Most trees give some warning before they actually fail — the trouble is knowing which signs mean “keep an eye on it” and which mean “this needs attention now.” That warning matters more here than in a milder climate: Jefferson County’s lake-effect storms have a way of turning a marginal tree into a genuine emergency overnight, as Watertown and Fort Drum found out in November 2022 when more than six feet of snow fell in a matter of days. Here are eight signs to watch for, roughly in order of how urgent they tend to be.
1. Large Sections of Dead Canopy
A branch or two of deadwood in an otherwise full canopy is normal. Whole sections of the crown dead while the rest looks fine points to a more serious problem — often disease, root damage, or in ash trees, emerald ash borer.
2. Bark Sloughing Off in Sheets
Bark peeling away in patches, especially combined with woodpecker activity underneath, often means the tree is already dead or dying in that area. Woodpeckers go after the insects that move into dead and dying wood, so heavy woodpecker damage is itself a signal worth paying attention to.
This is especially relevant for ash trees given EAB’s presence in Jefferson County — heavy woodpecker feeding, called blonding for the lighter wood it exposes, is one of the more visible field signs of an active infestation.
3. Mushrooms or Fungus at the Base
Fungal growth at the root flare or trunk base is a sign of internal decay, not just a cosmetic issue. Not every fungus means immediate failure, but it’s a strong enough signal that it’s worth a professional look rather than assuming it’s harmless year after year.
4. Root Heave or Soil Cracking
Soil lifting or cracking in a ring around the base, especially if it’s new or getting more pronounced, suggests the root plate is shifting — often one of the more urgent signs on this list, since it can mean the tree is actively losing its anchor in the ground and could go over with the next strong wind.
5. Major Cracks Running Down the Trunk
A significant vertical crack, especially one you can fit a finger into, means the trunk’s structural integrity is compromised. Combined with any lean, this moves toward the urgent end of the list.
Frost cracks, which run vertically and tend to reopen in roughly the same spot each winter due to temperature-driven expansion and contraction, are a related but somewhat different issue — usually not immediately dangerous on their own, but a repeated entry point for decay over years, worth keeping an eye on rather than ignoring just because it isn’t new.
6. A Lean That’s Gotten Noticeably Worse
Many trees have a natural, stable lean they’ve had for decades. What matters is change — a lean that’s visibly worse than it was last season, particularly following a storm, is a different situation than a tree that’s always grown at an angle.
A simple way to track this over time: take a photo from the same spot each season, ideally with something for scale in frame. A lean that’s hard to judge by memory alone often becomes obvious once you can compare two photos side by side.
7. Co-Dominant Stems With Included Bark
Two roughly equal trunks splitting from a single low point, with bark pinched between them rather than a clean union, is a structurally weak configuration that often eventually splits. This is exactly the profile our cabling service is built around catching before it fails.
8. Broken Limbs Hung Up in the Canopy
A “widowmaker” — a broken limb caught in the branches above rather than having fallen to the ground — is one of the more dangerous and least obvious hazards on this list, since it’s easy to miss from the ground and can come down with no additional warning at all, sometimes days or weeks after whatever originally broke it.
Which Signs Mean “Call This Week”
Root heave, major trunk cracks, a rapidly worsening lean, and hung-up broken limbs are the ones that warrant prompt attention rather than a wait-and-see approach, especially over a house, driveway, or anywhere people regularly walk or park. The rest are worth watching and addressing on a normal schedule.
Combinations matter more than any single sign in isolation. A tree with one small area of deadwood and nothing else is a low-priority watch item. The same amount of deadwood combined with fungus at the base and a lean that’s gotten worse this year is a very different situation, even though none of the three signs alone would necessarily be urgent.
After a Storm: What to Check First
Given how often this region deals with significant lake-effect and ice events, a post-storm walk-around is worth doing as a habit, not just when something looks obviously wrong. Root heave and new trunk cracks are the two signs most likely to appear suddenly after a storm and least likely to be noticed without deliberately looking, since they don’t announce themselves the way a broken limb on the ground does.
Signs That Usually Aren’t Urgent
Not everything on a tree that looks concerning actually is. A single dead branch in an otherwise healthy canopy, minor surface bark texture changes, or a small amount of sap or resin oozing from one spot are all generally normal and don’t need to be treated the same way as the eight signs above. Knowing the difference is part of why a professional assessment is more useful than a worried guess — not every unusual-looking thing on a tree is actually a problem.
Documenting What You See
If you spot one of the more serious signs, a few photos with today’s date noted somewhere — a text to yourself, an email, whatever’s easy — creates a useful record if the tree’s condition becomes relevant later, whether that’s for an insurance conversation or just tracking whether something is getting worse over time.
Revisit the photos every month or two rather than just once. Change over time is often more informative than any single snapshot — a crack that’s visibly wider than it was eight weeks ago tells you something a one-time photo never could.
Get a Second Opinion
If you’ve spotted one or more of these signs and you’re not sure how urgent it is, a free hazard assessment gives you a straight answer without any obligation to act on it immediately.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do all of these signs mean a tree needs to be removed?
No — several, like co-dominant stems or moderate deadwood, are often addressed with trimming or cabling rather than full removal. The right response depends on the specific combination of signs and where the tree is positioned.
What’s the single most dangerous sign on this list?
A hung-up broken limb (a widowmaker) is arguably the most dangerous precisely because it’s easy to miss from the ground and can fail without further warning.
Should I check my trees after every storm?
A quick visual check after any significant wind, ice, or heavy snow event is a good habit, especially for trees near your house — it’s how root heave and new cracks are usually first noticed.
