What To Really Know About The ‘Exploding Tree’ Risk Minnesota Faces This Week

I've been seeing several people I know sharing around warning messages on social media this week, alerting that Minnesota is in the center of a zone where there's a risk of "exploding trees" in the coming days.

The absurd-sounding warning is linked to the fact that it is going to be brutally cold in the coming days. In some places, air temperatures aren't expected to get above -10, with wind chills that could sink as low as -60.

Yes, that is dangerously cold. But is it cold enough to cause trees to explode?

The Texas-based weather social media personality that goes by the name "Max Velocity" (clever name, bud) has a post that's been getting shared around Minnesota and elsewhere in the Upper Midwest that warns of the risk of exploding trees on Friday and Saturday, during the coldest part of this arctic blast we're seeing right now.

So, can trees actually explode during brutal cold like we could see this weekend? Here's a look at the science behind the claim and whether or not it is actually possible.

Can trees really explode from bitter cold weather?

Let me start by saying that the word "explode" is really misleading.

While some noises and cracking are possible, trees aren't going to spontaneously blow apart into twigs and toothpicks.

This is an overly dramatic way for people looking to get your attention online are framing a real phenomenon where trees might react to the frigid weather, but sorry, they're not going to explode.

READ MORE: What To Know About New Kind Of Weather Alerts Now Being Used In Minnesota

Unlike online personality "Max Velocity" from Texas, a (real) Midwestern meteorologist named Shawn Cable reiterates that trees aren't going to literally explode during this cold snap.

Heck, it's gotten this cold before. Do you remember trees exploding in the past? I doubt it. You might remember, however, that some other things happened.

As Shawn explains, when temperatures (not wind chills) get down to around -20 or colder, this can place stress on the structure of the tree. If the temperature change happens relatively quickly, this can lead to a split or crack in the tree and some loud noises associated with that.

In some more extreme cases, these cracking or splitting events might lead to pieces of bark or a tree branch on the ground near the tree. But this isn't due to an explosion.

Even if there is no quick drop in temperatures, trees can make popping and cracking noises as the tree contracts due to extreme cold.

Again, no real "explosion". Mostly just sounds. To be fair, some of those sounds can be loud. People who have heard this liken it to a gunshot in some cases.

Why does this happen?

In short, it comes down to the physics of how extreme cold impacts the composition of the tree.

As a horticulturist explains, trees are always expanding and contracting with changes in temperature.

The main factor at play is the water in a tree. When water freezes, it expands. The sugars in a tree's sap make it kind of like an "antifreeze" of sorts, lowering the freezing point of the moisture in a tree.

Eventually, that lower freezing point can be met, at which point the moisture will begin to freeze and expand, which can cause popping and cracking.

These cracks often don't cause long-term harm to the tree, especially if it is an otherwise healthy tree that will likely bounce back from the damage that might occur.