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Minnesota · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Stearns County, Minnesota

Stearns County had 11 maple operations and 3,398 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Saint Cloud, sap usually runs from March 5 to April 5. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 150 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 5
typical year
Season ends
Apr 5
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
32.7
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
3,398
#8 of 41 in MN

Sap-flow outlook at Saint Cloud right now

Full Minnesota forecast →

Forecast for Saint Cloud, MN

Updated Oct 6, 6:44 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Stearns County's season usually opens around March 5, which is 150 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    51° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

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

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    45° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    55° / 77°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    59° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    50° / 55°
    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 Saint Cloud

Freeze-thaw weather at Saint Cloud peaks in the weeks of Mar 9 to Apr 13, which hold about 51% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 5 – Apr 50246Week of Dec 1: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.6 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: 1.0 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: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 2.2 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: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 5
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Saint Cloud, 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 15; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 8 and Mar 22. Earliest Feb 16 (2012), latest Apr 3 (2013).
Closing signal
Median Apr 14; middle half between Apr 9 and Apr 21. Earliest Mar 15 (2012), latest May 3 (1996).
Sap days by month
Dec12%Jan7%Feb14%Mar35%Apr29%May3%

36 seasons of sap weather

Stearns County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Saint Cloud was 2024 with 50 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2001 with 19. 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 9 – Apr 11, 43 sap days4320252025: Mar 9 – Apr 11, 36 sap days3620242024: Mar 6 – Apr 7, 50 sap days5020232023: Mar 27 – Apr 26, 22 sap days2220222022: Mar 28 – Apr 28, 32 sap days3220212021: Mar 2 – Apr 2, 48 sap days4820202020: Mar 21 – Apr 23, 35 sap days3520192019: Mar 20 – Apr 16, 30 sap days3020182018: Mar 29 – Apr 28, 39 sap days3920172017: Mar 1 – Apr 1, 33 sap days3320162016: Mar 7 – Apr 11, 38 sap days3820152015: Mar 8 – Apr 11, 31 sap days3120142014: Mar 23 – Apr 19, 20 sap days2020132013: Apr 3 – May 3, 23 sap days2320122012: Feb 16 – Mar 15, 32 sap days3220112011: Mar 20 – Apr 24, 28 sap days2820102010: Feb 28 – Mar 29, 22 sap days2220092009: Mar 16 – Apr 14, 26 sap days2620082008: Mar 26 – Apr 30, 29 sap days2920072007: Mar 14 – Apr 15, 31 sap days3120062006: Mar 9 – Apr 9, 27 sap days2720052005: Mar 5 – Apr 8, 35 sap days3520042004: Mar 12 – Apr 15, 34 sap days3420032003: Mar 26 – Apr 9, 23 sap days2320022002: Mar 14 – Apr 10, 42 sap days4220012001: Mar 22 – Apr 19, 19 sap days1920002000: Feb 23 – Mar 30, 45 sap days4519991999: Mar 10 – Apr 13, 42 sap days4219981998: Mar 17 – Apr 4, 20 sap days2019971997: Mar 22 – Apr 18, 27 sap days2719961996: Mar 29 – May 3, 37 sap days3719951995: Mar 17 – Apr 20, 34 sap days3419941994: Mar 14 – Apr 11, 38 sap days3819931993: Mar 20 – Apr 22, 34 sap days3419921992: Mar 23 – Apr 18, 34 sap days3419911991: Mar 3 – Apr 2, 39 sap days39
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Saint Cloud. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Stearns County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Stearns County the 2022 Census found 11 farms making syrup (+38% since 2017), with taps -24% and syrup output null over the same five years. Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Stearns County ranks 220 by taps.

Stearns County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022113,398withheld—
201784,4449830.22

“Withheld” means USDA suppressed the figure to avoid disclosing data for individual operations; the farm count is still published.

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 Saint Cloud (1,024ft), 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

Stearns County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Stearns County, Minnesota?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 5 near Saint Cloud and the season winds down around April 5. 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 3.
How much maple syrup does Stearns County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 11 maple operations in Stearns County; USDA withheld the county's tap and gallon totals to avoid disclosing individual farms.
How many sap days does Stearns County get in a season?
On average 32.7 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Saint Cloud, 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 (50 sap days); the leanest was 2001 (19).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Saint Cloud (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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