What causes the storm broke the top out of my tree?
Central Indiana's storm mix. Straight-line winds off summer squall lines, occasional tornado-adjacent gusts, and winter ice loading break tops out of trees that were already carrying something — an overextended leader, a codominant stem, an old decay column from a topping cut or lightning scar, or ash killed by emerald ash borer, which goes brittle enough to snap in wind that barely moves the tree beside it. Saturated clay soil during the same storm reduces anchorage, so stem breakage and root-plate movement often happen together.
What you'd see
A shattered splintered stub where the leader used to be, not a clean break; broken material still hung up in the crown, caught on lower limbs; a vertical crack or split running down from the break into the main trunk; bark peeled away in a long strip below it; a crown suddenly lopsided; the top resting on a roof, fence, deck, or into the service drop. Also check the ground: lifted soil or a raised mound on the side opposite the lean means the root plate moved too.
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