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Michigan · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Newaygo County, Michigan

Newaygo County had 23 maple operations and 3,134 taps in the 2022 Census. Around White Cloud, sap usually runs from March 3 to April 7. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 148 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 3
typical year
Season ends
Apr 7
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
46.3
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
3,134
#43 of 66 in MI

Sap-flow outlook at White Cloud right now

Full Michigan forecast →

Forecast for White Cloud, MI

Updated Oct 6, 11:03 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Newaygo County's season usually opens around March 3, which is 148 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    53° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    46° / 62°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    40° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    44° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    53° / 74°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    52° / 68°
    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 White Cloud

Freeze-thaw weather at White Cloud peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Apr 6, which hold about 45% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 3 – Apr 70246Week of Dec 1: 1.8 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: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.1 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 3
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at White Cloud, 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 7; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 1 and Mar 15. Earliest Feb 9 (2024), latest Mar 23 (2013).
Closing signal
Median Apr 10; middle half between Mar 31 and Apr 16. Earliest Mar 13 (2024), latest Apr 27 (2018).
Sap days by month
Dec15%Jan8%Feb15%Mar33%Apr25%May4%

36 seasons of sap weather

Newaygo County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at White Cloud was 1999 with 62 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2011 with 31. 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 24 – Mar 29, 36 sap days3620252025: Mar 6 – Apr 9, 37 sap days3720242024: Feb 9 – Mar 13, 37 sap days3720232023: Mar 7 – Apr 8, 52 sap days5220222022: Mar 17 – Apr 20, 37 sap days3720212021: Mar 1 – Apr 3, 38 sap days3820202020: Mar 5 – Apr 7, 54 sap days5420192019: Mar 14 – Apr 16, 43 sap days4320182018: Mar 23 – Apr 27, 62 sap days6220172017: Feb 20 – Mar 24, 37 sap days3720162016: Feb 23 – Mar 30, 45 sap days4520152015: Mar 12 – Apr 15, 36 sap days3620142014: Mar 20 – Apr 23, 36 sap days3620132013: Mar 23 – Apr 26, 48 sap days4820122012: Feb 14 – Mar 15, 62 sap days6220112011: Mar 19 – Apr 21, 31 sap days3120102010: Feb 26 – Mar 31, 49 sap days4920092009: Mar 11 – Apr 13, 47 sap days4720082008: Mar 15 – Apr 17, 39 sap days3920072007: Feb 23 – Mar 23, 38 sap days3820062006: Mar 6 – Apr 10, 44 sap days4420052005: Mar 6 – Apr 9, 51 sap days5120042004: Mar 5 – Apr 9, 58 sap days5820032003: Mar 11 – Apr 14, 37 sap days3720022002: Mar 9 – Apr 10, 59 sap days5920012001: Mar 9 – Apr 5, 37 sap days3720002000: Feb 28 – Mar 20, 49 sap days4919991999: Mar 2 – Mar 30, 62 sap days6219981998: Feb 23 – Mar 25, 41 sap days4119971997: Mar 16 – Apr 20, 43 sap days4319961996: Mar 17 – Apr 19, 56 sap days5619951995: Mar 7 – Apr 10, 53 sap days5319941994: Mar 13 – Apr 12, 56 sap days5619931993: Mar 18 – Apr 22, 42 sap days4219921992: Mar 17 – Apr 15, 60 sap days6019911991: Mar 1 – Apr 3, 54 sap days54
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at White Cloud. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Newaygo County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Newaygo County the 2022 Census found 23 farms making syrup (+28% since 2017), with taps +13% and syrup output +16% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.24 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.23 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Newaygo County ranks 226 by taps.

Newaygo County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022233,1347450.24
2017182,7696410.23

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 White Cloud (840ft), 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

Newaygo County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Newaygo County, Michigan?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 3 near White Cloud and the season winds down around April 7. 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 9 and as late as Mar 23.
How much maple syrup does Newaygo County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 23 maple operations in Newaygo County with 3,134 taps producing 745 gallons of syrup, ranking 43 of 66 Michigan's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Newaygo County get in a season?
On average 46.3 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at White Cloud, of which about 13.1 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 1999 (62 sap days); the leanest was 2011 (31).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at White Cloud (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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