system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Here in the Canadian prairies there's been some freaky summer snow storms. My question is this: why do trees collapse under the weight of snow during these early snow storms seemingly more often than they do during the long winter months?

Is it simply the extra weight of the leaves still being on the branches collecting the snow? Simple physics? Or are trees, for lack of a better term, more prepared somehow for snow in the winter?
gpt
Trees shed their leaves during fall, which serves two purposes. One, they don't lose energy or water trying to make food in the slim winter sun. And two, the leaves would otherwise hold snow and ice, which weighs them down and snaps off the branches, or even breaks the tree. When storms come early, before trees have a chance to shed their leaves, they encounter this problem.