On Mars, as on Earth, dust storms can contribute to environmental change. Sometimes, though rarely, dust storms on Mars can be fierce enough to blanket the whole planet in a dusty haze for weeks, as the Mariner 9 spacecraft found out. Local and regional dust storms are much more common, and in polar regions can affect the rate at which seasonal frost weather patterns evolve.

Dust devils are spinning columns of wind that move across the landscape, pick up dust, and look somewhat like miniature tornadoes. Dust devils are a common occurrence in dry and desert landscapes on Earth, as well as Mars. They form when the ground heats up during the day, warming the air immediately above the surface. As the warmed air nearest the surface begins to rise, it spins. The spinning column begins to move across the surface and picks up loose dust. The dust makes the vortex visible. On Earth, dust devils typically last for only a few minutes.

When dust devils pass over the surface of Mars, they leave dark, criss-crossing streaks on the land. They can cross over hills, run straight across dunes and ripples, and go through fields of house-sized boulders. The dust devils remove bright dust from the terrain, revealing a darker surface underneath.