Cherrapunji, one of the wettest places on Earth, is experiencing its driest monsoon on record, with rainfall 50% below normal.
In contrast, Surlabbi in Karnataka and Tamhini in Maharashtra have recorded significantly higher rainfall.
If Cherrapunji doesn't receive 1,900 mm more by September 30, it will mark the leanest monsoon season ever recorded there.
Cherrapunji or the Sohra weather station of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), one of the wettest places on the planet, received around 3,500 mm of rainfall between June 1 and August 20, around 50 per cent less than the normal.
On the other hand, places in Karnataka and Maharashtra have received far more rainfall than Cherrapunji this year. As of August 18, Surlabbi station in Somwarpet taluk of Kodagu district in Karnataka had received the highest rainfall in 2025 across India which was close to 7,300 mm, of which 5,951 mm fell during the monsoon season, independent weather analyst Ravi Keerthi posted on X.
Between June 1 and July 31, Sohra received 2,047 mm of rains while Surlabbi received 4,931 mm, the second highest in the country for the period, according to data collated by independent weather analyst, R Pardeep John (Tamil Nadu Weatherman on X).
Tamhini in Maharashtra received the highest rainfall of 5,788 mm across the country for the first two months of the monsoon, according to John’s dataset. According to this data, at least 32 stations across the country received more rains between June 1 and July 31 than Cherrapunji.
For Sohra station, the “lowest ever rainfall recorded during monsoon season (June-September) was in year 1962 = 5401 mm”, wrote independent weather forecaster Shubham on X. If the station does not receive another 1,900 mm or so in the 40 days between August 20 and September 30, then this would be the leanest monsoon season on record for Cherrapunji.
The average monsoon period rainfall for Cherrapunji stands at 8,131.9 mm. The situation in the rest of Meghalaya is no better as the state as a whole has deficit rainfall of 43 per cent which is the highest in the country, according to data from the IMD. Six of the 11 districts of the state are suffering from deficient rains (20 to 59 per cent less rainfall than the normal) while two districts have received large deficient rainfall (60 to 99 per cent less rainfall than the normal).
The worst affected district is West Jaintia Hills with a deficit of 75 per cent as of August 26. Both Cherrapunji and Mawsynram, known to be the wettest in the world, fall in the East Khasi Hills district, which has received 29 per cent less rainfall than the normal during the monsoon season.
Meghalaya along with many other states in Northeast India have been undergoing a drying trend in the past few decades which is quite evident this year as well.