Drought – Pine trees

Q: I’ve noticed since the drought that when it rains more trees seem to be falling over. Pine
trees seem to break at weak points, but the broad leaf trees seem to be pulled out of the ground by their roots. I’ve heard that pine trees have a large, deep tap root and I’m wondering if this is the reason that I don’t see many of these trees coming out of the ground

A: Very few trees have roots growing deeper than 20 inches. Roots are limited by the amount of oxygen in the soil. Pines and other trees have small tap roots when they are young but the tap root stops growing when it hits dense clay soil. My guess is that feeder and anchor roots on the trees that fell have been killed by dry weather, causing them to uproot.