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Michigan · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Macomb County, Michigan

Macomb County had 8 maple operations and 132 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Mount Clemens, sap usually runs from February 18 to March 23. 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 23
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
34.4
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
132
#62 of 66 in MI

Sap-flow outlook at Mount Clemens right now

Full Michigan forecast →

Forecast for Mount Clemens, MI

Updated Oct 6, 9:49 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Macomb 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
    52° / 74°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    50° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    44° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    47° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    54° / 73°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    53° / 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 Mount Clemens

Freeze-thaw weather at Mount Clemens peaks in the weeks of Feb 16 to Mar 23, which hold about 43% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 18 – Mar 230246Week of Dec 1: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.4 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: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.0 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 Mount Clemens, 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 16 and Mar 3. Earliest Jan 25 (2017), latest Mar 9 (2014).
Closing signal
Median Mar 26; middle half between Mar 20 and Apr 4. Earliest Feb 27 (2017), latest Apr 11 (1996).
Sap days by month
Dec20%Jan15%Feb21%Mar34%Apr11%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Macomb County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Mount Clemens was 2020 with 51 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2011 with 21. 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 14 – Mar 19, 29 sap days2920252025: Feb 20 – Mar 27, 32 sap days3220242024: Feb 4 – Mar 2, 25 sap days2520232023: Feb 10 – Mar 16, 44 sap days4420222022: Feb 25 – Mar 30, 42 sap days4220212021: Feb 22 – Mar 21, 36 sap days3620202020: Feb 18 – Mar 24, 51 sap days5120192019: Mar 2 – Apr 2, 37 sap days3720182018: Mar 6 – Apr 10, 44 sap days4420172017: Jan 25 – Feb 27, 28 sap days2820162016: Feb 9 – Mar 14, 42 sap days4220152015: Mar 8 – Apr 5, 27 sap days2720142014: Mar 9 – Apr 6, 24 sap days2420132013: Mar 6 – Apr 6, 34 sap days3420122012: Feb 8 – Mar 12, 37 sap days3720112011: Mar 6 – Apr 1, 21 sap days2120102010: Feb 22 – Mar 28, 28 sap days2820092009: Feb 25 – Mar 24, 31 sap days3120082008: Mar 4 – Apr 4, 32 sap days3220072007: Feb 20 – Mar 21, 28 sap days2820062006: Feb 17 – Mar 24, 41 sap days4120052005: Mar 2 – Mar 29, 30 sap days3020042004: Feb 22 – Mar 25, 36 sap days3620032003: Mar 5 – Apr 9, 25 sap days2520022002: Feb 16 – Mar 23, 45 sap days4520012001: Mar 3 – Apr 4, 30 sap days3020002000: Feb 2 – Mar 7, 37 sap days3719991999: Feb 25 – Mar 28, 47 sap days4719981998: Jan 28 – Feb 28, 31 sap days3119971997: Feb 21 – Mar 25, 33 sap days3319961996: Mar 8 – Apr 11, 37 sap days3719951995: Feb 15 – Mar 19, 36 sap days3619941994: Mar 1 – Apr 4, 31 sap days3119931993: Mar 4 – Apr 3, 24 sap days2419921992: Mar 1 – Apr 5, 42 sap days4219911991: Feb 18 – Mar 20, 43 sap days43
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Mount Clemens. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Macomb County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Macomb County the 2022 Census found 8 farms making syrup, with taps null and syrup output null over the same five years. That works out to about 0.11 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022. Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Macomb County ranks 358 by taps.

Macomb County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20228132140.11
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 Mount Clemens (587ft), 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

Macomb County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Macomb County, Michigan?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 18 near Mount Clemens and the season winds down around March 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 Jan 25 and as late as Mar 9.
How much maple syrup does Macomb County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 8 maple operations in Macomb County with 132 taps producing 14 gallons of syrup, ranking 62 of 66 Michigan's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Macomb County get in a season?
On average 34.4 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Mount Clemens, 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 (51 sap days); the leanest was 2011 (21).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Mount Clemens (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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