Meteorologists warn of ‘exploding trees’ as brutal cold snap expected to usher in subzero temps
A tree-mendous freeze.
Forecasters are warning that expected subzero temperatures could cause trees to explode as a brutal cold snap is expected to wallop most of the country in the coming days.
Trees may split and burst across the Midwest and Northern Plains Friday and Saturday as a bitter Arctic blast from Canada sends temperatures plunging to roughly 20 degrees below zero, according to social media meteorologist Max Velocity.
Trees may split and burst across the Midwest and Northern Plains Friday and Saturday as a bitter Arctic blast from Canada sends temperatures plunging to roughly 20 degrees below zero.
“EXPLODING TREES are possible in the Midwest and Northern Plains on Friday and Saturday, as temperatures are forecasted to fall 20 degrees BELOW zero!” the YouTuber, who has about 1.55 million subscribers, said in an X post Tuesday night.
Rebecca Ann, another social media weather buff, noted that although rare, the environmental phenomenon can threaten healthy and weakened trees in extremely frigid conditions.
Although evergreens are built to endure winter weather, experts caution the bark can shatter and erupt if it hasn’t had enough time to adjust to a sudden cold snap.
Although evergreens are built to endure winter weather, experts caution the bark can shatter and erupt if it hasn’t had enough time to adjust to a sudden cold snap. Radoslav Cajkovic – stock.adobe.com
“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,” according to the National Forest Foundation.
“Sap contains water so it expands when frozen, putting pressure on the bark, which can break and create an explosion. There are numerous historic and current observations of trees exploding due to extreme cold.”
Christopher Baird, a physics associate professor at West Texas A&M University, likened the rare spectacle to a pipe bursting when water freezes.
Christopher Baird, a physics associate professor at West Texas A&M University, likened the rare spectacle to a pipe bursting when water freezes to ice. Yan – stock.adobe.com
He explained that when a tree explodes, it can often mimic the sound of a gunshot.
“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 the university website.
“A tree had 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 so much damage.”
Snow covering Valentino Park in Red Hook, Brooklyn, on Jan. 20, 2026. Paul Martinka for NY Post
The bone-chilling cold front is expected to plunge temperatures below zero and into the single digits across large swaths of the eastern US.
Forecasters are warning people to stay inside or risk hypothermia.
“It is dangerously cold,” AccuWeather senior meteorologist Tom Kines told The Post, advising people to layer up and only go out if they have to.
“This Arctic air — an Arctic blast — is coming. It’s going to get worse before it gets better.”
