Videos have gone viral on social media of loud, gunshot-like bangs in forests, with users dubbing them "exploding trees." They're actually known as frost cracks, and are more common than you may think.

As more than half of the United States braces for a powerful winter storm, some meteorologists are warning on social media that “exploding trees” are possible.

A tree-mendous freeze. Forecasters are warning that expected subzero temperatures could cause trees to explode as a brutal cold snap is expected to wallop most of the country in the coming days. Trees may split and burst across the Midwest and Northern Plains Friday and Saturday as a bitter Arctic blast from Canada sends temperatures plunging to roughly 20 degrees below zero,

As temperatures drop in Iowa this weekend, curiosity and concern about trees exploding from the cold have grown. Here's what really happens.

Here's what you need to know to stay safe.

Massachusetts probably won’t see the kind of extreme cold necessary for trees to split this weekend. Some parts of the Berkshires could see low temperatures of -6 degrees on Friday night into Saturday morning, according to the National Weather Service, but that won’t be enough to cause any woodland “explosions.”