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Michigan · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Kalamazoo County, Michigan

Kalamazoo County had 8 maple operations and 1,614 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Kalamazoo, 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
40.1
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
1,614
#50 of 66 in MI

Sap-flow outlook at Kalamazoo right now

Full Michigan forecast →

Forecast for Kalamazoo, MI

Updated Oct 6, 11:03 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Kalamazoo 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
    54° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    50° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    43° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    47° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    55° / 75°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    54° / 73°
    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 Kalamazoo

Freeze-thaw weather at Kalamazoo peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Mar 30, which hold about 36% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 21 – Mar 270246Week of Dec 1: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.4 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: 0.0 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 Kalamazoo, 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 18 and Mar 3. 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
Dec21%Jan12%Feb18%Mar33%Apr15%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Kalamazoo County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Kalamazoo was 2018 with 58 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2003 with 28. 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 5, 40 sap days4020252025: Feb 21 – Mar 27, 35 sap days3520242024: Feb 3 – Mar 3, 37 sap days3720232023: Feb 18 – Mar 21, 49 sap days4920222022: Mar 1 – Apr 3, 48 sap days4820212021: Feb 22 – Mar 21, 43 sap days4320202020: Feb 22 – Mar 25, 38 sap days3820192019: Mar 3 – Apr 2, 40 sap days4020182018: Mar 1 – Apr 5, 58 sap days5820172017: Jan 25 – Feb 27, 33 sap days3320162016: Feb 18 – Mar 8, 41 sap days4120152015: Mar 7 – Apr 5, 28 sap days2820142014: Mar 10 – Apr 7, 29 sap days2920132013: Mar 10 – Apr 4, 41 sap days4120122012: Feb 10 – Mar 12, 44 sap days4420112011: Mar 5 – Apr 3, 30 sap days3020102010: Mar 1 – Mar 30, 31 sap days3120092009: Feb 20 – Mar 24, 38 sap days3820082008: Mar 12 – Apr 4, 31 sap days3120072007: Feb 20 – Mar 21, 34 sap days3420062006: Feb 17 – Mar 24, 41 sap days4120052005: Mar 1 – Apr 4, 33 sap days3320042004: Feb 22 – Mar 25, 43 sap days4320032003: Mar 8 – Apr 1, 28 sap days2820022002: Mar 4 – Apr 7, 53 sap days5320012001: Mar 5 – Apr 4, 30 sap days3020002000: Feb 9 – Mar 7, 42 sap days4219991999: Feb 26 – Mar 30, 52 sap days5219981998: Feb 20 – Mar 25, 38 sap days3819971997: Feb 26 – Apr 2, 50 sap days5019961996: Feb 28 – Apr 4, 46 sap days4619951995: Feb 14 – Mar 18, 45 sap days4519941994: Mar 1 – Apr 4, 43 sap days4319931993: Mar 9 – Apr 13, 37 sap days3719921992: Feb 24 – Mar 30, 48 sap days4819911991: Feb 18 – Mar 25, 45 sap days45
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Kalamazoo. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Kalamazoo County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Kalamazoo County the 2022 Census found 8 farms making syrup (-60% since 2017), with taps -49% and syrup output -16% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.14 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.08 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Kalamazoo County ranks 261 by taps.

Kalamazoo County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202281,6142240.14
2017203,1772660.08

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 Kalamazoo (781ft), 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

Kalamazoo County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Kalamazoo County, Michigan?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 21 near Kalamazoo 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 Kalamazoo County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 8 maple operations in Kalamazoo County with 1,614 taps producing 224 gallons of syrup, ranking 50 of 66 Michigan's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Kalamazoo County get in a season?
On average 40.1 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Kalamazoo, of which about 14.1 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2018 (58 sap days); the leanest was 2003 (28).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Kalamazoo (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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