• The midwest is being hit particularly hard during the polar vortex, with temperatures dropping to below temperatures recorded at the North Pole.
• Minneapolis, in Minnesota, was hit particularly hard. Temperatures dropped to -50 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Weather Service.
• People are sharing photos on social media that show just how extreme the cold is.

As the polar vortex swirls over America, temperatures across the midwest have dropped to the coldest in a generation.

One of the hardest-hit cities is Minneapolis, Minnesota, where the National Weather Service said the temperature dropped to -50 degrees Farenheit with wind chill factored in. Other meteorologists said the temperature could reach as low as -70 degrees. Much of the midwest is colder than the northern Arctic right now, and Minneapolis at one point was even colder than Anarctica. Across the midwest, the weather is reportedly responsible for at least six deaths.

On Twitter and Instagram, people are sharing photos of their experiences living through the extreme cold.

Here's what it's like.

Crystal-like webs of ice are naturally appearing on people's windows

...and covering them in frost.

People are making sculptures from clothes freezing solid in the weather.

At the same time, Minnesotans are committed to soldiering through the cold.  

Emergency responders are still doing their jobs.

On Instagram, people are using the winter wonderland as an excuse to show off their photography chops.

...Many of them were taken through windows, since people didn't want to step outside.

And, of course, there are memes.

But despite the extreme weather, one college student wore shorts anyway.

There's always that one guy. 

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