MARCI weather report, May 30-June 5, 2016

Different degrees of dust-raising activity were observed for the northern and southern hemispheres of Mars this past week. At southern highlands, short-lived local scale dust storms were spotted over Sirenum, Noachis, and Cimmeria. The ground frost to the south of these dust storms, composed of carbon dioxide ice (“dry ice”) was part of the seasonal south polar cap edge that extended to ~52°S latitude. For the northern lowlands, conditions were relatively uneventful at the beginning of the week with transient dust storms over Acidalia and Arcadia. By mid-week, dust lifting near the edge of the north polar (“water”) ice cap expanded and became regional in scale over Acidalia and Arcadia. Across the… [More at link, including video]