainfall at about 4 o’clock. Hence it is called 4 o’clock rain.

And that’s our take on the world’s longest rivers. Have you visited any of these stunning waterways? Let us know in the comments section below!