The 20-minute pre-storm walk that saves trees (and roofs).

Why a pre-storm walk matters

The trees that come down in a storm aren't usually random. Most of them had warning signs that went unnoticed — a crack in a major branch, a tight V-shaped union that was waiting to split, deadwood that had been dead for two seasons, or a lean that had gradually gotten worse. A 20-minute walk around your property before storm season (and again after any major weather event) catches most of these before they become a midnight emergency.

You don't need any tools. You need your eyes and a rough idea of what you're looking at.

The walk: what to look for

Start with the overall lean. Stand back far enough to see the whole tree. Is the trunk plumb, or does it lean noticeably in one direction? A slight lean is normal; a lean that has become more pronounced since last year is not. If the lean points toward your house, garage, or fence line, flag it for an arborist assessment.

Look up into the crown. Dead branches are obvious in summer because they hold no leaves when everything around them is green. In winter, deadwood is harder to spot — look for branches that are clearly drier and more brittle than neighboring branches, or that have lost their bark. Any deadwood over your roofline, driveway, or a play area should come out before the next storm.

Check the major branch unions. Where large branches meet the trunk or each other, look for:

• Included bark — where two branches grow so close together that bark is embedded in the union. These unions are weak and split under load.
• Cracks — visible splits along a branch or at a union. Even small cracks can propagate rapidly under storm stress.
• Swelling or bulging — can indicate a decay pocket inside.

Check the base of the tree. Root problems show up at grade level. Look for soil heaving on one side of the tree (the roots are losing their grip), mushrooms or conks growing from the base (fungal decay), or cracks in the bark at ground level.

After the storm

After any significant ice or wind event, repeat the walk — but this time you're looking at the trees that are still standing. Storm-damaged trees that remain upright often have hidden structural compromise: split leaders that are still held together by a strip of bark, root systems that heaved slightly and re-settled, or major branches that cracked internally without fully breaking. An arborist assessment after a significant event is worth the cost; it tells you which trees need attention before the next one.