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Michigan · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Clinton County, Michigan

Clinton County had 21 maple operations and 3,163 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Saint Johns, sap usually runs from February 24 to March 28. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 141 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 24
typical year
Season ends
Mar 28
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
38.3
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
3,163
#41 of 66 in MI

Sap-flow outlook at Saint Johns right now

Full Michigan forecast →

Forecast for Saint Johns, MI

Updated Oct 6, 11:03 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Clinton County's season usually opens around February 24, which is 141 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    54° / 73°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    47° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    41° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    45° / 73°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    53° / 76°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    51° / 72°
    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 Saint Johns

Freeze-thaw weather at Saint Johns peaks in the weeks of Feb 16 to Apr 6, which hold about 54% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 24 – Mar 280246Week of Dec 1: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Feb 24
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Saint Johns, 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 Feb 28; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 23 and Mar 7. Earliest Feb 2 (2017), latest Mar 13 (1993).
Closing signal
Median Mar 31; middle half between Mar 24 and Apr 7. Earliest Mar 6 (2017), latest Apr 17 (1993).
Sap days by month
Dec19%Jan11%Feb17%Mar34%Apr18%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Clinton County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Saint Johns was 2002 with 58 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2011 with 26. 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: Feb 15 – Mar 21, 37 sap days3720252025: Feb 23 – Mar 27, 34 sap days3420242024: Feb 5 – Mar 12, 33 sap days3320232023: Feb 26 – Apr 2, 47 sap days4720222022: Mar 6 – Apr 10, 38 sap days3820212021: Feb 23 – Mar 21, 38 sap days3820202020: Feb 24 – Mar 25, 43 sap days4320192019: Mar 4 – Apr 2, 35 sap days3520182018: Mar 10 – Apr 11, 53 sap days5320172017: Feb 2 – Mar 6, 31 sap days3120162016: Feb 17 – Mar 23, 47 sap days4720152015: Mar 8 – Apr 5, 31 sap days3120142014: Mar 13 – Apr 17, 32 sap days3220132013: Mar 11 – Apr 14, 43 sap days4320122012: Feb 10 – Mar 12, 53 sap days5320112011: Mar 7 – Apr 3, 26 sap days2620102010: Feb 28 – Mar 31, 29 sap days2920092009: Feb 26 – Mar 31, 40 sap days4020082008: Mar 12 – Apr 5, 31 sap days3120072007: Feb 20 – Mar 21, 28 sap days2820062006: Feb 25 – Mar 29, 35 sap days3520052005: Mar 3 – Mar 29, 32 sap days3220042004: Feb 25 – Mar 24, 42 sap days4220032003: Mar 8 – Apr 11, 27 sap days2720022002: Mar 5 – Apr 7, 58 sap days5820012001: Mar 6 – Apr 5, 33 sap days3320002000: Feb 28 – Mar 7, 40 sap days4019991999: Feb 26 – Mar 30, 50 sap days5019981998: Feb 21 – Mar 25, 38 sap days3819971997: Mar 1 – Apr 2, 36 sap days3619961996: Mar 11 – Apr 15, 44 sap days4419951995: Feb 20 – Mar 27, 37 sap days3719941994: Mar 7 – Apr 8, 43 sap days4319931993: Mar 13 – Apr 17, 32 sap days3219921992: Mar 8 – Apr 9, 45 sap days4519911991: Feb 20 – Mar 20, 39 sap days39
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Saint Johns. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Clinton County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Clinton County the 2022 Census found 21 farms making syrup (+163% since 2017), with taps -20% and syrup output +18% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.31 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.21 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Clinton County ranks 223 by taps.

Clinton County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022213,1639890.31
201783,9728370.21

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 Saint Johns (774ft), 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

Clinton County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Clinton County, Michigan?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 24 near Saint Johns and the season winds down around March 28. 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 2 and as late as Mar 13.
How much maple syrup does Clinton County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 21 maple operations in Clinton County with 3,163 taps producing 989 gallons of syrup, ranking 41 of 66 Michigan's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Clinton County get in a season?
On average 38.3 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Saint Johns, of which about 13.7 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2002 (58 sap days); the leanest was 2011 (26).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Saint Johns (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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