COLUMBIA - The weather is bitter cold, and our face masks are getting wetter the longer we are outside. Wet masks aren't the most effective when taking COVID-19 precautions. "The filtration of the mask is not as good when it's moist or wet," Boone Hospital's infection prevention consultant Cassie Mueller said. "So you want a clean, dry mask when possible." Condensation and a runny nose are usually what makes the inside of our mask wet when we're outside in the cold. "Your mask ends up getting a little more wet because of what you exhale," MU Health Care emergency physician Christopher Sampson said. "Your breath is very, very warm and so it's hitting that cold air. And then also you have the mask that kind of traps the air around your face, so it creates condensation."