Mountains
Martian storms are significantly affected by Mars' large mountain ranges. Individual mountains like record holding Olympus Mons (27 km (17 mi)) can affect local weather but larger weather effects are due to the larger collection of volcanoes in the Tharsis region.
One unique repeated weather phenomena involving Mountains is a spiral dust cloud that forms over Arsia Mons. The spiral dust cloud over Arsia Mons can tower 15 to 30 km (9.3 to 19 mi) above the volcano. Clouds are present around Arsia Mons throughout the Martian year, peaking in late summer.
Clouds surrounding mountains display a seasonal variability. Clouds at Olympus Mons and Ascreaus Mons appear in northern hemisphere spring and summer, reaching a total maximum area of approximately 900,000 km2 and 1,000,000 km2 respectively in late spring. Clouds around Alba Patera and Pavonis Mons show an additional, smaller peak in late summer. Very few clouds were observed in winter. Predictions from the Mars General Circulation Model are consistent with these observations.
Read more about this topic: Climate Of Mars
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