Assessment of Trends and Variability of Rainfall for the Shillong City of Meghalaya, India

This study aims to investigate and analyse the trends and variability of rainfall in Shillong and its
nearby areas, located in Meghalaya hills of North-east India; which is geographically a neighbouring
area to the wettest places of the Earth, i.e., Cherrapunji and Mawsynram. The northeast Indian region
of India is expected to be highly prone to the consequences to climate change because of its geoecological
fragility, strategic location vis-à-vis the eastern Himalayan landscape and international
borders, its trans-boundary river basins and its inherent socio-economic instabilities. The analysis of
variability and trends to annual, seasonal, monthly and daily rainfall was carried out, using the data
collected from the IMD station at Shillong; thereby attempting to highlight whether rainfall in Shillong
area has been increasing or decreasing over the years. Rainfall variability coefficient is utilized to
compare the current rainfall trend of the area with its past rainfall trends. The present study also aims
to analyse the frequency of occurrence of extreme rainfall events over the region. These studies will
help us to establish a correlation between the current rainfall trend and climate change scenario of the
study area.