Skip to content
LuckySap
Get the app
Michigan · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Oakland County, Michigan

Oakland County had 20 maple operations and 1,127 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Pontiac, sap usually runs from February 22 to March 27. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 139 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 22
typical year
Season ends
Mar 27
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
34.8
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
1,127
#53 of 66 in MI

Sap-flow outlook at Pontiac right now

Full Michigan forecast →

Forecast for Pontiac, MI

Updated Oct 6, 9:49 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Oakland County's season usually opens around February 22, which is 139 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    52° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    49° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    44° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    46° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    53° / 73°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    53° / 70°
    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 Pontiac

Freeze-thaw weather at Pontiac peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Mar 30, which hold about 39% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 22 – Mar 270246Week of Dec 1: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.6 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: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.2 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 22
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Pontiac, 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 26; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 20 and Mar 6. Earliest Jan 31 (2017), latest Mar 11 (2013).
Closing signal
Median Mar 30; middle half between Mar 22 and Apr 6. Earliest Mar 3 (2024), latest Apr 13 (1993).
Sap days by month
Dec19%Jan12%Feb19%Mar36%Apr13%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Oakland County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Pontiac was 2023 with 48 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2015 with 23. 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 15 – Mar 19, 31 sap days3120252025: Feb 22 – Mar 28, 34 sap days3420242024: Feb 3 – Mar 3, 32 sap days3220232023: Feb 20 – Mar 21, 48 sap days4820222022: Mar 3 – Apr 3, 40 sap days4020212021: Feb 23 – Mar 22, 33 sap days3320202020: Feb 20 – Mar 24, 45 sap days4520192019: Mar 4 – Apr 2, 37 sap days3720182018: Mar 8 – Apr 10, 45 sap days4520172017: Jan 31 – Mar 6, 26 sap days2620162016: Feb 11 – Mar 14, 43 sap days4320152015: Mar 8 – Apr 5, 23 sap days2320142014: Mar 10 – Apr 7, 26 sap days2620132013: Mar 11 – Apr 6, 36 sap days3620122012: Feb 10 – Mar 12, 44 sap days4420112011: Mar 7 – Apr 3, 27 sap days2720102010: Feb 24 – Mar 31, 25 sap days2520092009: Feb 26 – Mar 31, 37 sap days3720082008: Mar 7 – Apr 6, 34 sap days3420072007: Feb 20 – Mar 22, 26 sap days2620062006: Feb 24 – Mar 29, 37 sap days3720052005: Mar 2 – Mar 29, 27 sap days2720042004: Feb 24 – Mar 25, 33 sap days3320032003: Mar 8 – Apr 10, 29 sap days2920022002: Mar 4 – Apr 7, 42 sap days4220012001: Mar 5 – Apr 4, 27 sap days2720002000: Mar 1 – Mar 7, 34 sap days3419991999: Feb 26 – Mar 28, 44 sap days4419981998: Feb 20 – Mar 25, 36 sap days3619971997: Feb 26 – Apr 2, 34 sap days3419961996: Mar 9 – Apr 11, 38 sap days3819951995: Feb 18 – Mar 25, 38 sap days3819941994: Mar 5 – Apr 8, 36 sap days3619931993: Mar 10 – Apr 13, 29 sap days2919921992: Mar 5 – Apr 7, 41 sap days4119911991: Feb 20 – Mar 20, 36 sap days36
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Pontiac. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Oakland County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Oakland County the 2022 Census found 20 farms making syrup (+300% since 2017), with taps +88% and syrup output +19% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.23 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.36 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Oakland County ranks 277 by taps.

Oakland County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022201,1272550.23
201756002150.36

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 Pontiac (948ft), 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

Oakland County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Oakland County, Michigan?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 22 near Pontiac and the season winds down around March 27. 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 31 and as late as Mar 11.
How much maple syrup does Oakland County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 20 maple operations in Oakland County with 1,127 taps producing 255 gallons of syrup, ranking 53 of 66 Michigan's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Oakland County get in a season?
On average 34.8 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Pontiac, 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 2023 (48 sap days); the leanest was 2015 (23).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Pontiac (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.

LuckySap · free on iPhone & Android

Get a heads-up when the sap will run in Oakland County

LuckySap watches the forecast for your trees and can ping you the night before a strong sap day, then keeps every collection and boil in one season log. Free on iPhone and Android.

Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play