As temperatures drop in Iowa this weekend, curiosity and concern about trees exploding from the cold have grown. Here's what really happens.

As more than half of the United States braces for a powerful winter storm, some meteorologists are warning on social media that “exploding trees” are possible.

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,

Here's what you need to know to stay safe.

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.

Massachusetts probably won’t see the kind of extreme cold necessary for trees to split this weekend. Some parts of the Berkshires could see low temperatures of -6 degrees on Friday night into Saturday morning, according to the National Weather Service, but that won’t be enough to cause any woodland “explosions.”