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Michigan · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Delta County, Michigan

Delta County had 15 maple operations and 6,840 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Escanaba, sap usually runs from March 20 to April 21. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 165 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 20
typical year
Season ends
Apr 21
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
33.8
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
6,840
#28 of 66 in MI

Sap-flow outlook at Escanaba right now

Full Michigan forecast →

Forecast for Escanaba, MI

Updated Oct 6, 10:24 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Delta County's season usually opens around March 20, which is 165 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    48° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    40° / 63°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    36° / 63°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    45° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    53° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    46° / 62°
    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 Escanaba

Freeze-thaw weather at Escanaba peaks in the weeks of Mar 9 to Apr 20, which hold about 55% of a season's sap days. April is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 20 – Apr 210246Week of Dec 1: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.1 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 20
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Escanaba, 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 24; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 17 and Mar 29. Earliest Feb 19 (2012), latest Apr 10 (1996).
Closing signal
Median Apr 24; middle half between Apr 18 and Apr 29. Earliest Mar 18 (2012), latest May 14 (1996).
Sap days by month
Dec14%Jan5%Feb10%Mar30%Apr35%May6%

36 seasons of sap weather

Delta County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Escanaba was 2002 with 47 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2008 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 18 – Apr 21, 34 sap days3420252025: Mar 22 – Apr 20, 39 sap days3920242024: Mar 10 – Apr 8, 46 sap days4620232023: Mar 24 – Apr 26, 40 sap days4020222022: Apr 1 – May 5, 30 sap days3020212021: Mar 9 – Apr 4, 36 sap days3620202020: Mar 30 – May 2, 40 sap days4020192019: Mar 30 – May 4, 32 sap days3220182018: Apr 3 – Apr 30, 37 sap days3720172017: Mar 11 – Apr 14, 32 sap days3220162016: Mar 23 – Apr 24, 37 sap days3720152015: Mar 25 – Apr 28, 25 sap days2520142014: Apr 4 – May 6, 25 sap days2520132013: Apr 1 – Apr 26, 32 sap days3220122012: Feb 19 – Mar 18, 43 sap days4320112011: Apr 1 – May 4, 31 sap days3120102010: Mar 7 – Apr 10, 31 sap days3120092009: Mar 24 – Apr 23, 35 sap days3520082008: Mar 23 – Apr 16, 24 sap days2420072007: Mar 17 – Apr 17, 29 sap days2920062006: Mar 15 – Apr 18, 34 sap days3420052005: Mar 16 – Apr 15, 38 sap days3820042004: Mar 26 – Apr 29, 38 sap days3820032003: Mar 28 – May 2, 29 sap days2920022002: Mar 28 – Apr 29, 47 sap days4720012001: Mar 22 – Apr 20, 26 sap days2620002000: Mar 18 – Apr 20, 40 sap days4019991999: Mar 16 – Apr 20, 39 sap days3919981998: Mar 10 – Apr 11, 31 sap days3119971997: Mar 29 – Apr 25, 27 sap days2719961996: Apr 10 – May 14, 27 sap days2719951995: Mar 27 – Apr 23, 33 sap days3319941994: Mar 28 – May 2, 39 sap days3919931993: Mar 29 – Apr 27, 30 sap days3019921992: Mar 30 – Apr 29, 28 sap days2819911991: Mar 20 – Apr 24, 32 sap days32
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Escanaba. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Delta County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Delta County the 2022 Census found 15 farms making syrup (-6% since 2017), with taps +27% and syrup output +153% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.17 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.08 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Delta County ranks 165 by taps.

Delta County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022156,8401,1300.17
2017165,3964470.08

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 Escanaba (627ft), 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

Delta County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Delta County, Michigan?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 20 near Escanaba and the season winds down around April 21. 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 19 and as late as Apr 10.
How much maple syrup does Delta County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 15 maple operations in Delta County with 6,840 taps producing 1,130 gallons of syrup, ranking 28 of 66 Michigan's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Delta County get in a season?
On average 33.8 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Escanaba, of which about 13.4 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2002 (47 sap days); the leanest was 2008 (24).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Escanaba (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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