Summer Branch Drop syndrome

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Bjørn 24 Jul @ 2:16pm

On hot days and after some time of little or no rain, trees sometimes drop a healthy branch to conserve water, thus saving the rest of the tree. Called 'sudden drop syndrome' or 'summer branch syndrome'.

This is new to us in Norway, and apparently we don't even have a name for it, but the recent heatwaves are making it more frequent.

This article (in Norwgian) is about how the Palace in Oslo are setting up warning signs about it in its park, and how people are surprised to learn about it, and it also surprised me, even though I've often walked around in forests, and was a boy scout, so should know about these things...

https://www.nrk.no/stor-oslo/slottet-advarer-om-sommerfenomen_-_-gjelder-i-hele-norge-1.17503978

Is this something that is commonly known to you people in other, warmer countries, and that you think about before relaxing in the shade under large, old trees?

Any interesting / scary stories to tell about it?

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Showing 1-14 of 14 comments

Bjørn 22 hours ago

(shameless bump)

No one has experienced this? Falling branches? Actually a bit reassuring. I've always trusted trees

EASY PETE 22 hours ago

As i must preserve my body water, off you go arm.

Phénomènes Mystiques 22 hours ago

Entire healthy trees can also fall down after heavy rains due to extremely soggy footing (uprooting).

Last edited by Phénomènes Mystiques; 22 hours ago

Mina 22 hours ago

they fell on a few old parked cars here

Republic of Lamers 21 hours ago

Originally posted by Mina:
they fell on a few old parked cars here

they fell on my brand new 2025 car that i just purchased last month.
trees =

Dodece 21 hours ago

Honestly this is the first I'm hearing of this phenomena, and I live where deciduous forest meets swamp land. I've seen trees lose limbs due to wind, lightning, old age, and infection, but never due to being thirsty. Which trees in particular are pulling off this feet?

veles 21 hours ago

I assume temperatures above 20°C and nice weather are a new thing to Norway too.

Electric Cupcake 21 hours ago

Here in the forests of Minnesota, cutting up fallen branches, or trimming them away from over the roof, is an almost year-round chore.

Many kids learn to handle a chainsaw and log splitter before middle school.

*Insert Lumberjack Song Here*

Christian 20 hours ago

We have "widowmakers" but its not just associated with summer.

Bjørn 20 hours ago

Originally posted by Republic of Lamers:
Originally posted by Mina:
they fell on a few old parked cars here

they fell on my brand new 2025 car that i just purchased last month.
trees =

Interesting! Ty guys.

Originally posted by Dodece:
Honestly this is the first I'm hearing of this phenomena, and I live where deciduous forest meets swamp land. I've seen trees lose limbs due to wind, lightning, old age, and infection, but never due to being thirsty. Which trees in particular are pulling off this feet?

yeah, I forgot to mention this phenomenon only happens when there is no wind (it's mentioned in the article though) or other weather conditions when you 'expect' branches to fall off. Only during sunny and clear days with no winds, so it's a bit fascinating. Healthy branches are simply shed from the trees.

The article above, when interviewing employees of the palace park, says (translated):

"They state that the horse chestnut tree species is most prone to shedding branches.

– On the other hand, a tree species like oak rarely sheds branches, even when they are dead"

So not sure about other specific tree types.

I found this article in English, but it doesn't mention much info, as far as I can see:

https://summerbranchdrop.com/

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Bjørn 20 hours ago

Originally posted by veles:
I assume temperatures above 20°C and nice weather are a new thing to Norway too.

Plenty of nice weather and warm temperatures in Norway, but I guess this is a common misconception. The gulf stream keeps the climate pretty warm here

I live in the south, so snow is very rare even in winter, but also in the north it's not uncommon with 30+ degrees C in the summer, and in recent years especially so. Plenty of places with new temperature records again this year, with 35+ degrees C (or 95+ degrees Fahrenheit)

But as elsewhere, a lot of erratic weather, sudden storms and droughts.

#11

Dodece 20 hours ago

Oh well then it makes sense why I've never heard of this phenomena, because where I live there is actually a constant breeze day in day out. Those who aren't local often comment on it, but for us it just seems like the way things should be. So no windless days means this can't happen, or if it does we presume it's for other reasons.

#12

Bjørn 18 hours ago

Originally posted by Dodece:
Oh well then it makes sense why I've never heard of this phenomena, because where I live there is actually a constant breeze day in day out. Those who aren't local often comment on it, but for us it just seems like the way things should be. So no windless days means this can't happen, or if it does we presume it's for other reasons.

It's nice to have a constant breeze, and a precious commodity!

I've often traveled to a Spanish Island (Gran Canaria, where I'm also planning to move permanently), and it can get quite hot there, being relatively close to the equator. But the southern part of the island has a constant breeze / wind from the ocean, so even on hot days you can go outside and be cooled by the wind. Dangerous though, since the sun still burns without you noticing it.

Makes me wonder if they have this branch drop problem there...

#13

Apollo702 17 hours ago

Different plants- all the way up to trees will react vastly differently to changing conditions.

Inside, I have a bunch of prayer plants that fold their leaves as if they are praying as one example.

#14

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Date Posted: 24 Jul @ 2:16pm

Posts: 14

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