--- ---  # Frigid Midwesterners Are Putting the Extreme Cold to the Test by Throwing Boiling Water in the Air  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jan 30, 2019 6:19 PM UTC  Ice floats on Lake Michigan at dawn in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2019. Ice floats on Lake Michigan at dawn in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2019.Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jan 30, 2019 6:19 PM UTC As [Antarctic-like temperatures](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/28/us/polar-vortex-cold-weather.html) spread across the Midwest this week, people put the [extreme cold](http://time.com/5515250/record-breaking-freezing-temperatures-hit-the-midwest/) to the test by throwing boiling water in the air. With a [polar vortex](http://time.com/5516297/polar-vortex-mail-delivery-suspended/) causing wind chills to drop as low as [60 degrees below zero](https://weather.com/forecast/national/news/2019-01-28-polar-vortex-midwest-arctic-air-coldest-two-decades) in some states, Midwesterners are filming themselves demonstrating what happens when you toss boiling water into freezing air. The often viral videos see participants brave the cold to showcase how quickly boiling water turns into snow when flung into a bone-chilling breeze. According to [_National Geographic_](https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/01/frozen-bubbles-boiling-water-freezing-explained-bomb-cyclone-bombogenesis-winter-weather-viral-videos-spd/), this winter phenomenon occurs because of how close boiling water is to evaporating. “Because they’re so hot, those tiny water droplets start to vaporize. But since cold air can’t hold as much water vapor as warmer air, the water condenses. Extremely cold temperatures quickly freeze the water droplets, which fall as ice crystals,” _Nat Geo_ reports. Some people have even started getting creative with the experiment. “Boiling water. SuperSoaker. Oven mitts. Let’s go,” one enthusiastic Twitter user captioned his footage. > [](https://twitter.com/StarrburyMike/status/1090634940478308353) See some of the other videos below. > [](https://twitter.com/%5Fcingraham/status/1090380574001250304) > [](https://twitter.com/ARobertsjourno/status/1090601793086803968) > [](https://twitter.com/jordanwilson04/status/1090619051095793664) > [](https://twitter.com/%5F%5Fm%5F%5Fa%5F%5Fx/status/1090633842275299329) > [](https://twitter.com/Dough%5FB17/status/1090595219270180864) > [](https://twitter.com/Clay%5FCarroll/status/1090631362309246976) > [](https://twitter.com/mbdunneback/status/1090612532987994112) People Test Frigid Cold With Boiling Water in Videos ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5516534/boiling-water-in-freezing-air/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5516534/boiling-water-in-freezing-air/"},"headline":"Frigid Midwesterners Are Putting the Extreme Cold to the Test by Throwing Boiling Water in the Air","datePublished":"2019-01-30T18:19:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:57:11.811Z","description":"A polar vortex has brought Antarctic-like temperatures to the U.S.","url":"https://time.com/5516534/boiling-water-in-freezing-air/","keywords":["Newsfeed","weather","polar vortex","viral"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcbd5c84d4c6d996a/6989443de76ad2563c634136/boiling-water-thrown-in-air.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcbd5c84d4c6d996a/6989443de76ad2563c634136/boiling-water-thrown-in-air.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"boiling-water-thrown-in-air","caption":"Ice floats on Lake Michigan at dawn in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2019.","creditText":"Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5516534/boiling-water-in-freezing-air/","name":"Frigid Midwesterners Are Putting the Extreme Cold to the Test by Throwing Boiling Water in the Air"}}]}] ```