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Michigan · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Oscoda County, Michigan

Oscoda County had 10 maple operations and 29,640 taps in the 2022 Census, number 5 in Michigan. Around Mio, sap usually runs from March 9 to April 14. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 154 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 9
typical year
Season ends
Apr 14
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
49.3
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
29,640
#5 of 66 in MI

Sap-flow outlook at Mio right now

Full Michigan forecast →

Forecast for Mio, MI

Updated Oct 6, 10:42 AM EDT

Only marginal days ahead

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    52° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    40° / 61°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    31° / 64°

    1h below · 22h above

    Maybe a light run
  4. SatOct 10
    37° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    51° / 76°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    46° / 67°
    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 Mio

Freeze-thaw weather at Mio peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Apr 20, which hold about 57% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 9 – Apr 140246Week of Dec 1: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.1 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: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 4.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 4.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 4.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.3 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 9
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Mio, 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 13; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 6 and Mar 18. Earliest Feb 15 (2012), latest Mar 27 (2018).
Closing signal
Median Apr 17; middle half between Apr 9 and Apr 21. Earliest Mar 16 (2012), latest Apr 30 (2018).
Sap days by month
Dec12%Jan7%Feb12%Mar31%Apr30%May8%

36 seasons of sap weather

Oscoda County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Mio was 2002 with 65 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2001 with 38. 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 10 – Apr 11, 45 sap days4520252025: Mar 17 – Apr 20, 47 sap days4720242024: Mar 3 – Apr 7, 51 sap days5120232023: Mar 10 – Apr 9, 53 sap days5320222022: Mar 21 – Apr 22, 42 sap days4220212021: Mar 3 – Apr 4, 53 sap days5320202020: Mar 10 – Apr 12, 63 sap days6320192019: Mar 18 – Apr 21, 50 sap days5020182018: Mar 27 – Apr 30, 60 sap days6020172017: Mar 4 – Apr 8, 50 sap days5020162016: Mar 13 – Apr 17, 59 sap days5920152015: Mar 15 – Apr 19, 46 sap days4620142014: Mar 25 – Apr 27, 45 sap days4520132013: Mar 25 – Apr 26, 50 sap days5020122012: Feb 15 – Mar 16, 61 sap days6120112011: Mar 22 – Apr 24, 43 sap days4320102010: Feb 26 – Mar 31, 55 sap days5520092009: Mar 17 – Apr 17, 53 sap days5320082008: Mar 16 – Apr 17, 41 sap days4120072007: Mar 13 – Apr 17, 49 sap days4920062006: Mar 9 – Apr 11, 43 sap days4320052005: Mar 7 – Apr 10, 49 sap days4920042004: Mar 11 – Apr 15, 51 sap days5120032003: Mar 15 – Apr 18, 42 sap days4220022002: Mar 13 – Apr 13, 65 sap days6520012001: Mar 15 – Apr 19, 38 sap days3820002000: Feb 28 – Mar 20, 43 sap days4319991999: Mar 4 – Mar 30, 56 sap days5619981998: Mar 2 – Apr 6, 47 sap days4719971997: Mar 22 – Apr 26, 42 sap days4219961996: Mar 23 – Apr 26, 47 sap days4719951995: Mar 13 – Apr 17, 48 sap days4819941994: Mar 17 – Apr 21, 51 sap days5119931993: Mar 19 – Apr 23, 42 sap days4219921992: Mar 22 – Apr 19, 51 sap days5119911991: Mar 3 – Apr 3, 45 sap days45
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Mio. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Oscoda County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Oscoda County the 2022 Census found 10 farms making syrup (-50% since 2017), with taps +3% and syrup output -16% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.36 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.45 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Oscoda County ranks 77 by taps.

Oscoda County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20221029,64010,8180.36
20172028,83812,9310.45

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 Mio (984ft), 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

Oscoda County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Oscoda County, Michigan?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 9 near Mio and the season winds down around April 14. 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 Mar 27.
How much maple syrup does Oscoda County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 10 maple operations in Oscoda County with 29,640 taps producing 10,818 gallons of syrup, ranking 5 of 66 Michigan's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Oscoda County get in a season?
On average 49.3 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Mio, of which about 12.6 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2002 (65 sap days); the leanest was 2001 (38).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Mio (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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