MARCI weather report, January 16-22, 2017

Martian weather this past week was highlighted by the onset of the Northern hemisphere mid-winter/ Southern hemisphere mid-summer cross-equatorial regional dust storms. This part of the regional storm season on Mars is denoted by local storms that develop in the northern mid-latitudes and travel southwards across the equator along several storm-tracks into the southern low-to-mid latitudes where they can develop into massive regional-scale storms transporting surface dust to heights above 40 km altitude. None of these storms observed this past week were of the scale and duration necessary to transport dust into the mid-atmosphere. The week began with a local dust storm that was spotted over southern Chryse, this storm pushed southward towards Margaritifer Terra by the… [More at link, including video]