What Is the Weather Like on Mars? Temperature, Wind and Dust Storms
Mars is cold, dry and dusty, with an average temperature around −60 °C and planet-wide dust storms. A simple guide to Martian weather and seasons.
Weather on Mars is real weather: there are winds, clouds, frost, seasons and dust storms. It is just very cold and very thin.
Temperature
The average temperature on Mars is about −60 °C. Near the equator on a summer afternoon the ground can reach about +20 °C, while winter nights near the poles drop to around −125 °C. Because the air is so thin, it holds very little heat, so the temperature can swing by 80 °C or more between day and night.
Air pressure
The Martian atmosphere is mostly carbon dioxide and its surface pressure is under 1% of Earth's at sea level. It is higher at the bottom of deep basins like Hellas Planitia and lower on top of the volcanoes.
Wind and dust
Winds can blow at tens of metres per second, but because the air is so thin, a strong Martian wind would feel like a light breeze to you. It can still lift fine dust:
- Dust devils are common in spring and summer and have cleaned dusty solar panels on several missions.
- Regional dust storms happen every year.
- Global dust storms can wrap the whole planet for weeks. One in 2018 blocked so much sunlight that the Opportunity rover lost power for good.
Seasons
Mars is tilted about 25°, similar to Earth's 23.4°, so it has seasons. They last roughly twice as long as ours because a Martian year is 687 Earth days. In winter, carbon dioxide freezes out of the air onto the polar caps.
Weather in Trawers
Trawers has a simplified seasonal weather model you can switch on and off. It shows temperature, pressure, wind and dust at your rover's location. It is a game model, not a forecast, but it follows the same patterns: colder near the poles, warmer near the equator, and dustier at certain times of the Martian year.