It is indeed possible for trees to split apart in extreme conditions and to do so quite noisily, she said, typically when there’s a big swing in temperatures. In these instances, sap rapidly freezes when the mercury plummets and the tree expands, its trunk or limbs busting open like the buttons on a too-tight shirt after Thanksgiving dinner.

A viral social media post shared thousands of times warned of an “exploding tree risk."

We're not even one month into 2026, and with everything that's happening, now we have to deal with exploding trees? No, not entirely. But a sudden deep freeze is going to send temperatures plummeting in much of Canada and the U.

Forecasters warn an extreme winter storm could trigger rare “exploding trees” across the Upper Midwest as temperatures plunge below zero, causing sap inside trees to freeze and crack bark. The storm is expected to bring widespread snow,

As a major segment of the United States remains engulfed under a furious polar vortex, the freezing temperatures might cause the trees to explode.