The contact angle of water drops deposited on a heated surface varies significantly over the drop lifetime. Three main regimes were identified, a tran-sient spreading regime characterized by complex drop-let oscillations and contact angle fluctuations, a quasi-mechanical equilibrium regime, where the contact angle is fairly cozstant, and a transient evaporation regime, where the contact angle gradually decreases due to evaporation. The quasi-mechanical equilibrium contact angle was found to resemble the advancing contact angle definition loosely adopted in the boiling heat transfer literature.