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

As a brutal winter storm takes shape, there are some eye-popping claims getting attention about the risk of "exploding trees." Here's what you need to know.

Despite recent viral social media claims, trees do not literally “explode” like bombs in extreme cold. What happens instead is a natural physical response to rapid and severe temperature drops. When temperatures plunge well below freezing, moisture and sap inside a tree’s wood can freeze.

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,