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Michigan · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Tuscola County, Michigan

Tuscola County had 12 maple operations and 7,570 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Caro, sap usually runs from March 1 to April 2. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 146 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 1
typical year
Season ends
Apr 2
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
38.4
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
7,570
#26 of 66 in MI

Sap-flow outlook at Caro right now

Full Michigan forecast →

Forecast for Caro, MI

Updated Oct 6, 9:49 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Tuscola County's season usually opens around March 1, which is 146 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    53° / 73°

    0h below · 24h above

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

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    37° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    42° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    52° / 76°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    50° / 69°
    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 Caro

Freeze-thaw weather at Caro peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Apr 6, which hold about 46% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 1 – Apr 20246Week of Dec 1: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.3 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: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.7 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: 1.3 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: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.9 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 1
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Caro, 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 5; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 26 and Mar 11. Earliest Feb 7 (2024), latest Mar 19 (2018).
Closing signal
Median Apr 5; middle half between Mar 30 and Apr 13. Earliest Mar 12 (2012), latest Apr 23 (2018).
Sap days by month
Dec16%Jan10%Feb16%Mar34%Apr23%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Tuscola County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Caro was 2020 with 60 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2007 with 25. 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, 34 sap days3420252025: Feb 27 – Apr 2, 34 sap days3420242024: Feb 7 – Mar 13, 35 sap days3520232023: Mar 2 – Apr 2, 44 sap days4420222022: Mar 10 – Apr 9, 35 sap days3520212021: Feb 24 – Mar 30, 38 sap days3820202020: Feb 27 – Apr 3, 60 sap days6020192019: Mar 8 – Apr 12, 36 sap days3620182018: Mar 19 – Apr 23, 45 sap days4520172017: Feb 20 – Mar 24, 36 sap days3620162016: Feb 23 – Mar 30, 48 sap days4820152015: Mar 12 – Apr 5, 31 sap days3120142014: Mar 16 – Apr 19, 32 sap days3220132013: Mar 15 – Apr 14, 43 sap days4320122012: Feb 12 – Mar 12, 50 sap days5020112011: Mar 11 – Apr 14, 28 sap days2820102010: Feb 26 – Mar 31, 33 sap days3320092009: Mar 7 – Apr 11, 47 sap days4720082008: Mar 12 – Apr 15, 33 sap days3320072007: Mar 9 – Mar 23, 25 sap days2520062006: Feb 28 – Apr 4, 37 sap days3720052005: Mar 5 – Apr 9, 33 sap days3320042004: Mar 4 – Apr 7, 48 sap days4820032003: Mar 14 – Apr 14, 30 sap days3020022002: Mar 8 – Apr 11, 56 sap days5620012001: Mar 9 – Apr 5, 26 sap days2620002000: Feb 9 – Mar 15, 41 sap days4119991999: Feb 26 – Mar 30, 49 sap days4919981998: Feb 22 – Mar 25, 38 sap days3819971997: Mar 2 – Apr 2, 34 sap days3419961996: Mar 16 – Apr 15, 39 sap days3919951995: Feb 27 – Apr 2, 32 sap days3219941994: Mar 10 – Apr 11, 41 sap days4119931993: Mar 17 – Apr 21, 36 sap days3619921992: Mar 16 – Apr 16, 36 sap days3619911991: Feb 28 – Apr 3, 40 sap days40
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Caro. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Tuscola County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Tuscola County the 2022 Census found 12 farms making syrup (-29% since 2017), with taps +0% and syrup output +17% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.24 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.21 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Tuscola County ranks 157 by taps.

Tuscola County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022127,5701,8250.24
2017177,5611,5640.21

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 Caro (778ft), 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

Tuscola County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Tuscola County, Michigan?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 1 near Caro 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 19.
How much maple syrup does Tuscola County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 12 maple operations in Tuscola County with 7,570 taps producing 1,825 gallons of syrup, ranking 26 of 66 Michigan's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Tuscola County get in a season?
On average 38.4 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Caro, 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 (60 sap days); the leanest was 2007 (25).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Caro (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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