Mount Waialeale

The cloud-shrouded summit

The Waialeale ( Waialeale mostly German ) is a shield volcano and after Kawaikini the second highest mountain on the island of Kauai in Hawaii. The name means in the Hawaiian language " rippling " or " overflowing water ".

The summit of the 1,569 meter high Waialeale is open all year shrouded by clouds. Meet very smooth and moist, northeasterly trade winds on the steep northeast flank of the mountain, whose slopes have an average inclination of about 110%. This results in ascending slope winds, the water contained abundant rains out as orographic rainfall. Since the weather is very stable, it rains on 335 days a year, which constantly produces large amounts of rain on a very small area. Altogether, this creates an enormous average annual rainfall of about 12,000 mm, with a record of 17,300 mm in 1982. This is the northeast face of the Waialeale one of the wettest places on earth.

The vegetation on the northeast side is due to the tropical climate of tropical rainforest and - on a plateau near the summit - the Alakai swamps. The latter are part of the public largely inaccessible nature reserve.