ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Have you noticed an increase in downed trees across the Rochester-area, even on calm, sunny days? Just Tuesday night, a tree fell last night onto a Greece home, despite no severe weather.
News10NBC’s Tom Kowalski visited Flower City Tree to find out what’s causing the problem.
Sudden Branch Drop
“There’s actually a phenomenon, it’s called sudden branch drop or summer branch drop,” said Andrew Scherdin, owner of Flower City Tree and a certified arborist of nearly 12 years.
“And that is caused dry conditions,” Scherdin continued. “And the tree actually loses more moisture through its leaves and canopy than it can uptake through the dry soil and its roots. And that leads to shrinkage in the wood fiber. And then we’re seeing a lot of branch failures, midpoint of, healthy trees on nice, calm days.
Scherdin theorizes sudden branch drop may have led to a large branch falling at Seneca Park Zoo last week. That day had no rain and wind gusts of just 24 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service.
Recent weather impacts
News10NBC meteorologist Glenn Johnson said recent weather trends may have also contributed to similar tree falls.
“If you remember, we had a lot of rain in the spring season than we had a lot of sunshine. So I think there’s been a lot of growth on some of the area trees,” Johnson said. “And then we had some strong, gusty winds that came in from an unusual direction. And sometimes some of these trees are not used to that strong a wind in that direction.”
Preventing Sudden Branch Drop?
Scherdin said there are no visual indicators of sudden branch drop, but there are ways to prevent it. One is to call a certified arborist to assess trees on a regular basis, especially the longer horizontal limbs, Scherdin said.
“Just like we change the oil in our car in a routine,” Scherdin said.
The second prevention method is watering mature trees during longer, drier spells. For every inch diameter of the stem, it’s 10 gallons of water, Scherdin said.
“Hypothetically, a 12 inch tree should get 120 gallons of water every week during dry spells,” Scherdin said.
Sudden branch drop: What’s causing fallen trees on clear, sunny days? WHEC.com.
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