More than 200 million Americans are bracing for what promises to be a bone-chilling and potentially catastrophic winter storm this weekend, threatening travel and power outages across more than two dozen states.
With temperatures forecast to plummet from the incoming blast of Arctic air, one popular social media meteorologist warned residents of the Midwest and Northern Plains about what he called “exploding trees.”
“EXPLODING TREES are possible in the Midwest and Northern Plains on Friday and Saturday, as temperatures are forecasted to fall 20 degrees BELOW zero!“ Max “Velocity” Schuster, who earned his degree in meteorology at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, cautioned on X.
But Schuster’s warning drew criticism from others who said his language was hyperbolic. “PSA. No. With dropping temps, you may get some cracking in trees but no explosions,” WISN 12 meteorologist Lindsey Slater wrote on Bluesky. “Jeez.”
What’s the truth? People should not fear flying shrapnel from exploding trees this winter – but trees can split with a resounding boom.
What happens to trees in extreme cold?
Extreme temperature drops below the freezing point of water can cause the sap inside a young tree to rapidly freeze and expand, and the outer bark layer of the tree to contract more rapidly than the inner layers.
This causes pressure to build up within the tree, resulting in what’s known as a “frost crack.”
That’s what produces the loud noise.
“The splitting itself can sound like a rifle shot. The area involved shows as an elongated, vertical crack, or sometimes bulge, in the trunk,” the Missouri Botanical Garden explains.
The cracks leave trees of many different species vulnerable to insects, bacteria and fungi. When warmer weather comes, the cracks close and may reopen in the winter.
But can they explode?
“I’ve never seen the damage of it, but from what I have seen and what I read online is that it is rare for there just to be so much pressure that is suddenly released inside this tree that it almost does explode,” Bill McNee, a forest health specialist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
What should people expect in this storm?
Temperatures likely won’t be cold enough for frost cracks in most of the country.
In Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin, where there are extreme cold warnings, low temperatures on Friday and Saturday will be below zero degrees.
But, Sheppard said that the temperatures likely need to reach negative 20 degrees or lower for frost cracks.
“The Chicago Bears have a better shot at winning the Super Bowl than you do witnessing an exploding tree from -20° temps,” wrote WFRV meteorologist Luke Sampe.