On a viral post on X-formerly-Twitter, Schuster — who holds a meteorology degree and goes by “Max Velocity” on social media — declared an area of “exploding tree risk” across the Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and northern Michigan.

Local meteorologists warned that when coupled with wind chill, temperatures would feel as cold as minus 54 degrees. The temperatures are life-threatening to humans and can also cause trees to "explode," according to a meteorologist who warned of the phenomenon on X on Tuesday night.

As Minnesotans, along with much of the rest of the nation, hunker down for a brutally cold stretch of January weather, a new winter concern is starting to go viral on social media.

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,

Meteorologists are warning that an incoming subzero cold snap comes with an increased risk of "exploding trees." Arborists say it's a real thing that