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Michigan · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Sanilac County, Michigan

Sanilac County had 24 maple operations and 13,410 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Sandusky, sap usually runs from March 3 to April 2. 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 2
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
34.6
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
13,410
#13 of 66 in MI

Sap-flow outlook at Sandusky right now

Full Michigan forecast →

Forecast for Sandusky, MI

Updated Oct 6, 9:49 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Sanilac 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
    52° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    45° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    38° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    43° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    51° / 73°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    51° / 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 Sandusky

Freeze-thaw weather at Sandusky 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 20246Week of Dec 1: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.6 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: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 3
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Sandusky, 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 Feb 27 and Mar 11. Earliest Feb 7 (2024), latest Mar 21 (2014).
Closing signal
Median Apr 5; middle half between Mar 31 and Apr 12. Earliest Mar 12 (2012), latest Apr 25 (2014).
Sap days by month
Dec17%Jan10%Feb16%Mar33%Apr22%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Sanilac County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Sandusky was 2020 with 61 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2011 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 26 – Apr 2, 31 sap days3120252025: Feb 27 – Apr 2, 28 sap days2820242024: Feb 7 – Mar 13, 30 sap days3020232023: Mar 5 – Apr 9, 45 sap days4520222022: Mar 9 – Apr 3, 35 sap days3520212021: Feb 23 – Mar 30, 31 sap days3120202020: Feb 28 – Apr 4, 61 sap days6120192019: Mar 9 – Apr 5, 35 sap days3520182018: Mar 20 – Apr 22, 42 sap days4220172017: Feb 20 – Mar 24, 35 sap days3520162016: Mar 8 – Apr 12, 43 sap days4320152015: Mar 12 – Apr 6, 25 sap days2520142014: Mar 21 – Apr 25, 39 sap days3920132013: Mar 18 – Apr 22, 35 sap days3520122012: Feb 12 – Mar 12, 45 sap days4520112011: Mar 13 – Apr 9, 18 sap days1820102010: Mar 6 – Mar 31, 24 sap days2420092009: Mar 11 – Apr 14, 39 sap days3920082008: Mar 12 – Apr 16, 27 sap days2720072007: Mar 9 – Mar 30, 30 sap days3020062006: Mar 3 – Apr 6, 31 sap days3120052005: Mar 6 – Mar 30, 24 sap days2420042004: Mar 4 – Apr 7, 34 sap days3420032003: Mar 11 – Apr 13, 23 sap days2320022002: Mar 8 – Apr 10, 43 sap days4320012001: Mar 8 – Apr 5, 25 sap days2520002000: Feb 9 – Mar 15, 38 sap days3819991999: Feb 27 – Mar 30, 41 sap days4119981998: Feb 22 – Mar 25, 34 sap days3419971997: Mar 2 – Apr 2, 36 sap days3619961996: Mar 16 – Apr 15, 39 sap days3919951995: Feb 27 – Apr 2, 29 sap days2919941994: Mar 10 – Apr 11, 38 sap days3819931993: Mar 15 – Apr 18, 32 sap days3219921992: Mar 16 – Apr 16, 42 sap days4219911991: Feb 28 – Apr 3, 38 sap days38
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Sandusky. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Sanilac County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Sanilac County the 2022 Census found 24 farms making syrup (+9% since 2017), with taps +151% and syrup output +309% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.30 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.18 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Sanilac County ranks 116 by taps.

Sanilac County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20222413,4103,9750.30
2017225,3379730.18

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 Sandusky (774ft), 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

Sanilac County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Sanilac County, Michigan?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 3 near Sandusky and the season winds down around April 2. 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 7 and as late as Mar 21.
How much maple syrup does Sanilac County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 24 maple operations in Sanilac County with 13,410 taps producing 3,975 gallons of syrup, ranking 13 of 66 Michigan's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Sanilac County get in a season?
On average 34.6 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Sandusky, of which about 13.4 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2020 (61 sap days); the leanest was 2011 (18).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Sandusky (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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