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Michigan · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Jackson County, Michigan

Jackson County had 17 maple operations and 579 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Jackson, sap usually runs from February 21 to March 27. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 138 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 21
typical year
Season ends
Mar 27
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
37.8
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
579
#57 of 66 in MI

Sap-flow outlook at Jackson right now

Full Michigan forecast →

Forecast for Jackson, MI

Updated Oct 6, 11:03 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Jackson County's season usually opens around February 21, which is 138 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    53° / 73°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    48° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    42° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    45° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    53° / 74°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    52° / 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 Jackson

Freeze-thaw weather at Jackson peaks in the weeks of Feb 16 to Apr 6, which hold about 53% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 21 – Mar 270246Week of Dec 1: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.7 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: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.1 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 21
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Jackson, 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 25; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 20 and Mar 5. Earliest Jan 25 (2017), latest Mar 12 (2008).
Closing signal
Median Mar 30; middle half between Mar 21 and Apr 4. Earliest Feb 27 (2017), latest Apr 13 (1993).
Sap days by month
Dec20%Jan11%Feb20%Mar33%Apr15%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Jackson County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Jackson was 2018 with 56 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2011 with 25. 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 10 – Mar 15, 37 sap days3720252025: Feb 21 – Mar 28, 38 sap days3820242024: Feb 3 – Mar 3, 37 sap days3720232023: Feb 17 – Mar 21, 46 sap days4620222022: Mar 2 – Apr 3, 43 sap days4320212021: Feb 23 – Mar 21, 38 sap days3820202020: Feb 22 – Mar 25, 48 sap days4820192019: Mar 3 – Apr 2, 35 sap days3520182018: Mar 8 – Apr 11, 56 sap days5620172017: Jan 25 – Feb 27, 29 sap days2920162016: Feb 10 – Mar 13, 50 sap days5020152015: Mar 7 – Apr 5, 27 sap days2720142014: Mar 10 – Apr 6, 26 sap days2620132013: Mar 11 – Apr 4, 42 sap days4220122012: Feb 10 – Mar 12, 47 sap days4720112011: Mar 6 – Apr 3, 25 sap days2520102010: Feb 24 – Mar 31, 28 sap days2820092009: Feb 20 – Mar 24, 35 sap days3520082008: Mar 12 – Apr 4, 31 sap days3120072007: Feb 20 – Mar 21, 31 sap days3120062006: Feb 22 – Mar 28, 34 sap days3420052005: Mar 2 – Mar 29, 27 sap days2720042004: Feb 23 – Mar 24, 38 sap days3820032003: Mar 8 – Apr 1, 26 sap days2620022002: Feb 26 – Apr 1, 51 sap days5120012001: Mar 5 – Apr 5, 31 sap days3120002000: Feb 9 – Mar 7, 39 sap days3919991999: Feb 26 – Mar 30, 47 sap days4719981998: Feb 20 – Mar 25, 37 sap days3719971997: Feb 25 – Apr 1, 43 sap days4319961996: Mar 7 – Apr 11, 41 sap days4119951995: Feb 15 – Mar 19, 41 sap days4119941994: Mar 3 – Apr 7, 40 sap days4019931993: Mar 10 – Apr 13, 32 sap days3219921992: Mar 4 – Apr 7, 44 sap days4419911991: Feb 18 – Mar 25, 40 sap days40
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Jackson. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Jackson County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Jackson County the 2022 Census found 17 farms making syrup (+55% since 2017), with taps -22% and syrup output -47% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.24 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.36 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Jackson County ranks 309 by taps.

Jackson County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022175791420.24
2017117452670.36

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 Jackson (971ft), 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

Jackson County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Jackson County, Michigan?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 21 near Jackson and the season winds down around March 27. 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 Jan 25 and as late as Mar 12.
How much maple syrup does Jackson County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 17 maple operations in Jackson County with 579 taps producing 142 gallons of syrup, ranking 57 of 66 Michigan's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Jackson County get in a season?
On average 37.8 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Jackson, of which about 12.9 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2018 (56 sap days); the leanest was 2011 (25).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Jackson (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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