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Minnesota · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Pine County, Minnesota

Pine County had 9 maple operations and 2,525 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Pine City, sap usually runs from March 6 to April 6. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 151 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 6
typical year
Season ends
Apr 6
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
36
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
2,525
#10 of 41 in MN

Sap-flow outlook at Pine City right now

Full Minnesota forecast →

Forecast for Pine City, MN

Updated Oct 6, 10:51 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Pine County's season usually opens around March 6, which is 151 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    45° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    41° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    40° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    52° / 76°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    57° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    48° / 56°
    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 Pine City

Freeze-thaw weather at Pine City 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 6 – Apr 60246Week of Dec 1: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.5 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 6
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Pine 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 16; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 10 and Mar 23. Earliest Feb 15 (2012), latest Apr 3 (2013).
Closing signal
Median Apr 15; middle half between Apr 10 and Apr 24. Earliest Mar 11 (2012), latest May 4 (1996).
Sap days by month
Dec10%Jan5%Feb13%Mar36%Apr32%May3%

36 seasons of sap weather

Pine County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Pine City was 2024 with 54 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2001 with 22. 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 10 – Apr 12, 44 sap days4420252025: Mar 12 – Apr 16, 45 sap days4520242024: Mar 8 – Apr 8, 54 sap days5420232023: Mar 24 – Apr 27, 38 sap days3820222022: Mar 29 – Apr 28, 36 sap days3620212021: Mar 3 – Apr 3, 47 sap days4720202020: Mar 22 – Apr 24, 39 sap days3920192019: Mar 21 – Apr 23, 35 sap days3520182018: Mar 29 – Apr 28, 40 sap days4020172017: Mar 2 – Apr 2, 39 sap days3920162016: Mar 11 – Apr 14, 34 sap days3420152015: Mar 8 – Apr 12, 33 sap days3320142014: Mar 30 – Apr 19, 22 sap days2220132013: Apr 3 – Apr 26, 23 sap days2320122012: Feb 15 – Mar 11, 31 sap days3120112011: Mar 20 – Apr 24, 34 sap days3420102010: Feb 27 – Mar 29, 30 sap days3020092009: Mar 16 – Apr 15, 30 sap days3020082008: Mar 27 – May 1, 30 sap days3020072007: Mar 15 – Apr 16, 30 sap days3020062006: Mar 10 – Apr 10, 28 sap days2820052005: Mar 6 – Apr 8, 41 sap days4120042004: Mar 13 – Apr 15, 39 sap days3920032003: Mar 26 – Apr 10, 24 sap days2420022002: Mar 15 – Apr 10, 49 sap days4920012001: Mar 22 – Apr 25, 22 sap days2220002000: Feb 25 – Apr 1, 43 sap days4319991999: Mar 11 – Apr 13, 49 sap days4919981998: Mar 17 – Apr 5, 24 sap days2419971997: Mar 22 – Apr 24, 28 sap days2819961996: Mar 30 – May 4, 44 sap days4419951995: Mar 19 – Apr 20, 40 sap days4019941994: Mar 14 – Apr 12, 43 sap days4319931993: Mar 20 – Apr 22, 32 sap days3219921992: Mar 25 – Apr 28, 34 sap days3419911991: Mar 4 – Apr 2, 43 sap days43
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Pine City. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Pine County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Pine County the 2022 Census found 9 farms making syrup (+29% since 2017), with taps +160% and syrup output +548% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.27 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.11 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Pine County ranks 238 by taps.

Pine County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202292,5256800.27
201779701050.11

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 Pine City (945ft), 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

Pine County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Pine County, Minnesota?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 6 near Pine City 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 15 and as late as Apr 3.
How much maple syrup does Pine County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 9 maple operations in Pine County with 2,525 taps producing 680 gallons of syrup, ranking 10 of 41 Minnesota's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Pine County get in a season?
On average 36 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Pine City, of which about 9.3 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2024 (54 sap days); the leanest was 2001 (22).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Pine 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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