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Michigan · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Gogebic County, Michigan

Gogebic County had 15 maple operations and 625 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Bessemer, sap usually runs from March 20 to April 23. 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 23
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
35.3
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
625
#56 of 66 in MI

Sap-flow outlook at Bessemer right now

Full Michigan forecast →

Forecast for Bessemer, MI

Updated Oct 6, 10:24 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Gogebic 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
    44° / 62°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    38° / 57°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    36° / 60°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    42° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    54° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    44° / 56°
    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 Bessemer

Freeze-thaw weather at Bessemer peaks in the weeks of Mar 16 to Apr 27, which hold about 56% of a season's sap days. April is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 20 – Apr 230246Week of Dec 1: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.3 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: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.0 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: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.2 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 20
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Bessemer, 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 14 and Mar 30. Earliest Feb 15 (2012), latest Apr 9 (1996).
Closing signal
Median Apr 26; middle half between Apr 15 and Apr 30. Earliest Mar 12 (2012), latest May 13 (1996).
Sap days by month
Dec9%Jan4%Feb11%Mar29%Apr37%May9%

36 seasons of sap weather

Gogebic County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Bessemer was 1999 with 47 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2014 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 19 – Apr 22, 38 sap days3820252025: Mar 24 – Apr 26, 38 sap days3820242024: Mar 14 – Apr 15, 46 sap days4620232023: Apr 1 – May 3, 32 sap days3220222022: Apr 3 – May 5, 30 sap days3020212021: Mar 8 – Apr 4, 42 sap days4220202020: Mar 31 – May 5, 46 sap days4620192019: Mar 30 – Apr 28, 28 sap days2820182018: Apr 2 – Apr 29, 39 sap days3920172017: Mar 11 – Apr 13, 41 sap days4120162016: Mar 15 – Apr 14, 27 sap days2720152015: Mar 13 – Apr 14, 33 sap days3320142014: Apr 4 – Apr 27, 24 sap days2420132013: Apr 9 – May 13, 31 sap days3120122012: Feb 15 – Mar 12, 37 sap days3720112011: Mar 27 – Apr 29, 37 sap days3720102010: Mar 3 – Mar 30, 37 sap days3720092009: Mar 24 – Apr 28, 30 sap days3020082008: Apr 1 – May 5, 27 sap days2720072007: Mar 17 – Apr 19, 29 sap days2920062006: Mar 14 – Apr 15, 25 sap days2520052005: Mar 8 – Apr 8, 36 sap days3620042004: Mar 26 – Apr 29, 38 sap days3820032003: Mar 23 – Apr 26, 30 sap days3020022002: Mar 29 – May 3, 44 sap days4420012001: Mar 24 – Apr 24, 25 sap days2520002000: Mar 10 – Apr 14, 41 sap days4119991999: Mar 20 – Apr 24, 47 sap days4719981998: Mar 9 – Apr 11, 40 sap days4019971997: Mar 29 – May 2, 33 sap days3319961996: Apr 9 – May 13, 27 sap days2719951995: Mar 30 – May 2, 44 sap days4419941994: Mar 22 – Apr 22, 39 sap days3919931993: Mar 31 – Apr 27, 37 sap days3719921992: Mar 29 – Apr 29, 32 sap days3219911991: Mar 18 – Apr 22, 42 sap days42
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Bessemer. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Gogebic County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Gogebic County the 2022 Census found 15 farms making syrup, with taps null and syrup output null over the same five years. That works out to about 0.16 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022. Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Gogebic County ranks 304 by taps.

Gogebic County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202215625990.16
2017000—

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 Bessemer (1,430ft), 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

Gogebic County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Gogebic County, Michigan?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 20 near Bessemer and the season winds down around April 23. 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 Apr 9.
How much maple syrup does Gogebic County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 15 maple operations in Gogebic County with 625 taps producing 99 gallons of syrup, ranking 56 of 66 Michigan's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Gogebic County get in a season?
On average 35.3 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Bessemer, of which about 8.2 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 1999 (47 sap days); the leanest was 2014 (24).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Bessemer (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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