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What weather is present in Jupiter's Great Red Spot? Is it raining? Is it snowing? There is definitely a hurricane a-blowing :-). I know it is very cold, has extremely high winds and clouds of an orange/red color, and there is probably lightning. I also know the gravity on Jupiter is strong, about 2.5x that of Earth. Here is a similar question/answer that answers some of what I am looking for, but I still want to know if it is raining, snowing, etc...

I am making a level for Planetary Settlers that takes place in an air base trapped in the cloud tops of the Great Red Spot, and here is what I envision the red spot looking like so far (I am still working on adding the lightning): YouTube video of Jupiter Level Development. I would like to know if I should add rain, snow, or any other unusual phenomenon present there.

enter image description here

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    $\begingroup$ This is probably more appropriate to Worldbuilding SE. And I know people habitually add images and media to posts, but this image is pointless - it adds no useful info to the question but does mean people have to scroll through even more page space to see answers. $\endgroup$
    – StephenG - Help Ukraine
    Commented Aug 5, 2019 at 2:38
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    $\begingroup$ Regardless of current conditions, Seeing as the Red-spot storm is predicted to die out entirely in as little as 20 years, it's probably not a good target for your base. Heck, it'll take nearly that long just to get there. $\endgroup$
    – Carl Witthoft
    Commented Aug 5, 2019 at 15:49
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    $\begingroup$ @StephenG I think it is clearly on topic here. Jonathan is asking about factual weather conditions. $\endgroup$
    – called2voyage ♦
    Commented Aug 5, 2019 at 16:00
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    $\begingroup$ Does anyone else think I should remove the image? I think it is somewhat useful to see what I think it might look like. $\endgroup$
    – Jonathan
    Commented Aug 6, 2019 at 11:37
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    $\begingroup$ @CarlWitthoft It doesn't matter whether a question is on topic elsewhere. What matters is whether it is on topic here. $\endgroup$
    – called2voyage ♦
    Commented Aug 6, 2019 at 13:59

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You seem to know most of what there is to know about the Great Red Spot, except that there is not enough moisture in it for rain. It is cold enough for snow, but again there is a water deficiency. Water vapour is a comparatively rare gas in Jupiter's upper atmosphere. I think lightning would be admissible, and high winds too, and just possibly some frost. After all, there is frost on Mars despite the scarcity of water, though frost doesn't seem to be commonplace there.

The Great Red Spot would not be a good place for settlers, they'd be much better off on Mars. I presume this air base is carried around by a huge balloon, but what would they do for food and water? Normal aircraft would be no use because of the lack of oxygen, which is a pity, because there is hydrogen fuel in abundance.

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    $\begingroup$ Yes, the base is basically carried by huge hydrogen balloons (or possibly rigid "vacuum" balloons, haven't decided yet). I agree that Mars is a much better place to settle. In my game, humanity has expanded to every planet in the solar system (futuristic), and this base gets pulled into the great red spot, and you have to save it before it gets destroyed. Good point on the frost! $\endgroup$
    – Jonathan
    Commented Aug 4, 2019 at 17:09
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    $\begingroup$ Well,.. is there enough of any gas molecule to lead to precipitation of that molecule? $\endgroup$
    – Carl Witthoft
    Commented Aug 5, 2019 at 15:45
  • $\begingroup$ @Carl Witthoft Good question! I know it is mostly hydrogen and helium, which have very low boiling points. I don’t know if there are other trace elements, but I would expect so, something is making the red spot red... $\endgroup$
    – Jonathan
    Commented Aug 6, 2019 at 11:41

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