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Michigan · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Monroe County, Michigan

Monroe County had 5 maple operations and 495 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Monroe, sap usually runs from February 16 to March 22. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 133 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 16
typical year
Season ends
Mar 22
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
33.2
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
495
#59 of 66 in MI

Sap-flow outlook at Monroe right now

Full Michigan forecast →

Forecast for Monroe, MI

Updated Oct 6, 9:49 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Monroe County's season usually opens around February 16, which is 133 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    51° / 74°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    50° / 68°

    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° / 74°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    54° / 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 Monroe

Freeze-thaw weather at Monroe peaks in the weeks of Feb 16 to Mar 30, which hold about 47% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 16 – Mar 220246Week of Dec 1: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.5 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: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.1 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 16
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Monroe, 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 20; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 9 and Feb 27. Earliest Feb 1 (2000), latest Mar 8 (2014).
Closing signal
Median Mar 25; middle half between Mar 13 and Mar 31. Earliest Feb 17 (2017), latest Apr 6 (2014).
Sap days by month
Dec21%Jan15%Feb22%Mar33%Apr10%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Monroe County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Monroe was 2018 with 46 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2003 with 18. 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 13, 34 sap days3420252025: Feb 15 – Mar 22, 35 sap days3520242024: Feb 4 – Mar 3, 37 sap days3720232023: Feb 4 – Feb 27, 34 sap days3420222022: Feb 18 – Mar 16, 46 sap days4620212021: Feb 21 – Mar 22, 36 sap days3620202020: Feb 13 – Mar 19, 38 sap days3820192019: Mar 1 – Apr 2, 33 sap days3320182018: Feb 22 – Mar 26, 46 sap days4620172017: Feb 1 – Feb 17, 25 sap days2520162016: Feb 6 – Mar 7, 38 sap days3820152015: Mar 7 – Apr 6, 27 sap days2720142014: Mar 8 – Apr 6, 25 sap days2520132013: Mar 3 – Apr 5, 38 sap days3820122012: Feb 7 – Mar 12, 39 sap days3920112011: Feb 28 – Apr 3, 22 sap days2220102010: Feb 22 – Mar 28, 25 sap days2520092009: Feb 20 – Mar 24, 28 sap days2820082008: Mar 3 – Apr 4, 29 sap days2920072007: Feb 18 – Mar 21, 26 sap days2620062006: Feb 5 – Mar 8, 37 sap days3720052005: Feb 28 – Mar 27, 32 sap days3220042004: Feb 25 – Mar 25, 31 sap days3120032003: Feb 26 – Apr 1, 18 sap days1820022002: Feb 7 – Mar 12, 38 sap days3820012001: Mar 3 – Mar 29, 29 sap days2920002000: Feb 1 – Mar 6, 37 sap days3719991999: Feb 25 – Mar 28, 43 sap days4319981998: Feb 2 – Mar 4, 28 sap days2819971997: Feb 20 – Mar 25, 38 sap days3819961996: Feb 26 – Mar 31, 33 sap days3319951995: Feb 15 – Mar 19, 35 sap days3519941994: Feb 25 – Mar 31, 30 sap days3019931993: Mar 5 – Apr 4, 26 sap days2619921992: Feb 20 – Mar 26, 41 sap days4119911991: Feb 16 – Mar 17, 39 sap days39
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Monroe. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Monroe County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Monroe County the 2022 Census found 5 farms making syrup (+25% since 2017), with taps +221% and syrup output +1025% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.36 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.10 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Monroe County ranks 314 by taps.

Monroe County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202254951800.36
20174154160.10

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 Monroe (597ft), 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

Monroe County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Monroe County, Michigan?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 16 near Monroe and the season winds down around March 22. 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 1 and as late as Mar 8.
How much maple syrup does Monroe County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 5 maple operations in Monroe County with 495 taps producing 180 gallons of syrup, ranking 59 of 66 Michigan's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Monroe County get in a season?
On average 33.2 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Monroe, 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 (46 sap days); the leanest was 2003 (18).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Monroe (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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