What Makes Kauai Unique?

One of the Wettest Places on Earth

To say that Kauai is one of the wettest places on Earth can be misleading because people believe that it rains a lot on Kauai, which is true, but it really depends on where you are on the island. Kauai has many climates including deserts, with beautiful cacti growing all over, with only ten inches of rain annually, and a few miles away from Waialeale, which is one of the wettest places on Earth.

Mount Waiʻaleʻale stands at 5,148 feet and averages more than 452 inches of rain a year with a recorded high of 683 inches in 1982. On a clear day, if you are in the right place, you may be lucky enough to see this beautiful mountain in its green glory. It is usually in cloud cover though. Its name literally means “rippling water” or “overflowing water.” ‪ Deep faulting and water erosion have carved canyons in the mountain. Wainiha, Lumahai, and Hanalei valleys dig into Waialeale. To its west is Waimea Canyon, the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, 16 miles (26 km) long and 1 to 2 miles (1.6 to 3.2 km) wide and as much as 3,600 feet (1,100 meters) deep. Mount Waialeale supplies numerous waterfalls visible from many parts of the North Shore of Kauai. It also feeds the only navigable rivers in the State of Hawaii. The main rivers are Waimea, Wailua, Makaweli, and Hanapepe.

‬‬ The summit of Waialeale features a rainforest with heavy rainfall throughout most of the year. Several factors give the summit of Waiʻaleʻale the ability to create precipitation than the rest of Hawaii. Its northern position relative to the other Hawaiian Islands provides more exposure to frontal systems that bring rain during the winter and it has a relatively round and regular conical shape, exposing all sides of its peak to winds and the moisture that they carry. Mt. Waialeales peak lies just below the so-called trade wind inversion layer of 6,000 feet (1,800 m), above which trade-wind-produced clouds cannot rise. Its steep cliffs cause the moisture-laden air to rise rapidly over 3,000 feet (910 m) in less than 0.5 miles (0.80 km) and drop a large portion of its rain in one spot, as opposed to spreading the rain out over a larger area if the slope were more gradual.

The great rainfall in the area creates the Alakaʻi Wilderness Preserve, a large boggy area that is home to many rare plants. The ground is so wet that although trails exist, access by foot to the Waiʻaleʻale area is extremely difficult. A number of rare local plant species are named for this mountain, including Astelia Waialeale, Melicope Waialeale, and the endemic Dubautia Waialeale.