Onshore winds can blow the steam plume from lava entering the ocean into the path of hikers, creating a whiteout. This plume hides deep cracks in the middle ground of the photograph. Onshore winds can blow steam plumes onto the land, causing visibility to be limited. This can be disorienting and could cause you to walk into risky areas. Move away from a whiteout when the winds shift.
Heavy rain can also produce dense fog that limits visibility.
K lauea emits about 2,000 tons of sulfur dioxide each day during eruption, now mainly from the still-open vent at Pu'u ' ' . Trade winds commonly disperse the volcano's gases, so that the concentration is not generally hazardous. However, sulfur dioxide fumes can be concentrated near ground cracks along and down-wind from lava tubes. If sulfur-fume concentrations begin to cause you physical distress, you should leave the area. The current eruption of K lauea, which began in 1983 at Pu'u' ' on the volcano's eastrift zone, has covered many square miles with lava flows and added new land along the Island of Hawai'i's south coast.