Storm Damage Tree Removal in Spokane: When the Wind Leaves a Tree Where It Should Not Be

A limb through the roof, a pine across the driveway, half a cottonwood hanging in what is left of the other half. Storm damage tree removal in Spokane is careful work done under bad conditions, and this is how it runs.

Wind damageIce and snow loadHazard treesFree estimate
Call: (509) 632-4080 See How Removals Run

Licensed, bonded, and insured. Every estimate is free, in writing, and carries no obligation.

Licensed, Bonded & Insured | ISA Certified Arborists | Free Estimates | Spokane Local

What Counts as Storm Damage on a Tree?

Not every tree that looks rough after a front needs to come down. Storm damage is a structural question, not a cosmetic one. The cases that matter are the ones where the tree has lost the ability to hold itself up: a trunk split down the middle, a large leader torn out and hanging in the canopy, a root plate lifting on the far side from the lean, or a stem cracked where two co-dominant trunks meet.

The rest is usually cleanup. Small broken branches, a stripped crown, and a yard covered in needles look alarming the morning after and are almost always a trimming job, not a removal. The way to tell the difference is to stop looking at the branches and start looking at the trunk and the ground around it.

  • A hanger. A broken limb still caught in the canopy is the single most dangerous thing in a storm-hit yard. It is held by nothing but friction and it comes down on its own schedule.
  • A split trunk or a torn leader. Wood that has separated does not knit back together. What is left of the stem carries the whole load.
  • Lifted soil or exposed roots. If the ground has heaved on the opposite side of the lean, the tree is already partly out of the ground.
  • A lean that changed. A tree that leaned the same way for twenty years is a different problem than one that started leaning last Tuesday.

What Should You Do First After a Tree Comes Down?

The first hour after a storm is when most of the avoidable injuries happen, usually to a homeowner with a chainsaw and good intentions. A few things worth doing, in order:

  • Get everyone away from it, including the far side. A tree resting on something is under load, and loaded wood moves when it is cut.
  • Look up before you look around. Hangers in the canopy are what hurt people during cleanup, not the trunk on the ground.
  • Treat every line as live. If any part of the tree is on or near a power drop, that is a call to your utility, not to a tree crew.
  • Photograph it before anything moves. Take pictures from several angles while the scene is intact. The written estimate the crew leaves you is yours to do whatever you want with, including sending it to your insurer.
  • Then call. (509) 632-4080. Describe what the tree is resting on and what is under it, and you will get a straight answer about the schedule.

Which Spokane Trees Fail in a Storm, and Why?

Spokane storm damage is not random. The same handful of species show up in the same handful of failures, year after year, because of how they grow and what our winters do to them.

Ponderosa Pine

The signature Spokane failure. Ponderosas hold enormous limbs a long way out from the trunk, and a wind event snaps them off clean at the union. The tree survives; whatever was underneath usually does not. Thinning weight out of the crown before winter is the only real prevention.

Cottonwood

Fast-growing, soft-wooded, and enormous. Cottonwoods drop limbs in weather that barely moves other species, and a mature one over a house is a standing decision waiting to be made. When they fail, they tend to fail big.

Birch and Aspen

The ice-storm casualties. Thin flexible stems load up with ice, bend to the ground, and either stay bent or split at the base. Multi-stem clumps are the ones that come apart, because each stem pulls a different direction under load.

Old Maple and Elm

The legacy shade trees on Spokane's older streets. Decades of decay inside a trunk that still looks fine from six feet away, and then one wet snow finds the weak spot. Co-dominant trunks with included bark are the classic failure point.

How Does a Storm Removal Actually Run?

Storm work is regular removal work made harder by the fact that the tree is already somewhere it should not be. Nothing gets cut until the crew knows which way the load is going to move.

The first look

The crew reads the scene before touching anything: what is holding the tree up, what is under tension, what is under compression, and what happens to each of those when the first cut goes in. This is also when you get the price, in writing, before any work starts.

Making it safe

Hangers come out of the canopy first, because everything else on the site happens underneath them. Loaded stems get relieved in the order that keeps the load predictable rather than the order that is fastest.

Sectioning and lowering

Anything over a roof, a fence, or a vehicle comes down in pieces on ropes, not in one drop. It is slower, and it is the entire reason to have a crew do it instead of a neighbor with a saw.

Cleanup

Brush is chipped, the trunk is bucked into rounds, and it leaves with the crew unless you want the wood. If the stump needs to go too, grinding is usually cheapest while the equipment is already on site.

When Does a Damaged Tree Have to Come Down?

A storm-damaged tree is not automatically a dead tree. Trees are built to lose branches, and a healthy one with a sound trunk can lose a surprising amount of canopy and recover fully over a few seasons. What it cannot recover from is structural failure.

Removal is the answer when the trunk is split or hollow, when a root plate has lifted, when more than about half the crown is gone, or when what is left has no reasonable path back to a balanced shape. Pruning is the answer when the damage is limbs rather than structure, even quite a lot of limbs. If it is not obvious which side of that line your tree sits on, that is exactly what a free on-site look settles. The longer comparison lives on our removal vs. trimming page.

