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Minnesota · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Douglas County, Minnesota

Douglas County had 7 maple operations and 3,910 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Alexandria, sap usually runs from March 7 to April 6. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 152 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 7
typical year
Season ends
Apr 6
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
25.5
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
3,910
#7 of 41 in MN

Sap-flow outlook at Alexandria right now

Full Minnesota forecast →

Forecast for Alexandria, MN

Updated Oct 6, 6:44 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Douglas County's season usually opens around March 7, which is 152 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    49° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    43° / 63°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    44° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    55° / 76°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    56° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    46° / 53°
    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 Alexandria

Freeze-thaw weather at Alexandria peaks in the weeks of Mar 9 to Apr 13, which hold about 52% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 7 – Apr 60246Week of Dec 1: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.1 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 ~Mar 7
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Alexandria, 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 17; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 8 and Mar 25. Earliest Feb 16 (2012), latest Apr 13 (2001).
Closing signal
Median Apr 15; middle half between Apr 9 and Apr 22. Earliest Mar 15 (2012), latest May 4 (2013).
Sap days by month
Dec14%Jan6%Feb13%Mar35%Apr30%May2%

36 seasons of sap weather

Douglas County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Alexandria was 2024 with 42 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2001 with 10. 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 12 – Apr 11, 38 sap days3820252025: Mar 14 – Apr 9, 34 sap days3420242024: Mar 8 – Apr 7, 42 sap days4220232023: Mar 30 – Apr 26, 15 sap days1520222022: Apr 1 – Apr 28, 26 sap days2620212021: Mar 4 – Apr 2, 40 sap days4020202020: Mar 23 – Apr 23, 28 sap days2820192019: Mar 21 – Apr 16, 29 sap days2920182018: Mar 27 – Apr 25, 26 sap days2620172017: Mar 1 – Mar 23, 20 sap days2020162016: Mar 10 – Apr 14, 32 sap days3220152015: Mar 8 – Apr 10, 22 sap days2220142014: Mar 26 – Apr 18, 15 sap days1520132013: Apr 6 – May 4, 17 sap days1720122012: Feb 16 – Mar 15, 25 sap days2520112011: Mar 24 – Apr 21, 18 sap days1820102010: Mar 2 – Mar 29, 15 sap days1520092009: Mar 19 – Apr 11, 16 sap days1620082008: Mar 28 – Apr 30, 26 sap days2620072007: Mar 16 – Apr 15, 26 sap days2620062006: Mar 11 – Apr 9, 17 sap days1720052005: Mar 5 – Apr 2, 29 sap days2920042004: Mar 13 – Apr 14, 25 sap days2520032003: Mar 22 – Apr 9, 21 sap days2120022002: Mar 18 – Apr 22, 39 sap days3920012001: Apr 13 – Apr 18, 10 sap days1020002000: Feb 27 – Mar 31, 36 sap days3619991999: Mar 15 – Apr 19, 30 sap days3019981998: Mar 8 – Apr 4, 17 sap days1719971997: Mar 26 – Apr 17, 16 sap days1619961996: Apr 2 – May 3, 25 sap days2519951995: Mar 22 – Apr 22, 28 sap days2819941994: Mar 15 – Apr 10, 24 sap days2419931993: Mar 20 – Apr 21, 25 sap days2519921992: Mar 24 – Apr 28, 30 sap days3019911991: Mar 4 – Apr 2, 36 sap days36
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Alexandria. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Douglas County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Douglas County the 2022 Census found 7 farms making syrup (+17% since 2017), with taps +1017% and syrup output +1015% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.15 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.15 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Douglas County ranks 213 by taps.

Douglas County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202273,9105800.15
20176350520.15

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 Alexandria (1,424ft), 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

Douglas County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Douglas County, Minnesota?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 7 near Alexandria and the season winds down around April 6. 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 16 and as late as Apr 13.
How much maple syrup does Douglas County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 7 maple operations in Douglas County with 3,910 taps producing 580 gallons of syrup, ranking 7 of 41 Minnesota's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Douglas County get in a season?
On average 25.5 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Alexandria, of which about 8.9 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2024 (42 sap days); the leanest was 2001 (10).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Alexandria (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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