How Hot Is Mars?
QUICK ANSWER
Mars has an average temperature of about -85°F (-65°C), much colder than Earth. Equatorial daytime temperatures can briefly reach 70°F (20°C) in summer, but nights at the same location plunge to -100°F. The polar regions get even colder, dropping to -195°F in winter.
Mars is cold. Most of the time it's brutally cold, the kind of cold that freezes carbon dioxide out of the air. But for a few hours on a summer afternoon at the equator, Mars can briefly hit a temperature where you'd want a heavy jacket but not a parka. The day-night swing is the interesting part.
What is the average temperature on Mars?
According to NASA, Mars has an average surface temperature of about -85°F (-65°C). For comparison, Earth's average is about 59°F. Mars is much colder than Earth despite both planets sitting in or near the Sun's habitable zone, because Mars's thin atmosphere can't retain heat. The atmosphere has only about 1 percent of Earth's pressure, which means most of the heat absorbed during the day radiates straight back into space at night.
How hot can Mars actually get?
Briefly mild in the right conditions. At the equator on a summer afternoon, Mars's surface temperature can reach about 70°F (20°C). It's a sunny, dry, almost shirt-sleeve temperature, at least for the few hours it lasts. But you'd still die almost instantly from the lack of breathable air and radiation exposure. The temperatures only feel warmish at the very top of the surface; just a few feet up, the air is freezing.
How cold does Mars get?
Extremely. At the poles in winter, temperatures drop to about -195°F (-125°C), cold enough that carbon dioxide freezes out of the atmosphere and falls as dry-ice snow. Even at the equator, nighttime temperatures fall to around -100°F. The day-night temperature swing on Mars can exceed 100°F at the same spot in a single rotation, which is much more dramatic than Earth's typical 20 to 30°F daily variation.
Does Mars have weather?
Yes, but it's strange by Earth standards. Mars has dust storms (some so large they cover the entire planet for months), occasional thin clouds of water-ice crystals, and seasonal carbon dioxide frost. Winds can reach up to about 60 mph, but the thin atmosphere means they don't pack much force. Mars also has dust devils, including some much larger than Earth's tornadoes. Rovers have measured small daily temperature cycles, gentle pressure changes, and the slow rhythm of Martian seasons that last about twice as long as Earth's.
Mars is mostly freezing, with average temperatures around -85°F. The equator can briefly hit mild summer-day temperatures, but the same spot drops below -100°F at night. The thin atmosphere is the main culprit: not enough air to hold heat overnight, no matter how warm the surface gets during the day.
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