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Michigan · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Alcona County, Michigan

Alcona County had 7 maple operations and 3,800 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Harrisville, sap usually runs from March 13 to April 13. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 158 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 13
typical year
Season ends
Apr 13
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
36
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
3,800
#39 of 66 in MI

Sap-flow outlook at Harrisville right now

Full Michigan forecast →

Forecast for Harrisville, MI

Updated Oct 6, 10:42 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Alcona County's season usually opens around March 13, which is 158 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    54° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    42° / 61°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    40° / 63°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    46° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    54° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    52° / 63°
    No refreeze forecast

Data: National Weather Service. Verdicts use freeze-thaw thresholds from maple field research; your woods may run a little differently.

When the sap runs

The sugaring calendar at Harrisville

Freeze-thaw weather at Harrisville peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Apr 13, which hold about 51% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 13 – Apr 130246Week of Dec 1: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.1 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 13
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Harrisville, 1991–2026. A sap day is an overnight low under 30.2 °F followed by an afternoon high over 37.4 °F. The shaded band is the typical season.

Year-to-year spread

Opening signal
Median Mar 17; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 9 and Mar 21. Earliest Feb 15 (2012), latest Mar 29 (2018).
Closing signal
Median Apr 16; middle half between Apr 10 and Apr 21. Earliest Mar 16 (2012), latest Apr 30 (2018).
Sap days by month
Dec16%Jan9%Feb13%Mar32%Apr27%May3%

36 seasons of sap weather

Alcona County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Harrisville was 2002 with 50 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2011 with 24. Seasons that start early tend to end early too: the trees run on the swing between freezing nights and mild days, and heat ends it.
JanFebMarAprMaysap days20262026: Mar 20 – Apr 11, 25 sap days2520252025: Mar 20 – Apr 21, 42 sap days4220242024: Mar 10 – Apr 8, 35 sap days3520232023: Mar 11 – Apr 10, 45 sap days4520222022: Mar 28 – Apr 30, 30 sap days3020212021: Mar 5 – Apr 4, 36 sap days3620202020: Mar 26 – Apr 27, 48 sap days4820192019: Mar 22 – Apr 16, 31 sap days3120182018: Mar 29 – Apr 30, 41 sap days4120172017: Mar 6 – Apr 1, 25 sap days2520162016: Mar 17 – Apr 21, 33 sap days3320152015: Mar 22 – Apr 26, 29 sap days2920142014: Mar 27 – Apr 24, 24 sap days2420132013: Mar 24 – Apr 26, 33 sap days3320122012: Feb 15 – Mar 16, 50 sap days5020112011: Mar 24 – Apr 19, 24 sap days2420102010: Feb 28 – Mar 31, 35 sap days3520092009: Mar 20 – Apr 13, 35 sap days3520082008: Mar 16 – Apr 17, 25 sap days2520072007: Mar 12 – Apr 16, 30 sap days3020062006: Mar 9 – Apr 10, 34 sap days3420052005: Mar 12 – Apr 10, 29 sap days2920042004: Mar 13 – Apr 16, 40 sap days4020032003: Mar 22 – Apr 18, 31 sap days3120022002: Mar 12 – Apr 11, 50 sap days5020012001: Mar 17 – Apr 19, 33 sap days3320002000: Feb 24 – Mar 31, 47 sap days4719991999: Mar 4 – Mar 30, 43 sap days4319981998: Mar 5 – Apr 7, 40 sap days4019971997: Mar 19 – Apr 21, 32 sap days3219961996: Mar 19 – Apr 18, 37 sap days3719951995: Mar 9 – Apr 10, 39 sap days3919941994: Mar 15 – Apr 12, 44 sap days4419931993: Mar 21 – Apr 23, 40 sap days4019921992: Mar 21 – Apr 16, 42 sap days4219911991: Mar 2 – Apr 3, 38 sap days38
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Harrisville. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Alcona County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Alcona County the 2022 Census found 7 farms making syrup (-12% since 2017), with taps +8% and syrup output +68% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.23 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.15 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Alcona County ranks 214 by taps.

Alcona County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202273,8008720.23
201783,5255180.15

Nearby

Neighboring maple counties

Distances are between reference towns; typical dates are each county's own estimate.

About these numbers

The season dates are estimated from 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures for the PRISM 4-km grid cell at Harrisville (633ft), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast: a sap day is an overnight low under 30.2 °F followed by an afternoon high over 37.4 °F. Each season's closing signal is the last sap day before accumulated warmth reaches a threshold, and the opening signal sits five weeks before that, never earlier than the first real freeze-thaw week. Tested against 117 state-seasons of USDA-reported dates, the rule lands within 5.5 days of the reported close and 6.6 days of the reported opening on average, and the typical dates shown here are scaled to Michigan's USDA record (12 years). Production figures are copied from the Census as published. Full method, calibration tables and the downloadable dataset →

Sources · 6

  1. 1.2022 Census of Agriculture, County Level Data — Michigan, Table 37: Maple Syrup, 2022 and 2017 · USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
  2. 2.PRISM daily temperature grids (AN81d, 4 km), accessed 2026-10-05 · PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu
  3. 3.Applied Climate Information System (ACIS) web services · NOAA Regional Climate Centers
  4. 4.USDA NASS maple syrup reports — approximate average season opened and closed dates, 2011–2022 · USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (mirrored by the University of Vermont)
  5. 5.Sap flow in sugar maple: timing and weather drivers (Frontiers in Agronomy, 2025) · de Lima Santos et al.
  6. 6.GeoNames gazetteer (cities500), CC BY 4.0 · GeoNames

FAQ

Alcona County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Alcona County, Michigan?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 13 near Harrisville and the season winds down around April 13. Have your taps in a day or two before the first forecast string of freezing nights and 40 °F days. In the past 36 seasons the weather signal came as early as Feb 15 and as late as Mar 29.
How much maple syrup does Alcona County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 7 maple operations in Alcona County with 3,800 taps producing 872 gallons of syrup, ranking 39 of 66 Michigan's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Alcona County get in a season?
On average 36 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Harrisville, of which about 14.9 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2002 (50 sap days); the leanest was 2011 (24).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Harrisville (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for Michigan. They describe a typical year at one point in the county; your sugarbush, slope and elevation can shift them by days.

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