Does a Power Line Change Anything?

Yes, and this is the one part of storm work that is not ours to do. If a limb or a trunk is resting on a service drop or any other conductor, the utility has to clear or de-energize that line before a crew can work the tree. Call them first. Once the line is handled, everything else on the property is normal removal work, and the crew has the gear and the training for it.

The same goes for a tree tangled in a line on the ground. Assume it is live, keep everyone well back, and let the utility make the call about when it is safe.

What Does Storm Tree Work Cost in Spokane?

Storm work prices on the same things every other removal prices on: how much the tree weighs, what it is resting on, how much of it has to be rigged rather than felled, and how close a truck and chipper can get. A tree already on the ground in open lawn can be cheaper than the same tree standing. A tree on a roof is more, because every piece has to be roped off the structure.

What does not happen is a number invented over the phone. You get a free on-site estimate, in writing, before anything starts, and it stays free whether you book the work or not. The full breakdown of how tree work prices around here is on our Spokane tree service cost guide.

Where the Crew Works After a Storm

Wind and ice do not stop at the city limits, and neither does the crew. Storm work runs across Spokane, Spokane Valley, Liberty Lake, Deer Park, Mead, Cheney, and Coeur d'Alene, ID. Not sure whether your address is inside the lines? Call (509) 632-4080 and you will know in one call.

What Do Spokane Homeowners Ask After a Storm?

What should I do first when a tree falls on my house?
Get everyone out from under it and away from the far side, because a tree resting on a structure is under load and loaded wood moves when it is disturbed. Do not climb on the roof to look. Photograph it from the ground, treat any nearby line as live, and then call (509) 632-4080 and describe what it is resting on.
Can a storm-damaged tree be saved, or does it have to be removed?
It depends on whether the damage is branches or structure. A healthy tree can lose a lot of canopy and come back over a few seasons. A split trunk, a torn-out leader, a lifted root plate, or a lean that changed during the storm are structural failures, and pruning does not fix those. The trunk and the ground around it settle the question.
How much does storm damage tree removal cost in Spokane?
The same things drive it as any other removal: weight, what the tree is resting on, how much has to be rigged rather than felled, and how close a truck can park. A tree on a roof costs more than the same tree in open lawn, because every piece comes off on a rope. You get a free on-site number in writing before any work starts.
Is it safe to cut a fallen tree myself with a chainsaw?
A fallen tree is full of stored energy. Wood under tension springs when it is cut, and wood under compression pinches the bar and stops the saw. A trunk resting on a fence or a roof is holding weight that has to be released in a specific order. That order is what a crew is for, and getting it wrong is how people get hurt during cleanup.
What do I do about a broken limb hanging in the tree?
Stay out from under it and keep pets and kids away from that part of the yard. A hanger is held up by friction and nothing else, and it can come down in still air hours or days later. It is usually the first thing a crew takes out of the canopy, because everything else on the job happens underneath it.
Does a limb on a power line change what you can do?
Yes. If any part of the tree is on a service drop or another conductor, your utility has to handle that line before anyone works the tree. Call them first, and treat a line on the ground as live no matter what it looks like. Once the line is cleared, the rest of the tree is normal removal work.
How soon can you get out after a windstorm?
It depends on how much of the city got hit and whether your tree is a genuine hazard or a cleanup job. Urgent storm calls jump the line ahead of routine work. Call (509) 632-4080, describe what the tree is on, and you will get a straight answer about the schedule rather than a promise nobody can keep.
Do you clean up and haul away the storm debris?
Yes. Brush gets chipped, the trunk gets bucked into rounds, and it all leaves with the crew. If you would rather keep the rounds for the wood stove, say so before the first cut and they will be stacked where you want them instead of hauled off. The yard should not look like a job site when the crew leaves.
Will you take the stump out at the same time?
Usually that is the cheapest time to do it, because the crew and the grinder are already on your property. Access sometimes means a second trip instead. Ask when you call and you will know before the work is scheduled rather than after. More detail on our stump grinding page.
Which trees around Spokane fail most often in a storm?
Ponderosa pines throw big limbs in wind. Cottonwoods are fast-grown and soft-wooded and drop wood in weather other species shrug off. Birch and aspen bend or split under ice load. Old maples and elms fail at co-dominant trunks with decay inside. Different species, same lesson: weight and old damage are what a storm finds.
Can I prevent storm damage before winter arrives?
Partly, and it is worth doing. Thinning weak, dead, and over-extended branches before winter takes real weight off the tree, and every pound removed in October is a pound the ice cannot grab in January. It does not make a tree stormproof. It does remove the branches most likely to be the ones that fail.
Does the estimate cost anything after a storm?
No. The visit, the walkthrough, and the written number are free, and they stay free whether you book the work or not. Storm or no storm, nobody pays for someone to come look at a tree. Call (509) 632-4080 and the crew will tell you what the job takes.

The Next Front Is Not Waiting for You.

One call, and a family-owned local crew puts a free, written estimate in your hands. Urgent storm calls jump the line.

Call: (509) 632-4080
📞  Tap to Call for a Free Estimate