It’s so cold people are posting photos of their food freezing in midair

Mount Washington Observatory

We like our pasta served al dente every once in a while, but this one's a bit extreme, even for us.

As the country continues to get blasted with bone-chilling temperatures, the Mount Washington Observatory in New Hampshire had a bit of fun earlier this week and shared a photo of a plate of spaghetti that had frozen solid once it was exposed to the harsh elements.

“One of our Observers found a protected area out of the 65+ mph winds this morning and was going to have some leftover spaghetti for breakfast at sunrise but the -30F (-34C) temperatures prevented them from even taking a bite,” the group captioned the post.

Fascinated Facebook users were instantly intrigued and many commented that it looked like the rock solid pasta was floating on a cloud. Some also suggested that it resembled a sculpture. Overall, everyone was pretty impressed with the image.

“You should do more of these type photos and make a calendar or coffee table book. So cool and beautiful,” one suggested.

Sure, the photo was pretty remarkable. But some social media users were fixated on one question: Why would you eat pasta so early in the day?

"That’s what you get for eating spaghetti for breakfast," one wrote. Another commented, "That’s one way to stay away from carbs!"

The photo had the opposite effect on some folks and resulted in some unexpected cravings.

"And now I want spaghetti for breakfast. Warm spaghetti, however," one Facebook user wrote.

It clearly gets pretty cold at the Mount Washington Observatory’s summit weather station, and a spokesperson for the group told TODAY Food that -31F is the official new record minimum temperature (recorded this week) for Jan. 11.

Before that, the previous daily minimum record (set in 1981) was -29° F for Jan. 11. The all-time record minimum at the summit of Mount Washington is -47° F and was recorded in January of 1934.

The observatory's spokesperson said they're thrilled that the photo resonated with so many people, but not all that surprised that it's going viral.

"Mount Washington’s extreme weather has captivated visitors and scientists for hundreds of years. Many people who have visited the summit follow the unique lives of our weather observers, who keep watch at our weather station every hour of every day, providing essential forecasts and data," the spokesperson said.

The Mount Washington Observatory is hardly the first group to have fun with cold weather food experiments. Nathan Ziegler, a Minneapolis-based school principal, has been making entertaining videos with his family on his YouTube channel Minnesota Cold since 2007. And yes, he has frozen spaghetti before.

Ziegler's channel has over 550,000 subscribers and nearly 250 million views, and he told TODAY that one of the only ways to survive Minnesota winters is to truly embrace the cold.

“My favorite thing to do is to think of things that no one has ever tried before to show the rest of the world how cold it gets in Minnesota,” he explained.

This king of cold has frozen everything from pasta to eggs and even milkshakes, and he says the experiments usually work best when the temperatures are in the negatives (Fahrenheit).

Ziegler’s cold weather experiments extend beyond just food, and he's also frozen his wife's hair (much to her dismay).

“She’s a good sport, but is not from Minnesota and gets quite annoyed with the cold here,” he explained.

The king of cold keeps a running list of ideas that he adds to all year long while he waits for the frigid temperatures to arrive. And he has one word of advice for anyone who wants to replicate his work at home: “Have fun trying these experiments, but make sure to always dress warm when you do.”

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