Overview
- With an Arctic blast ongoing, forecasters say conditions in the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest could produce audible frost cracks in vulnerable trees.
- Frost cracks occur when sap rapidly freezes and expands as bark cools faster than inner wood, creating sudden vertical splits that can sound like gunshots.
- Meteorologists and state forestry specialists cite roughly minus-20 degrees Fahrenheit and rapid temperature drops as the range where cracking becomes more likely.
- Thin-barked and less cold-acclimated species such as maples, lindens and sycamores face higher risk, and damaged trunks can invite decay or drop branches over time.
- Arborists and officials advise inspecting severely cracked trees and focusing on broader storm hazards such as falling limbs, power outages and frozen pipes, noting that frost quakes and thundersnow can also create loud booms.