This photograph of the Big Island in the Hawai‘ian chain shows the clouds, driven by the prevailing Trade Winds, banking up against the northern tip of the island where they deposit rainfall before dividing and crossing out to sea as they pass the volcanic summits on the island. It is because the north and northeastern parts of the island receive considerably higher rainfall than the south and west that sugar cane is grown largely in the north and northeast while the west coast, which is invariably sunny, is being developed for tourism. The two white caps on the island, which might be mistaken for cloud-shrouded mountain tops, are the winter-snow-covered peaks of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.

STS 41-B, February 1984. Picture #11-46-2925.

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