Springtime trees vulnerable in heavy snowfall expected Friday

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Wet and heavy snowfall expected Friday can cause problems for trees, gathering and weighing down the branches, sometimes causing them to bend and break.

Colorado Springs City Forestry said they are prepared and on standby heading into the weekend to clean up branches that may break and fall during the spring storm.

During this time of year, trees are especially susceptible to breaking because they've already bloomed for the season so the leaves hold onto the snow more and cause it to stick in the trees.

City Forestry said they are mulching tons of trees Friday to clear space for more branches they expect to fall this weekend. However, they're hopeful the damage won't be too bad since many of the old or weak branches in the city were taken down during December's wind storm.

The city said that trees native to Colorado have a much better chance of surviving the storm than deciduous ones.

"Trees are remarkably resilient, especially the native trees like the pines and spruce and firs that grow here in Colorado,  they’re designed to bend underneath that snow load," Dennis Will with the City Forest Department said.

"It's [...] trees like the elms and the maples and the cottonwoods [...] I’m most concerned about because they’re not designed the same way.”

The city to avoid parking your car under a tree for the remainder of the weekend and even to avoid walking under branches with heavy snowpack.