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Minnesota · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Chisago County, Minnesota

Chisago County had 29 maple operations and 10,667 taps in the 2022 Census, the most of any county in Minnesota. Around Center City, sap usually runs from March 2 to April 2. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 147 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 2
typical year
Season ends
Apr 2
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
38.4
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
10,667
#1 of 41 in MN

Sap-flow outlook at Center City right now

Full Minnesota forecast →

Forecast for Center City, MN

Updated Oct 6, 6:44 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Chisago County's season usually opens around March 2, which is 147 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    48° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    43° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    42° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    53° / 77°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    59° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    51° / 59°
    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 Center City

Freeze-thaw weather at Center City peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Apr 6, which hold about 51% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 2 – Apr 20246Week of Dec 1: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.9 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: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 2
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Center City, 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 12; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 4 and Mar 19. Earliest Feb 14 (2012), latest Mar 31 (2013).
Closing signal
Median Apr 11; middle half between Apr 5 and Apr 19. Earliest Mar 11 (2012), latest Apr 29 (1996).
Sap days by month
Dec13%Jan7%Feb15%Mar37%Apr26%May2%

36 seasons of sap weather

Chisago County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Center City was 2002 with 53 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2014 with 26. 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 4 – Apr 8, 43 sap days4320252025: Mar 8 – Apr 9, 45 sap days4520242024: Mar 5 – Apr 7, 49 sap days4920232023: Mar 17 – Apr 19, 41 sap days4120222022: Mar 25 – Apr 28, 37 sap days3720212021: Mar 1 – Apr 3, 46 sap days4620202020: Mar 19 – Apr 23, 46 sap days4620192019: Mar 17 – Apr 19, 35 sap days3520182018: Mar 28 – Apr 25, 47 sap days4720172017: Feb 27 – Apr 1, 40 sap days4020162016: Feb 24 – Mar 30, 40 sap days4020152015: Mar 4 – Apr 6, 34 sap days3420142014: Mar 22 – Apr 19, 26 sap days2620132013: Mar 31 – Apr 25, 37 sap days3720122012: Feb 14 – Mar 11, 36 sap days3620112011: Mar 11 – Apr 7, 31 sap days3120102010: Feb 25 – Mar 29, 27 sap days2720092009: Mar 12 – Apr 15, 38 sap days3820082008: Mar 19 – Apr 16, 36 sap days3620072007: Mar 9 – Apr 13, 38 sap days3820062006: Mar 8 – Apr 9, 37 sap days3720052005: Mar 3 – Apr 3, 42 sap days4220042004: Mar 10 – Apr 14, 41 sap days4120032003: Mar 26 – Apr 10, 29 sap days2920022002: Mar 13 – Apr 10, 53 sap days5320012001: Mar 17 – Apr 18, 27 sap days2720002000: Feb 20 – Mar 27, 45 sap days4519991999: Mar 5 – Mar 27, 42 sap days4219981998: Mar 17 – Apr 5, 27 sap days2719971997: Mar 19 – Apr 22, 31 sap days3119961996: Mar 26 – Apr 29, 48 sap days4819951995: Mar 12 – Apr 14, 37 sap days3719941994: Mar 13 – Apr 12, 43 sap days4319931993: Mar 19 – Apr 22, 30 sap days3019921992: Mar 17 – Apr 18, 40 sap days4019911991: Mar 2 – Apr 2, 37 sap days37
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Center City. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Chisago County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Chisago County the 2022 Census found 29 farms making syrup (+12% since 2017), with taps +30% and syrup output +2% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.11 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.14 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Chisago County ranks 132 by taps.

Chisago County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20222910,6671,1600.11
2017268,1761,1340.14

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 Center City (902ft), 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 Minnesota's USDA record (3 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 — Minnesota, 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

Chisago County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Chisago County, Minnesota?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 2 near Center City 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 14 and as late as Mar 31.
How much maple syrup does Chisago County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 29 maple operations in Chisago County with 10,667 taps producing 1,160 gallons of syrup, ranking 1 of 41 Minnesota's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Chisago County get in a season?
On average 38.4 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Center City, of which about 10.1 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2002 (53 sap days); the leanest was 2014 (26).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Center City (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for Minnesota. 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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