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Michigan · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Emmet County, Michigan

Emmet County had 13 maple operations and 11,905 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Petoskey, sap usually runs from March 13 to April 14. 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 14
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
31
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
11,905
#15 of 66 in MI

Sap-flow outlook at Petoskey right now

Full Michigan forecast →

Forecast for Petoskey, MI

Updated Oct 6, 10:42 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Emmet 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° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    47° / 58°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    41° / 60°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    42° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    55° / 73°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    51° / 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 Petoskey

Freeze-thaw weather at Petoskey peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Apr 13, which hold about 53% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 13 – Apr 140246Week of Dec 1: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.8 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: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 13
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Petoskey, 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 25. Earliest Feb 14 (2012), latest Apr 2 (1996).
Closing signal
Median Apr 17; middle half between Apr 10 and Apr 25. Earliest Mar 16 (2012), latest May 6 (2014).
Sap days by month
Dec15%Jan8%Feb13%Mar33%Apr28%May3%

36 seasons of sap weather

Emmet County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Petoskey was 2020 with 44 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2008 with 21. 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 17 – Apr 21, 35 sap days3520252025: Mar 21 – Apr 20, 36 sap days3620242024: Mar 5 – Apr 8, 38 sap days3820232023: Mar 11 – Apr 10, 37 sap days3720222022: Mar 27 – Apr 29, 30 sap days3020212021: Mar 4 – Apr 4, 34 sap days3420202020: Mar 26 – Apr 26, 44 sap days4420192019: Mar 23 – Apr 24, 31 sap days3120182018: Mar 31 – Apr 30, 38 sap days3820172017: Mar 9 – Apr 13, 29 sap days2920162016: Mar 15 – Apr 14, 24 sap days2420152015: Mar 23 – Apr 26, 23 sap days2320142014: Apr 1 – May 6, 29 sap days2920132013: Mar 27 – Apr 25, 33 sap days3320122012: Feb 14 – Mar 16, 34 sap days3420112011: Mar 25 – Apr 24, 25 sap days2520102010: Feb 27 – Mar 31, 29 sap days2920092009: Mar 20 – Apr 23, 33 sap days3320082008: Mar 17 – Apr 16, 21 sap days2120072007: Mar 12 – Apr 15, 23 sap days2320062006: Mar 9 – Apr 10, 27 sap days2720052005: Mar 9 – Mar 28, 22 sap days2220042004: Mar 16 – Apr 16, 34 sap days3420032003: Mar 16 – Apr 18, 30 sap days3020022002: Mar 13 – Apr 10, 35 sap days3520012001: Mar 18 – Apr 19, 23 sap days2320002000: Feb 19 – Mar 20, 27 sap days2719991999: Mar 5 – Mar 28, 35 sap days3519981998: Mar 1 – Apr 5, 24 sap days2419971997: Mar 26 – Apr 26, 28 sap days2819961996: Apr 2 – May 3, 33 sap days3319951995: Mar 15 – Apr 16, 38 sap days3819941994: Mar 22 – Apr 23, 38 sap days3819931993: Mar 26 – Apr 27, 33 sap days3319921992: Mar 26 – Apr 29, 31 sap days3119911991: Mar 4 – Apr 3, 33 sap days33
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Petoskey. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Emmet County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Emmet County the 2022 Census found 13 farms making syrup (+18% since 2017), with taps +112% and syrup output +180% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.34 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.26 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Emmet County ranks 122 by taps.

Emmet County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20221311,9054,0840.34
2017115,6101,4580.26

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 Petoskey (643ft), 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

Emmet County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Emmet County, Michigan?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 13 near Petoskey and the season winds down around April 14. 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 14 and as late as Apr 2.
How much maple syrup does Emmet County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 13 maple operations in Emmet County with 11,905 taps producing 4,084 gallons of syrup, ranking 15 of 66 Michigan's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Emmet County get in a season?
On average 31 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Petoskey, of which about 11.6 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2020 (44 sap days); the leanest was 2008 (21).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Petoskey (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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