I love trees and the cool shade they provide specially in the hot summer. While driving throughout the county this summer I’ve noticed a number of very large tree limbs down. I did a little research on this subject and found a phenomenon know as sudden limb drop. It seems the experts are still trying to determine what is the exact cause of this problem. While the experts are doing that I would just like to make you aware that it does happen. A local expert explained: ” Oak limbs contain a great deal of moisture adding weight during the summer. If any wood decaying organisms are present in the trunk or limbs subsequent failure can occur.” While on a rafting vacation and campout in the Sierra foothills, I had a whole tree land in my camp site one hot summer morning that really freaked me out. Now I really take notice of these kinds of things. If your a home owner and have very large trees around your house, road entrance or common areas take time to examine them. If the tree appears to have any signs of decease or rot then I recommend having an arborist either trim the tree accordingly or take it down. Some of the limbs that I see on the ground are very large and probably weigh many hundreds or thousands of pounds. So don’t take chances because if a limb comes down and your underneath it! Well, I think you get the picture. If you hear anything that sounds like twigs snapping in a tree get away from the tree as fast as you can. This was the warning I got when the tree finally snapped and fell into our camp site. Lucky for us nobody was hurt or killed. I will post a few pictures here showing some of the limbs on the ground this summer and some were very close calls to the houses and vehicles.
