RICE LAKE, Wis. (WJMC) — A post on social media says the upper Midwest is at risk of exploding trees due to the extreme cold.
Wisconsin DNR Forester Ron Weber says, it happens more often than you think, but not so dramatically.
“The trees don’t explode. What they do is they crack. It’s called frost cracking. This sounds like a gunshot almost. It can be loud,” Weber said. “It’s a pretty common, you know, occurrence.”
“You know, there’s a lot of trees in the forest. They’re not all going to crack. Certain ones are more susceptible to others, especially trees that have really thin bark, like younger trees or certain species of trees. Maples, younger oaks are real susceptible to that. Fruit trees, apple trees, and cherry trees,” Weber explained.
“You know, I’ve been out in the woods deer hunting, and I’ve had a tree, you know, two trees over, all of a sudden just pow. And, you know, it can be quite loud. They’re not going to, no danger to anyone. The tree’s not going to come down on them, you know, anything like that,” the Ladysmith-based forester added.
Weber says it often happens when there is a sunny winter day, followed by an extreme temperature drop. The outer part of the tree cools and shrinks faster than the interior, creating pressure that cracks, or pops. It doesn’t kill trees and they heal from the frost cracking, but it can create openings for pests or diseases to enter.
Weber says there are wraps you can put on trees before winter comes if you want to protect them.