<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/physics-and-astronomy/dust-storms" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SOLAR SYSTEM/SUN, ATMOSPHERES, EVOLUTION OF ATMOSPHERES | Planetary Atmospheres</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Numerous dust storms occur each Martian year and are generally classified according to size. From the smallest to largest, they are dust devils (&lt;10<sup>−1</sup> km<sup>2</sup>), local storms (∼10<sup>3</sup> km<sup>2</sup>), regional storms (∼10<sup>6</sup> km<sup>2</sup>), and planet-encircling storms (&gt;10<sup>6</sup> km<sup>2</sup>).</p>
<p>Local dust storms are also quite common. Based on Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) images, as many as 2000 local storms occur each Martian year. This gives a daily-averaged rate of 2–3 storms per Martian day. They have typical lifetimes of less than several days.</p>
<p>Regional storms have been observed at nearly all seasons, but are most frequent during southern spring and summer. Most regional storms develop within ±30° of latitude, although there is a distinct bias toward the southern hemisphere. Regional storms can last from days to weeks. These storms can drift a significant distance from their original location, and new satellite storms can develop that are quite remote from the original center.</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-08T13:15:06.860Z
2020-03-08T18:33:44.400Z
2020-06-17T09:47:40.653Z
Bob516
<p>I understand localized Martian dust storms can develop into global wide events. All searches I do produce results that focus on local storms expanding.  Is there any information on what was the shortest duration or smallest area dust storm recorded?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-08T05:50:41.990Z
What do you consider a "dust storm?"  Dust devils are on the scale of meters.
Stuart Robbins
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-08T13:10:05.410Z
Didn't know dust devils were considered storms. Researching this lead to an answer.
Bob516
<mars><dust-storm>
Martian dust storms-what was the smallest in area, or shortest in duration storm detected?
Bob516
# Martian dust storms-what was the smallest in area, or shortest in duration storm detected?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-03-06)

I understand localized Martian dust storms can develop into global wide events. All searches I do produce results that focus on local storms expanding. Is there any information on what was the shortest duration or smallest area dust storm recorded?

**Tags:** mars, dust-storm
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: What do you consider a "dust storm?"  Dust devils are on the scale of meters.  
> **username_0**: Didn't know dust devils were considered storms. Researching this lead to an answer.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_0 on 2020-03-08. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

[SOLAR SYSTEM/SUN, ATMOSPHERES, EVOLUTION OF ATMOSPHERES | Planetary Atmospheres](https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/physics-and-astronomy/dust-storms)

> Numerous dust storms occur each Martian year and are generally classified according to size. From the smallest to largest, they are dust devils (<10−1 km2), local storms (∼103 km2), regional storms (∼106 km2), and planet-encircling storms (>106 km2).
>
> Local dust storms are also quite common. Based on Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) images, as many as 2000 local storms occur each Martian year. This gives a daily-averaged rate of 2–3 storms per Martian day. They have typical lifetimes of less than several days.
>
> Regional storms have been observed at nearly all seasons, but are most frequent during southern spring and summer. Most regional storms develop within ±30° of latitude, although there is a distinct bias toward the southern hemisphere. Regional storms can last from days to weeks. These storms can drift a significant distance from their original location, and new satellite storms can develop that are quite remote from the original center.


---

