This hill station in Satara district received 10,000mm monsoon rainfall, highest in the country

Lamaj, a small hill station in Satara district situated on the backwaters of Koyana dam, has crossed 10,000 mm rainfall mark this monsoon and emerged as the “rainiest place” in the country.

As of September 13, Lamaj received cumulative rainfall of 10,117 mm this season, according to the data released by the district agricultural department, Satara. India Meteorological Department (IMD), Pune, confirmed the figure.

Between June 1 and September 14, Lamaj recorded 10,425.9 mm rainfall, racing ahead of other wettest places in the country. In a normal rainy season (June to September), Lamaj gets about 8,000 mm rainfall. In 2018, the station recorded 7,735 mm rainfall. Located in the hilly region of western ghats, Lamaj received about 2,500 mm more than what it received during the same period in 2018.

Devidas Tamhane, deputy collector of Satara district and incharge of district disaster management cell, said Lamaj crossed the 10,000 mm rainfall mark for the first time.

“Yes, stations like Lamaj, Tamhini and Mahabaleshwar are located at the windward side of the Sahyadri range and orography of the range has created a huge convergence over the region which generated a huge cloud mass especially over the ghat sections resulting in extremely heavy rains. Hence, these stations recorded heavy rainfall,” said Anupam Kashyapi, head of weather, IMD Pune.

According to IMD, the situation will remain more or less the same for the next 10 days. Lamaj is followed by Tamhini ghat in Pune district with 8,912 mm rainfall during this monsoon, said IMD.

Cherrapunji in Meghalaya holds two Guinness world records for high rainfall: maximum amount of rainfall in a single year, 26,471 mm (1,042.2 in) between August 1860 and July 1861, and the maximum amount of rainfall in a single month (9,300 mm) in July 1861.