August 18, 2012
Clear morning light over Mt. Wai’ale’ale
It’s a rare morning to see the top of Mt . Wai’ale’ale! Being one of the wettest spots on Earth, it is often shrouded in clouds. The mountain is an ancient volcanic crater and a sacred site in Hawaiian culture. Mt. Wai’ale’ale, means “rippling water” or “overflowing water” in the Hawaiian language and has an average annual rainfall of 450 inches. During one of our frequent rain storms, the mountain is covered with hundreds of waterfalls, which flow into the Wailua River and down to the ocean.
The view in this photo is taken from the Pihana-kalani Trail, “where heaven touches earth”, overlooking Nana Kaua pond on the Wailua River, surrounded by towering Albesia trees. The bottomless pond is thought to be an ancient lava tube.
Over the past five years rainfall on Mt. Wai’ale’ale has been lower than average, only 326 inches of rain per year from 2009 to 2012, according to the latest information from the U.S. Geological Survey.
“The long-term average (at Waialeale) has been dropping every year since 1990,” said Stephen Gingerich, a research hydrologist at USGS. “Since 1990, only three years have been above average.”
This study prompted the headline “Mount Dry-aleale” in the August 12, 2013 Garden Island Newspaper @ http://thegardenisland.com/
“Gingerich said the last time it rained more than 420 inches during a 12-month period at Waialeale was in 2006. And before that was in 1993. In 1982 — the same year of Hurricane Iwa — a record 683 inches of rain fell on the summit.” (5,150 feet)