We see that the weather events in the world can reach frightening and even deadly levels from time to time. So, how are the weather events on other planets in the Solar System?
Let me tell you from the beginning, although it shows a slight resemblance to Earth’s examples, it can reach much more extreme points. You may encounter winds that will easily kill people, rains that will melt and even crush, unique lightning and aurora that will tan you.
Venus: Clouds of sulfuric acid
Venus, for example, is a fairly uninhabitable planet, but at an altitude of about 55 kilometers, it has a pleasant temperature and a pressure of just over half an atmosphere. So it almost looks like you can build a city on the clouds. However, the clouds bring a separate problem. Clouds on Venus are not very healthy for humans, as they are made of sulfuric acid and envelop the entire planet. These clouds cause acid rain up to a certain point. Because the planet is extremely hot, this sulfur (sulfur) rain evaporates at an altitude of tens of kilometers before it reaches the surface. On the surface, not only is the temperature sufficient to melt lead, but the pressure from the planet’s extremely dense atmosphere is equivalent to 900 meters underwater.
Titan: extreme cold
Titan, on the other hand, offers a more livable environment despite its rainy and dense atmosphere. Saturn’s largest moon is covered with a thick atmosphere and is the only object in the Solar System other than Earth to have rivers, lakes and seas on its surface. But these liquid masses are made up of hydrocarbons, not water. Titan’s extreme cold may also be preferable to the melting and overwhelming environment of Venus for some people.
Even if we include hurricanes, the fastest wind on Earth is much weaker than its extreme examples on other planets. The Doppler on Wheels system from the Center for Severe Weather Research measured the highest wind speed on record on Earth at 484 kilometers per hour during a three-second gust of the Oklahoma City hurricane on May 3, 1999. If we look at the highest daily average, we see 174 kilometers per hour recorded in Port Martin (Antarctica) on March 21 and 22, 1951.
Jupiter: Great red spot and storms
However, these speeds may be considered negligible for gas giant planets. Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is a massive anticyclonic storm, large enough to comfortably fit Earth and Venus in it. We know it’s been around for at least 200 years, but it may have been around for twice as long. We can’t be sure exactly how long it’s been around, as we don’t have the technology to see it. Winds in this area are easily comparable to those in the strongest hurricane in the world, and winds at the edges can reach up to 450 kilometers per hour. It is also useful to remember that this storm covers an area larger than our entire planet.
Neptune: Incredibly fast winds
However, if you go to Neptune, you encounter really scary winds. Estimates by NASA show that at high altitudes, speeds on Neptune could exceed 1,770 kilometers per hour. This means that the winds on Neptune are faster than sound (supersonic). Here on Earth, a mile-per-hour wind will easily lift you into the air, and we can’t say it’s going to be fun afterwards.
Neptune and Uranus have another strange weather phenomenon. In the atmospheres of these planets, when the pressure gets high enough, the carbon is believed to turn into diamonds that rain down towards the center of the planet. So, after being hit by supersonic winds, you could probably turn into a diamond.
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