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Thanksgiving Blizzard And Tree Damage

Posted on by akabelowsky
Ice and snow weigh down trees in a forest after a 2025 blizzard.

Trees bent from the weight of heavy snow following a Thanksgiving-week blizzard in northern Wisconsin. / Photo Credit: Wisconsin DNR

By Paul Cigan, DNR Forest Health Specialist
Paul.Cigan@wisconsin.gov or 715-416-4920

This year’s Thanksgiving holiday brought with it not only a hearty meal and a few good hunting stories to tell around the family table, but also a heavy fixing of blizzard-like conditions. The storm caused a real stretch to the proverbial beltline of many trees that were left heavily bent over in its wake.

On the evening of Tuesday, Nov. 25, a potent winter storm moved across northwestern Wisconsin, bringing with it freezing rain that transitioned to heavy, wet snow as temperatures dipped overnight.

Then, on Nov. 28-29, southern Wisconsin experienced its own potent dose of early winter snow when a second large snowstorm moved through, bringing heavy snowfall but with more limited damage.

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Impacts Of Winter Weather On Trees

Posted on by akabelowsky

By Michael Hillstrom, DNR Forest Health Specialist
Michael.Hillstrom@wisconsin.gov

A stand of pines shows heavy damage from an ice storm in April 2025.

A stand of pines shows heavy damage from an ice storm in April 2025. / Photo Credit: Wisconsin DNR

Winter damage can significantly impact the health of trees. Keeping trees healthy through the fall is important for reducing winter stress. Provide water as needed to trees until the leaves start falling (for deciduous trees) or until the ground starts freezing (for conifers).

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Hail Damage Can Cause Dieback, Whole-Tree Mortality

Posted on by akabelowsky
Photo of a young aspen showing signs of severe impact from hail. Arrows indicate each point of impact.

A young aspen shows signs of severe impact from hail. Arrows indicate each point of impact. / Photo Credit: Wisconsin DNR

By Linda Williams, DNR Forest Health Specialist, Woodruff
Linda.Williams@wisconsin.gov, 920-360-0665

Several high-impact storms across the state this summer have pummeled trees with hail. The photos accompanying this article show the kind of damage hail can bring to forests.

The initial damage following a significant hailstorm can immediately appear severe. But give it a month or two, and the damage can look even more pronounced.

Pines in particular will start to turn varying levels of brown, depending on the amount of damage they sustained. Damage to the branches and twigs is not limited to just the spot where the hail hit. As the summer goes on, damaged areas of bark that were cracked by the hail impact will often split open further and allow more drying and additional separation of the bark from the wood, which kills that area of the branch.

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