Does Mars Have Clouds?
Mars indeed does have water ice clouds, similar to Earth’s cirrus clouds, both high in the atmosphere and often forming as icy fog just above the ground surface. The Viking orbiter was able to capture sunrise pictures during which an icy fog was rising from within Martian craters.
Mars has seasonal cycles, deserts, polar ice regions and volcanoes just like Earth as well. At any given time, Earth is anywhere from 46 to 233 million miles away from Mars. According to the Weather Channel, Mars experiences dust storms that spawn large tornadoes and temperatures as low as -200 degrees Fahrenheit coupled with heavy snowfall. Extreme weather, while possible, is not exactly typical on Mars, and the planet’s atmosphere is 100 times thinner than that of Earth.
