Wettest Location
Mawsynram in Meghalaya State, India holds the world's record for the most precipitation received annually on average: 11,872 millimetres (467.4 inches) or nearly 12 metres a year.
Rainiest and Windiest Places on Earth
Heaviest Rainfall
Storms at La Réunion, a mountainous island in the South Indian Ocean, have set several world records for the most rain falling over periods of 12 to 96 hours.
Tropical Cyclone Denise dumped 1.144 metres (45.0 inches) at Foc-Foc on January 7 and 8, 1966, which accumulated to 1.825 metres (71.8 inches) in 24 hours. A record 48-hour rainfall of 2.467 metres (97.1 inches) was reached at Aurère on January 8 to 10, 1958. Then Tropical Cyclone Gamede set more precipitation records at Cratère Commerson by dropping 3.929 metres (154.7 inches) of rain in 72 hours and 4.869 metres (191.7 inches) in 96 hours during February 24 to 27, 2007.
Driest Spot
With just 0.76 millimetres (0.03 inches) of precipitation falling a year, on average, Arica in Chile is the driest place on earth. For over 14 years, from October 1903 to January 1918, Arica had the longest period without rain ever recorded, a drought of 173 months.
Strongest Wind
The greatest wind speed ever recorded in the world was a 408 kilometres per hour (253 miles per hour) wind gust that hit Barrow Island, Australia during Tropical Cyclone Olivia on April 10, 1996.
Windiest Site
The wind at Port Martin, Antarctica averages more than 64 kilometres per hour (40 miles per hour) on at least one hundred days each year, making it overall the windiest place on earth.