OSHKOSH, Wis. (WFRV) – Social media has been buzzing about ‘exploding trees’; however, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) says that is not the case.
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Forest Health Specialist Bill McNee told Local 5 that frost cracking is a rare phenomenon and it’s far less dramatic than you might think.
“With the arrival of the cold temperatures theres a lot of sensational news headlines that there’s exploding trees,” McNee said. “In reality, it’s moreso that your trees may crack and give off a loud cracking sound as that occurs.”
The DNR says that frost cracking occurs when moisture inside the tree expands, creating pressure inside the trunk.
“It freezes and expands, creating intense pressure inside the tree,” McNee said. “This is sometimes more than the wood can handle, and pressure gets relieved by the pressure of a crack.”
McNee said if this happens, it often looks like a small crack in the trunk.
Cold temperatures are one of the factors that can cause this phenomenon, but others include tree species, the amount of moisture in the tree going into winter and how quickly the temperatures drop.
“It’s sensational headlines [which] show exploding trees and AI videos showing trees exploding,” McNee said. “It does happen, under the right conditions, it could occur, but it’s a rare phenomenon that it could occur in anyone’s yard.”
McNee says that despite the viral claims, it is very rare to ever see this.
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“I have never seen a tree explode in 24 years,” McNee said.
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