This study analyzed the vertical distribution of dust and associated atmospheric structural changes over Acidalia Planitia during one regional dust event (RDE) (MY 32, Ls = 220°) and one global dust event (GDE) (MY 28, Ls = 260°), using Mars Climate Sounder observations and Mars Weather Research and Forecasting (MarsWRF) model simulations. Multilinear Regression Coefficient (MLRC) analysis suggests that dustiness at 25–35 km and ~ 40–50 km altitudes contributed significantly to the column integrated opacity during the RDE and GDE, respectively. Both dust events reduced water ice opacity at ~40 km altitude. The atmosphere subsequently warmed ~10 K during the RDE and ~ 30 K during the GDE because of dust radiative heating. An inversion layer formed below ~20 km altitude during RDE due to the combined effect of reduced surface temperature and the downwelling radiation from suspended dust. However, the GDE's much larger opacity at higher altitudes helped form a similar inversion layer at 40 km. This atmospheric warming with the inversion layer below could be associated with heating/cooling layers centered around 35–50 and 20–35 km heights, influencing the variability of water ice within them. The MarsWRF simulations showed downwelling over Acidalia Planitia at ~35–50 km altitude, which supports the presence of the heating layer due to the suspended atmospheric dust during the GDE. However, findings from the heating rate analysis indicated a dominance of dust radiative heating compared to adiabatic heating due to compression on the atmospheric warming during the dust storm occurrences. The simulated boundary layer height and surface radiation flux suggest weaker vertical mixing from the surface and a surface energy budget dominated by downward radiation from the suspended dust, which helped form heating/cooling layers and drove variability in water ice clouds. The Empirical Orthogonal Function analysis (carried out using MCS observations) suggests that the seasonal cycle of the southern hemispheric dust storms, northern hemispheric active storm track, and the cap-edge storms possibly influenced the seasonality observed in the heating/cooling layer clouds.