Apart from it being a dusty, arid planet, extreme weather conditions are one of the challenges that humans would face on our quest to colonize Mars.

According to NASA's latest predictions, a massive dust storm is set to strike Mars within a few weeks or months. Scientists would take advantage of the storm to gather new data for dust storm forecasting systems on the Red Planet.

Past studies revealed that dust storm season on Mars occurs midway in October, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory planetary scientist, James Shirley. He said that it is highly likely that dust storms will begin anytime in the coming weeks or months, based on Martian historical weather patterns.

The last dust storm that covered the entire Red Planet was in 2007. As a result of the storm, NASA's Martian rovers Curiosity and Opportunity were depleted of solar energy to continue operations.

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's color camera will be observing this impending dust storm.

Why do global dust storms happen on Mars? These dust storms are pretty common on the alien world since local eddies and whirlwinds can combine their powerful forces to create bigger storms that are also linked to lightning, covering entire regions.

When Mars is in its closest orbit to the sun, dust storms begin to emerge and form in its southern hemisphere, specifically during spring and summer seasons. Apart from this, other planets can also affect Martian orbital motion which can also be a significant factor in the frequency of the storms and its strength.