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Michigan · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Clare County, Michigan

Clare County had 13 maple operations and 8,587 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Harrison, sap usually runs from March 10 to April 13. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 155 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 10
typical year
Season ends
Apr 13
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
44.8
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
8,587
#24 of 66 in MI

Sap-flow outlook at Harrison right now

Full Michigan forecast →

Forecast for Harrison, MI

Updated Oct 6, 11:03 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Clare County's season usually opens around March 10, which is 155 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    52° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    43° / 61°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    36° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    39° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    50° / 75°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    48° / 67°
    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 Harrison

Freeze-thaw weather at Harrison peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Apr 20, which hold about 58% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 10 – Apr 130246Week of Dec 1: 1.5 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: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.7 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: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.2 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 10
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Harrison, 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 14; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 8 and Mar 19. Earliest Feb 15 (2012), latest Mar 28 (2018).
Closing signal
Median Apr 16; middle half between Apr 9 and Apr 20. Earliest Mar 16 (2012), latest Apr 30 (2018).
Sap days by month
Dec13%Jan7%Feb13%Mar32%Apr29%May6%

36 seasons of sap weather

Clare County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Harrison was 2012 with 58 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2008 with 33. 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 9 – Apr 12, 43 sap days4320252025: Mar 17 – Apr 20, 47 sap days4720242024: Mar 2 – Apr 6, 53 sap days5320232023: Mar 10 – Apr 10, 54 sap days5420222022: Mar 21 – Apr 22, 43 sap days4320212021: Mar 3 – Apr 5, 56 sap days5620202020: Mar 16 – Apr 19, 55 sap days5520192019: Mar 18 – Apr 15, 39 sap days3920182018: Mar 28 – Apr 30, 57 sap days5720172017: Mar 3 – Apr 7, 34 sap days3420162016: Mar 12 – Apr 16, 47 sap days4720152015: Mar 14 – Apr 16, 37 sap days3720142014: Mar 24 – Apr 24, 37 sap days3720132013: Mar 26 – Apr 26, 45 sap days4520122012: Feb 15 – Mar 16, 58 sap days5820112011: Mar 22 – Apr 21, 34 sap days3420102010: Feb 26 – Mar 31, 49 sap days4920092009: Mar 16 – Apr 18, 48 sap days4820082008: Mar 16 – Apr 16, 33 sap days3320072007: Mar 9 – Apr 13, 36 sap days3620062006: Mar 10 – Apr 10, 39 sap days3920052005: Mar 9 – Apr 13, 41 sap days4120042004: Mar 13 – Apr 16, 47 sap days4720032003: Mar 14 – Apr 17, 39 sap days3920022002: Mar 13 – Apr 11, 54 sap days5420012001: Mar 16 – Apr 20, 34 sap days3420002000: Feb 17 – Mar 20, 46 sap days4619991999: Mar 4 – Mar 30, 49 sap days4919981998: Mar 2 – Apr 6, 42 sap days4219971997: Mar 21 – Apr 25, 38 sap days3819961996: Mar 21 – Apr 25, 45 sap days4519951995: Mar 12 – Apr 16, 51 sap days5119941994: Mar 17 – Apr 21, 55 sap days5519931993: Mar 21 – Apr 23, 40 sap days4019921992: Mar 22 – Apr 16, 47 sap days4719911991: Mar 3 – Apr 3, 41 sap days41
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Harrison. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Clare County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Clare County the 2022 Census found 13 farms making syrup (-7% since 2017), with taps -47% and syrup output -14% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.41 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.25 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Clare County ranks 149 by taps.

Clare County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022138,5873,4930.41
20171416,2554,0550.25

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 Harrison (1,148ft), 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

Clare County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Clare County, Michigan?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 10 near Harrison 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 28.
How much maple syrup does Clare County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 13 maple operations in Clare County with 8,587 taps producing 3,493 gallons of syrup, ranking 24 of 66 Michigan's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Clare County get in a season?
On average 44.8 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Harrison, of which about 11.7 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2012 (58 sap days); the leanest was 2008 (33).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Harrison (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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