FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Recent winter storms have brought a combination of rain, snow, and wind to the Central Valley, leading to branches and trees crashing down onto powerlines, vehicles, and homes.

With the next weather system forecast to arrive in the Central Valley this weekend, arborists at American Tree Medics warn that it could uproot trees, break branches, and put increased stress on cracks.

American Tree Medics say the continuous stress on the trees is their main concern.

“The snow that came down was a very heavy snow and it put a lot of stress on these trees and now that we are going to have additional flooding to add to the trees that are already stressed and then more snow on top of that, it’s one of our main concerns,” said James Romero, American Tree Medics program manager for field operations.

But the damage to the trees does not necessarily reveal itself right away, according to American Tree Medics. Some of these trees could become an issue as the summer months roll around.

“Trees when they get loaded with snow get cracks that run parallel, horizontal cracks. In the summer right around May or June, the trees will get their spring flush. What they do is they pull hundreds of gallons of water up through the roots into the limbs to feed the leaves and all that extra weight with the stress cracks already there will cause the limb to drop in just about every species,” said Clyde Britt American Tree Medics owner and field manager.

American Tree Medics recommend homeowners have their trees checked by a certified arborist that can safely assess the trees in their properties. They say this is important as three of the most common injuries are those struck by either falling branches or falling trees as well as homeowners falling from ladders attempting to bring down hazardous branches.

Owner of Cut It Right Tree Trimming Services Joe Peralta says that keeping up with your trees’ maintenance is important to prevent a tree from possibly falling on your property.

“When the wind does blow you know doing maintenance trimming helps out quite a bit – that way the wind and the air can blow through these trees other than pushing them right over on top of the houses,” Peralta said.