Five Best Ways to Pass the Time in Below Zero Weather

In honor of the horrendously cold weather that has passed through southeast Wyoming, here are some weather experiments which entertain, educate and mostly make you feel like a nine-year-old kid.

Are you ready? First it does have to be significantly below zero for many of these to work and you will need to be bundled up because it's cold outside!  Alright, here are five cold weather experiments from weather.com:

Hot water
This may only work in the coldest of the cold spots, we're talking temperatures at 20 below or better yet 30 below zero or less. You may have already seen this experiment on Youtube or other video outlets.

Heat up a cup or more of water.  Pour the hot water into a glass or mug. Venture outside in the brutally cold air.  Make sure to properly bundle up first of course. Throw the hot water up into the air and away from yourself and watch what happens!

Blowing bubbles
First you'll need a blowing bubble solution.  You can make your own or just yet buy a bubble solution at your local store. Heat up the solution so that it's warm or even hot to the touch. Head on outside into the frigid conditions.  Again, temperatures will likely need to be far below zero in order to attain the best effect but sub-freezing temperatures are acceptable too. Blow several bubbles and catch one on the blowing-bubble wand. Let the bubble rest on the wand in the cold air. In the subfreezing air, the bubble will freeze into a fragile crystal ball.  Pop it!  What happened?

Balloon deflation
Find a typical birthday balloon and blow it up. Place the balloon outside in the freezing air and tether it to a stationary object so it doesn't blow away. Over time, the balloon will contract and implode. Depending on what magnitude the cold air, the contraction of the balloon may take several minutes or it could happen quite quickly. Take it back inside to room temperature and watch it re-inflate.

Ripe banana hammer
Do you have a ripe banana in the house? Take it outside and let it hang out for a few hours (or less depending on the magnitude of the cold air). Yep, you guessed it.  It will eventually become hard as a rock.  So hard that you could very well use the banana to hammer a nail.

Car thermometer
Ok, so this isn't quite as fun as the other activities but you can try it out and document the potential dangers of leaving pets or even children in cars in this very cold weather. Locate a thermometer and place inside a car that is parked outside in the elements.  Record the initial temperature of the car interior. Head back inside and get warm! Then in an hour or so come back to the car and check the thermometer again.  How far did the temperature plummet?

Try these out and let me know how it works in the comments below! Better yet, send a picture of your experiment to me at karieakins@townsquaremedia.com.  Any great submissions will be posted on this very website.