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Minnesota · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Washington County, Minnesota

Washington County had 16 maple operations and 2,588 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Stillwater, sap usually runs from February 28 to March 30. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 145 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 28
typical year
Season ends
Mar 30
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
33.3
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
2,588
#9 of 41 in MN

Sap-flow outlook at Stillwater right now

Full Minnesota forecast →

Forecast for Stillwater, MN

Updated Oct 6, 6:44 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Washington County's season usually opens around February 28, which is 145 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    50° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    45° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    44° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    54° / 79°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    61° / 74°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    53° / 61°
    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 Stillwater

Freeze-thaw weather at Stillwater 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: Feb 28 – Mar 300246Week of Dec 1: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.7 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: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Feb 28
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Stillwater, 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 10; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 27 and Mar 16. Earliest Feb 13 (2012), latest Mar 29 (2013).
Closing signal
Median Apr 8; middle half between Mar 31 and Apr 17. Earliest Mar 11 (2012), latest Apr 25 (1996).
Sap days by month
Dec16%Jan9%Feb17%Mar39%Apr19%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Washington County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Stillwater was 2024 with 48 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: Feb 23 – Mar 29, 42 sap days4220252025: Feb 28 – Apr 4, 41 sap days4120242024: Feb 25 – Mar 31, 48 sap days4820232023: Mar 11 – Apr 8, 33 sap days3320222022: Mar 20 – Apr 20, 36 sap days3620212021: Feb 27 – Apr 2, 42 sap days4220202020: Mar 14 – Apr 18, 44 sap days4420192019: Mar 15 – Apr 16, 36 sap days3620182018: Mar 27 – Apr 21, 44 sap days4420172017: Feb 25 – Mar 29, 30 sap days3020162016: Feb 21 – Mar 27, 34 sap days3420152015: Mar 1 – Apr 4, 23 sap days2320142014: Mar 18 – Apr 19, 26 sap days2620132013: Mar 29 – Apr 25, 30 sap days3020122012: Feb 13 – Mar 11, 32 sap days3220112011: Mar 10 – Apr 6, 21 sap days2120102010: Feb 27 – Mar 29, 22 sap days2220092009: Mar 11 – Apr 11, 32 sap days3220082008: Mar 18 – Apr 16, 27 sap days2720072007: Feb 25 – Mar 21, 38 sap days3820062006: Mar 6 – Apr 9, 36 sap days3620052005: Mar 1 – Apr 3, 37 sap days3720042004: Mar 3 – Apr 6, 32 sap days3220032003: Mar 26 – Apr 9, 31 sap days3120022002: Mar 11 – Apr 7, 44 sap days4420012001: Mar 16 – Apr 18, 19 sap days1920002000: Feb 20 – Mar 21, 37 sap days3719991999: Mar 2 – Mar 27, 36 sap days3619981998: Feb 27 – Mar 25, 21 sap days2119971997: Mar 16 – Apr 18, 27 sap days2719961996: Mar 21 – Apr 25, 38 sap days3819951995: Mar 9 – Apr 11, 27 sap days2719941994: Mar 11 – Apr 11, 32 sap days3219931993: Mar 19 – Apr 21, 29 sap days2919921992: Mar 15 – Apr 15, 30 sap days3019911991: Mar 2 – Apr 1, 43 sap days43
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Stillwater. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Washington County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Washington County the 2022 Census found 16 farms making syrup (+433% since 2017), with taps +581% and syrup output null over the same five years. That works out to about 0.23 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022. Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Washington County ranks 234 by taps.

Washington County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022162,5885980.23
20173380withheld—

“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 Stillwater (755ft), 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

Washington County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Washington County, Minnesota?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 28 near Stillwater and the season winds down around March 30. 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 13 and as late as Mar 29.
How much maple syrup does Washington County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 16 maple operations in Washington County with 2,588 taps producing 598 gallons of syrup, ranking 9 of 41 Minnesota's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Washington County get in a season?
On average 33.3 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Stillwater, of which about 11.1 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2024 (48 sap days); the leanest was 2001 (19).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Stillwater (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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