Is There Weather On Mars?

Mars may seem in Earth-observed appearance an immovable, desolate desert planet, yet our neighbor in the solar system also possesses the solar system's most intriguing and most severe weather. While it lacks the green complexity of Earth's pattern, the Red Planet also features colossal seasonality, dust storms engulfing the planet, and hauntingly familiar yet utterly extraterrestrial weather in the manner we experience on Earth.

The Atmosphere of Mars: Lean but Powerful

The atmosphere of Mars is about 100 times thinner than Earth's atmosphere and is primarily made up of carbon dioxide (95%) with traces of nitrogen, argon, and other trace gases. Despite being very thin, it is thick enough to produce imposing weather phenomena:

• Surface pressure averages only 0.6% of Earth Sea level pressure

• The atmosphere is very thinly spread, which creates monumental temperature changes

• It requires wind to blow at higher velocities to be just as effective as it is on Earth