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Mount Waialeale
One of the wettest places on Earth
Mount Waialeale is a shield-volcano summit near the center of the Hawaiian island of Kauai, and one of the wettest spots on the planet. Its name means "rippling water" in Hawaiian, and for good reason: the peak averages roughly 450 inches - around 38 feet - of rain a year, and in some years has recorded well over 600 inches. Almost constant cloud and mist cling to its summit bog.
Its extraordinary wetness comes from its shape and position: trade winds blowing in off the Pacific hit its steep, isolated cone and are forced sharply upward, wringing out moisture in near-daily downpours. The runoff has carved the dramatic knife-edged cliffs and waterfalls of Kauai's interior, including the canyons that ring the mountain. Just a few miles away, the island's leeward side lies in such deep rain shadow that it is nearly desert - one of the sharpest rainfall contrasts anywhere on Earth.