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Michigan · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in St. Clair County, Michigan

St. Clair County had 5 maple operations and 173 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Port Huron, sap usually runs from February 23 to March 27. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 140 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 23
typical year
Season ends
Mar 27
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
30.7
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
173
#61 of 66 in MI

Sap-flow outlook at Port Huron right now

Full Michigan forecast →

Forecast for Port Huron, MI

Updated Oct 6, 9:49 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. St. Clair County's season usually opens around February 23, which is 140 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    53° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    50° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    45° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    48° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    54° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    55° / 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 Port Huron

Freeze-thaw weather at Port Huron peaks in the weeks of Feb 16 to Apr 6, which hold about 52% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 23 – Mar 270246Week of Dec 1: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.6 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: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.8 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: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.0 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 23
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Port Huron, 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 27; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 22 and Mar 8. Earliest Jan 31 (2017), latest Mar 17 (2018).
Closing signal
Median Mar 30; middle half between Mar 24 and Apr 5. Earliest Mar 2 (2024), latest Apr 21 (2018).
Sap days by month
Dec20%Jan13%Feb20%Mar32%Apr14%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

St. Clair County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Port Huron was 2020 with 53 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 22 – Mar 29, 29 sap days2920252025: Feb 24 – Mar 28, 32 sap days3220242024: Feb 6 – Mar 2, 20 sap days2020232023: Feb 18 – Mar 21, 39 sap days3920222022: Mar 4 – Apr 4, 40 sap days4020212021: Feb 23 – Mar 22, 29 sap days2920202020: Feb 23 – Mar 26, 53 sap days5320192019: Mar 4 – Apr 2, 34 sap days3420182018: Mar 17 – Apr 21, 33 sap days3320172017: Jan 31 – Mar 6, 27 sap days2720162016: Feb 11 – Mar 13, 34 sap days3420152015: Mar 9 – Apr 5, 24 sap days2420142014: Mar 13 – Apr 17, 26 sap days2620132013: Mar 11 – Apr 6, 29 sap days2920122012: Feb 9 – Mar 12, 40 sap days4020112011: Mar 8 – Apr 2, 19 sap days1920102010: Mar 6 – Mar 31, 21 sap days2120092009: Mar 2 – Apr 5, 31 sap days3120082008: Mar 8 – Apr 4, 24 sap days2420072007: Feb 22 – Mar 22, 26 sap days2620062006: Feb 24 – Mar 29, 27 sap days2720052005: Mar 5 – Mar 29, 23 sap days2320042004: Feb 27 – Mar 25, 30 sap days3020032003: Mar 9 – Apr 10, 18 sap days1820022002: Feb 25 – Mar 29, 34 sap days3420012001: Mar 7 – Apr 4, 26 sap days2620002000: Feb 3 – Mar 8, 37 sap days3719991999: Feb 26 – Mar 30, 48 sap days4819981998: Feb 20 – Mar 25, 37 sap days3719971997: Feb 27 – Apr 2, 34 sap days3419961996: Mar 14 – Apr 11, 34 sap days3419951995: Feb 21 – Mar 27, 30 sap days3019941994: Mar 8 – Apr 8, 25 sap days2519931993: Mar 11 – Apr 13, 25 sap days2519921992: Mar 7 – Apr 7, 35 sap days3519911991: Feb 21 – Mar 20, 32 sap days32
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Port Huron. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

St. Clair County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In St. Clair County the 2022 Census found 5 farms making syrup (-55% since 2017), with taps -76% and syrup output -51% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.32 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.16 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, St. Clair County ranks 346 by taps.

St. Clair County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20225173550.32
2017117121120.16

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 Port Huron (600ft), 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

St. Clair County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in St. Clair County, Michigan?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 23 near Port Huron 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 17.
How much maple syrup does St. Clair County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 5 maple operations in St. Clair County with 173 taps producing 55 gallons of syrup, ranking 61 of 66 Michigan's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does St. Clair County get in a season?
On average 30.7 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Port Huron, of which about 13.8 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2020 (53 sap days); the leanest was 2003 (18).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Port Huron (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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