How often are dust storms on Mars?

“Once every three Mars years (about 5 ½ Earth years), on average, normal storms grow into planet-encircling dust storms, and we usually call those 'global dust storms' to distinguish them,” Smith said. read more

Mars dust storms are much different than the dust devils that many people have seen in images sent back from the planet. On Mars a dust storm can develop in a matter of hours and envelope the entire planet within a few days. After developing, it can take weeks for a dust storm on Mars to completely expend itself. read more

Mars is infamous for intense dust storms, sometimes visible by telescopes on Earth. read more

Mars has dust storms that can cover the entire planet for a whole month. This does not happen often, but smaller dust storms are quite common. During dust storms the power output of the solar panels will decrease. read more