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Michigan · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Lenawee County, Michigan

Lenawee County had 6 maple operations and 408 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Adrian, sap usually runs from February 18 to March 24. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 135 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 18
typical year
Season ends
Mar 24
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
41.8
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
408
#60 of 66 in MI

Sap-flow outlook at Adrian right now

Full Michigan forecast →

Forecast for Adrian, MI

Updated Oct 6, 9:49 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Lenawee County's season usually opens around February 18, which is 135 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    50° / 74°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    50° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    42° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

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

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    52° / 76°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    53° / 74°
    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 Adrian

Freeze-thaw weather at Adrian peaks in the weeks of Feb 16 to Apr 6, which hold about 52% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 18 – Mar 240246Week of Dec 1: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.5 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: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.1 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 18
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Adrian, 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 22; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 17 and Mar 2. Earliest Jan 24 (2017), latest Mar 10 (2014).
Closing signal
Median Mar 27; middle half between Mar 21 and Apr 3. Earliest Feb 28 (2017), latest Apr 13 (1993).
Sap days by month
Dec21%Jan12%Feb20%Mar32%Apr14%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Lenawee County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Adrian was 2020 with 62 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2003 with 27. 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 9 – Mar 15, 38 sap days3820252025: Feb 20 – Mar 27, 37 sap days3720242024: Feb 4 – Mar 3, 43 sap days4320232023: Feb 13 – Mar 20, 46 sap days4620222022: Feb 26 – Apr 2, 51 sap days5120212021: Feb 18 – Mar 22, 42 sap days4220202020: Feb 22 – Mar 27, 62 sap days6220192019: Mar 3 – Apr 2, 42 sap days4220182018: Mar 8 – Apr 11, 60 sap days6020172017: Jan 24 – Feb 28, 31 sap days3120162016: Feb 9 – Mar 13, 52 sap days5220152015: Mar 7 – Apr 6, 35 sap days3520142014: Mar 10 – Apr 6, 28 sap days2820132013: Mar 8 – Apr 5, 46 sap days4620122012: Feb 9 – Mar 12, 48 sap days4820112011: Mar 6 – Apr 3, 29 sap days2920102010: Feb 23 – Mar 30, 31 sap days3120092009: Feb 22 – Mar 24, 39 sap days3920082008: Mar 4 – Apr 6, 39 sap days3920072007: Feb 20 – Mar 21, 38 sap days3820062006: Feb 17 – Mar 24, 44 sap days4420052005: Mar 1 – Mar 29, 30 sap days3020042004: Feb 22 – Mar 25, 34 sap days3420032003: Feb 26 – Apr 1, 27 sap days2720022002: Feb 16 – Mar 23, 52 sap days5220012001: Mar 4 – Apr 4, 34 sap days3420002000: Feb 2 – Mar 7, 42 sap days4219991999: Feb 26 – Mar 30, 49 sap days4919981998: Feb 18 – Mar 25, 39 sap days3919971997: Feb 21 – Mar 25, 47 sap days4719961996: Feb 28 – Apr 3, 46 sap days4619951995: Feb 15 – Mar 19, 47 sap days4719941994: Feb 28 – Apr 4, 41 sap days4119931993: Mar 9 – Apr 13, 38 sap days3819921992: Feb 24 – Mar 30, 52 sap days5219911991: Feb 17 – Mar 20, 44 sap days44
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Adrian. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Lenawee County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Lenawee County the 2022 Census found 6 farms making syrup (-33% since 2017), with taps -37% and syrup output -58% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.16 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.24 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Lenawee County ranks 323 by taps.

Lenawee County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20226408650.16
201796491550.24

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 Adrian (797ft), 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

Lenawee County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Lenawee County, Michigan?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 18 near Adrian and the season winds down around March 24. 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 24 and as late as Mar 10.
How much maple syrup does Lenawee County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 6 maple operations in Lenawee County with 408 taps producing 65 gallons of syrup, ranking 60 of 66 Michigan's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Lenawee County get in a season?
On average 41.8 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Adrian, of which about 14.9 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2020 (62 sap days); the leanest was 2003 (27).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Adrian (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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