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Michigan · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Marquette County, Michigan

Marquette County had 20 maple operations and 1,200 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Marquette, sap usually runs from March 21 to April 21. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 166 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 21
typical year
Season ends
Apr 21
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
23.2
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
1,200
#52 of 66 in MI

Sap-flow outlook at Marquette right now

Full Michigan forecast →

Forecast for Marquette, MI

Updated Oct 6, 10:24 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Marquette County's season usually opens around March 21, which is 166 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    51° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    45° / 58°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    42° / 59°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    46° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    57° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    50° / 58°
    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 Marquette

Freeze-thaw weather at Marquette peaks in the weeks of Mar 9 to Apr 6, which hold about 38% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 21 – Apr 210246Week of Dec 1: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.1 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 21
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Marquette, 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 25; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 15 and Mar 31. Earliest Feb 15 (2012), latest Apr 12 (1996).
Closing signal
Median Apr 24; middle half between Apr 9 and Apr 29. Earliest Mar 12 (2012), latest May 14 (1996).
Sap days by month
Dec16%Jan7%Feb16%Mar32%Apr25%May4%

36 seasons of sap weather

Marquette County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Marquette was 2002 with 37 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2006 with 13. 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 22 – Apr 21, 27 sap days2720252025: Mar 24 – Apr 20, 31 sap days3120242024: Mar 9 – Apr 9, 25 sap days2520232023: Mar 26 – Apr 24, 25 sap days2520222022: Apr 2 – Apr 29, 16 sap days1620212021: Mar 8 – Apr 3, 26 sap days2620202020: Mar 31 – Apr 26, 31 sap days3120192019: Mar 29 – Apr 28, 23 sap days2320182018: Apr 6 – May 11, 28 sap days2820172017: Mar 12 – Apr 12, 22 sap days2220162016: Mar 25 – Apr 24, 25 sap days2520152015: Mar 24 – Apr 25, 16 sap days1620142014: Apr 8 – May 7, 20 sap days2020132013: Apr 5 – Apr 24, 20 sap days2020122012: Feb 15 – Mar 12, 29 sap days2920112011: Mar 26 – Apr 23, 20 sap days2020102010: Mar 5 – Mar 30, 17 sap days1720092009: Mar 26 – Apr 29, 25 sap days2520082008: Mar 31 – May 1, 19 sap days1920072007: Mar 16 – Apr 13, 21 sap days2120062006: Apr 2 – Apr 9, 13 sap days1320052005: Mar 13 – Apr 3, 15 sap days1520042004: Mar 25 – Apr 29, 24 sap days2420032003: Mar 25 – Apr 27, 26 sap days2620022002: Mar 30 – May 3, 37 sap days3720012001: Mar 17 – Mar 30, 14 sap days1420002000: Feb 25 – Mar 28, 25 sap days2519991999: Mar 11 – Mar 26, 24 sap days2419981998: Mar 6 – Apr 6, 18 sap days1819971997: Mar 25 – Apr 18, 14 sap days1419961996: Apr 12 – May 14, 30 sap days3019951995: Mar 28 – Apr 23, 27 sap days2719941994: Mar 30 – May 2, 31 sap days3119931993: Mar 31 – Apr 27, 25 sap days2519921992: Apr 2 – May 7, 24 sap days2419911991: Mar 17 – Apr 21, 23 sap days23
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Marquette. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Marquette County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Marquette County the 2022 Census found 20 farms making syrup (+186% since 2017), with taps -25% and syrup output +34% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.39 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.22 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Marquette County ranks 275 by taps.

Marquette County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022201,2004620.39
201771,5903440.22

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 Marquette (610ft), 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

Marquette County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Marquette County, Michigan?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 21 near Marquette and the season winds down around April 21. 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 15 and as late as Apr 12.
How much maple syrup does Marquette County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 20 maple operations in Marquette County with 1,200 taps producing 462 gallons of syrup, ranking 52 of 66 Michigan's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Marquette County get in a season?
On average 23.2 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Marquette, of which about 8.9 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2002 (37 sap days); the leanest was 2006 (13).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Marquette (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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