‘Exploding trees’ risk for Michigan, Minnesota as temperatures plummet—Can trees explode due to extreme cold?

The United States, from Texas to the Carolinas, is reeling under an extremely cold airmass and is forecast to drop heavy snow, ice, and freezing rain in the coming days.

This can create hazardous travel conditions, power outages, and could burst pipes, according to the National Weather Service. Some weather forecasters have warned that this drastic drop in temperatures could cause some trees to explode.

A meteorologist on X has issued a “exploding trees” risk for Michigan, Minnesota and its surrounding areas.

On Friday and Saturday, the maximum temperature is expected to remain in the single digits, with wind chills. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings are likely to be at least 10 below zero.

A social media personality and degreed meteorologist, Max Velocity, issued a “exploding tree” risk for Friday and Saturday in Michigan, including most of the Upper Peninsula and the northwestern-most part of the Lower Peninsula.

Entire Minnesota and parts of its surrounding states are also at risk, he said.

“During spells of extreme cold or when trees haven’t had time to acclimate, the life-sustaining sap inside a tree can begin to freeze,” the foundation said on its website. “Sap contains water, so it expands when frozen, putting pressure on the bark, which can break and create an explosion.”

That causes a sound similar to a gunshot and a risk of falling branches.

According to the National Forest Foundation, there have been numerous historic and current observations of trees "exploding" due to extreme cold.

West Texas A&M University Associate Professor of Physics Christopher Baird said that the sound of the explosion may sound violent, but the process isn't actually dangerous for nearby people.

"The crackling sound or gunshot pop you hear in the forest in the winter is the sound of trees freezing and bursting," Baird said on a university website.

“A tree has hundreds to tens of thousands of these fluid channels. If one bursts, the tree has plenty of other ones to rely on. Furthermore, each channel is small, so that an individual channel bursting does not do much damage,” he added.