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The Big Bog on the island of Maui is the largest high-altitude bog in the Hawaiian Islands. It is located on East Maui Volcano's east
NOAA
reports Wai’ale’ale's annual rainfall as , while the
rift zone
A rift zone is a feature of some volcanoes, especially shield volcanoes, in which a set of linear cracks (or rifts) develops in a volcanic edifice, typically forming into two or three well-defined regions along the flanks of the vent. Believed t ...
, at the border between Hāna Forest Reserve and Haleakalā National Park. It is alleged to be one of the wettest places on earth, with a reported annual rainfall of for the period 1992-2018.
Climate
The Big Bog has atropical rainforest climate
A tropical rainforest climate, humid tropical climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southea ...
(Köppen '' Af''), with no observable dry season and nearly constant torrential rainfall. Prior to the establishment of the station there in 1992, rainfall for Big Bog was estimated at around per year. However, the first full year of recorded data showed of rainfall, which is one of the highest annual rainfall totals measured in the Hawaiian Islands. Since then, the annual average has been recorded as . Clear days are essentially nonexistent, and even when it is not raining, it is almost certainly cloudy or foggy. The lack of adequate drainage has caused moisture to accumulate, forming the bog.
Causes
The Big Bog lies at , very close to the trade wind inversion layer, leading to persistent transport of moisture rich air by the northeast trade winds up the steep mountain slopes. These trade winds condense to form clouds and precipitation. Its moniker as the cloudiest place in the Hawaiian Islands is verified by the fact that its average solar radiation and potentialevapotranspiration
Evapotranspiration (ET) is the combined processes by which water moves from the earth’s surface into the atmosphere. It covers both water evaporation (movement of water to the air directly from soil, canopies, and water bodies) and transpi ...
are the lowest amongst recorded locations, and relative humidity and cloud attenuation are the highest.
Comparison with Mount Waiʻaleʻale
While the summit of Mount Waiʻaleʻale has long been considered the wettest place in the Hawaiian Islands, and thus Oceania, the Big Bog has a higher 30-year averageNOAA
reports Wai’ale’ale's annual rainfall as , while the
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
The University of Hawaii at Mānoa (University of Hawaii—Mānoa, UH Mānoa, Hawai'i, or simply UH) is a public land-grant research university in Mānoa, a neighborhood in Honolulu, Hawaii. It is the flagship campus of the University of Haw ...
reports the Big Bog's as . This would make the Big Bog the wettest location in the Hawaiian Islands and in Oceania
Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million ...
, although many amateur sources cite Mount Waiʻaleʻale's precipitation as higher.
See also
* Mount Waiʻaleʻale * Wettest places on Earth *Hawaiʻi
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
* Maui
References
{{reflist Geography of Maui