To the casual observer, Mars is marvellous. Its characteristic pinky tinge, clearly visible to the naked eye, comes from the iron-rich minerals that coat its surface. Over the centuries, distance has lent enchantment to this vermilion other-world. Man has dreamed of living there, or perhaps visiting some long-lost distant cousins. But the reality is more mundane.
Mars is rough compared to Earth. Although only half the size of Earth, its largest mountain, Mount Olympus, towers over the surrounding plains to a height three times that of Everest. Because it is smaller than Earth, its gravitational force is significantly lower, which in turn makes the Martian atmosphere much thinner than ours and its barometric pressure correspondingly much lower. Normal pressure on Earth is about 1013 hectopascals; on Mars it is only seven.
The Martian atmosphere is 95 per cent carbon dioxide. Its skies are mostly clear, and there is plenty of sunshine. But because the planet is farther from the sun than we are, temperatures are lower. Indeed these cloud-free skies and thin atmosphere allow temperatures to fluctuate wildly, so that during the night the "air" temperature near the surface falls to about 100 C, and on a good day rises to little more than 30 C. The temperature on the surface of the planet may occasionally just about touch zero.
This combination of a thin atmosphere and low temperature has a consequence which we on Earth would find intolerable: Mars has no running water. Its average temperature is well below the ice point, and even if some ice were to be melted the atmospheric pressure is so low that the water would boil instantly and disappear as vapour.
Winds on Mars are similar to those experienced here. The average speed is about 10 m.p.h., with occasional gusts to 70 or 80 m.p.h. on very windy days. The weather is mainly dry, and late winter and early spring bring the annual planetary dust-storms that are a particular feature of Martian life.
If you were to seek something like the Martian climate here on Earth you might find it in the dry frozen valleys of Antarctica, although the analogy would be closer if such a valley could be lifted some 15 miles above sea level. Only at that altitude does the density of our air begin to match that of the gossamer-thin atmosphere of Mars. Moreover, the lack of Martian ozone allows ultraviolet light freely to bombard and sterilise the surface of the planet, so - as far as we know - the planet is totally devoid of life of any kind.