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Michigan · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Huron County, Michigan

Huron County had 6 maple operations and 4,337 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Bad Axe, sap usually runs from March 5 to April 6. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 150 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 5
typical year
Season ends
Apr 6
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
32.9
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
4,337
#36 of 66 in MI

Sap-flow outlook at Bad Axe right now

Full Michigan forecast →

Forecast for Bad Axe, MI

Updated Oct 6, 9:49 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Huron County's season usually opens around March 5, which is 150 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    52° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    45° / 62°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    37° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    41° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    51° / 74°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    50° / 66°
    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 Bad Axe

Freeze-thaw weather at Bad Axe peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Apr 6, which hold about 47% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 5 – Apr 60246Week of Dec 1: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.9 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: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 5
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Bad Axe, 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 9; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 2 and Mar 13. Earliest Feb 9 (2024), latest Mar 21 (2018).
Closing signal
Median Apr 9; middle half between Apr 2 and Apr 15. Earliest Mar 12 (2012), latest Apr 23 (1993).
Sap days by month
Dec15%Jan9%Feb15%Mar34%Apr25%May2%

36 seasons of sap weather

Huron County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Bad Axe was 2020 with 51 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2011 with 19. 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 2 – Apr 6, 29 sap days2920252025: Mar 3 – Apr 6, 34 sap days3420242024: Feb 9 – Mar 13, 29 sap days2920232023: Mar 7 – Apr 9, 40 sap days4020222022: Mar 11 – Apr 9, 32 sap days3220212021: Feb 28 – Apr 4, 31 sap days3120202020: Mar 5 – Apr 8, 51 sap days5120192019: Mar 13 – Apr 5, 34 sap days3420182018: Mar 21 – Apr 22, 37 sap days3720172017: Feb 26 – Mar 30, 29 sap days2920162016: Feb 25 – Mar 30, 43 sap days4320152015: Mar 14 – Apr 6, 26 sap days2620142014: Mar 18 – Apr 19, 28 sap days2820132013: Mar 19 – Apr 22, 34 sap days3420122012: Feb 13 – Mar 12, 42 sap days4220112011: Mar 18 – Apr 19, 19 sap days1920102010: Mar 6 – Mar 31, 28 sap days2820092009: Mar 12 – Apr 16, 43 sap days4320082008: Mar 12 – Apr 16, 28 sap days2820072007: Mar 9 – Mar 23, 23 sap days2320062006: Mar 7 – Apr 10, 26 sap days2620052005: Mar 7 – Apr 8, 26 sap days2620042004: Mar 9 – Apr 13, 35 sap days3520032003: Mar 15 – Apr 14, 27 sap days2720022002: Mar 11 – Apr 11, 46 sap days4620012001: Mar 13 – Apr 17, 28 sap days2820002000: Feb 16 – Mar 20, 38 sap days3819991999: Mar 1 – Mar 30, 43 sap days4319981998: Feb 25 – Mar 25, 32 sap days3219971997: Mar 12 – Apr 15, 32 sap days3219961996: Mar 18 – Apr 15, 38 sap days3819951995: Mar 8 – Apr 10, 35 sap days3519941994: Mar 11 – Apr 11, 28 sap days2819931993: Mar 19 – Apr 23, 31 sap days3119921992: Mar 18 – Apr 16, 27 sap days2719911991: Mar 1 – Apr 3, 31 sap days31
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Bad Axe. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Huron County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Huron County the 2022 Census found 6 farms making syrup (+200% since 2017). That works out to about 0.16 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022. Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Huron County ranks 203 by taps.

Huron County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202264,3376880.16
20172withheldwithheld—

“Withheld” means USDA suppressed the figure to avoid disclosing data for individual operations; the farm count is still published.

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 Bad Axe (758ft), 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

Huron County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Huron County, Michigan?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 5 near Bad Axe and the season winds down around April 6. 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 9 and as late as Mar 21.
How much maple syrup does Huron County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 6 maple operations in Huron County with 4,337 taps producing 688 gallons of syrup, ranking 36 of 66 Michigan's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Huron County get in a season?
On average 32.9 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Bad Axe, of which about 12.7 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2020 (51 sap days); the leanest was 2011 (19).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Bad Axe (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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