Trees cracking from extreme cold (way sub-zero) and sounding like a gunshot--

[raccoon]

--does this happen in RL? I read about it in FAR NORTH by Will Hobbs, which is fiction. Characters were in the Northwest Territory.

[rateyes]

1. Yep. nt

[soleft]

2. Don't know about that, however

I was reading a book about Carl Jung and the paranormal, and he recounts a personal experience of a round walnut table in his family home suddenly and inexplicably splitting with a loud bang.

I don't know about paranormal, but I find reading this and then shortly afterward seeing your post rather synchronicitous.

[Ganja Ninja]

3. I grew up in Michigan and I remember one time when we had an ice storm

The trees were breaking under the weight of the ice but they were also cracking and yes it did sound like lightning or a gun going off. It was very very loud.

[jaxx]

4. My parents lived in Missouri and had the same thing with an ice storm.

During the night the trees started to break and they said it sounded like guns. And then the poor trees were so short after that. Sometimes Mother Nature isn't very nice.

[amdezurik]

7. went to High School and 1st year of college in Minn

and at times it got down to 30-40 below...believe it

[hedgehog]

5. I've heard the occasional branch snap from the cold.

[raccoon]

6. It sounded like in the book it was from extreme cold, not ice. nt

[MO_Dem]

8. Yes, it happens

I've lived in rural MO all my life, and I've heard it several times here. We do occasionally have night temperatures that drop below zero. I'd guess that it happens far more often in colder climates. I don't know anything about the scientific explanation, but I always figured it was due to contraction from the cold. Ya know, like the expanding and contracting that occurs with temp. fluctuation? Ever hear ice cubes popping when you pour warmer liquid over them? :shrug:

[benld74]

9. I have seen telephone poles that have exploded,,,

after a hard rain, with a cold front moving behind it. The poles soaked up the water, then literally exploded upon freezing when the cold front came thru later. Wild stuff indeed

[desktop]

10. If the right sees this story, they will say it is proof global warming is a hoax

eom

[Posteritatis]

11. Meh (nt)

[Indenturedebtor]

12. Yes, I spent 3 years in New Hampshire in the 90's

back when winter was actually cold and this would happen from time to time. Especially during big ice storms and blizzards.

[Wilms]

13. Only if someone is there to hear it. Otherwise, all bets are off.

And yes. I've been there and heard it.

[Lithos]

14. Yes

Water expands when it turns to ice. If it gets cold enough the water in the wood and sap will freeze (or water which has come into rotten areas of the tree) and will become pressurized. Also, the wood of the tree will loose strength as it gets cold. Make it cold enough and the combination will result in a mini bomb with the creation of a crack or fault which will allow the pressure of the ice to release much like a bullet.

L-

[pokerfan]

15. I suspect that it's related to the glass transition temperature, Tg

The glass transition temperature, Tg, is the temperature at which an amorphous solid, such as glass or a polymer, becomes brittle on cooling, or soft on heating.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_transition_temperature

Once that temperature is exceeded the rubber becomes rigid and no longer pneumatic or at least no longer flexible. From that point I assume that the weight of the vehicle then causes the tires to crack. But I'm just speculating.

[Canuckistanian]

16. I've heard it several times

Actually the most memorable experience of it was on New Year's Eve 2000 in Northern Ontario. There was a warming spell followed by a cold snap.

It was eerie listening to these very loud cracks coming from every direction. Very much like small arms fire. I think I still have a recording of it somewhere.