Fun in the Extreme Cold

I did this for the kids yesterday at lunch and shared it on Twitter & Facebook and just about everyone I know living in the current deep freeze went and tried it. (I didn’t get a photo of it, the one at the left is courtesy of Andy Langager)  If the temp is significantly below zero (say -5F or so), take boiling water outside and toss it in the air.  Most if not all of it will appear to freeze before hitting the ground.

I wish I could say I came up with the idea, but I got it from local meteorologist Vince Condella who blogged about it earlier this week.  It is sort of a parlor trick in that since the water is boiling, it is close to evaporating already.  The cold (and importantly) dry air will cause the water to evaporate instantly. 

The kids still watched out the window, slack jawed saying "Wow!  Do that again!"