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Ohio · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Portage County, Ohio

Portage County had 33 maple operations and 29,767 taps in the 2022 Census, number 5 in Ohio. Around Ravenna, sap usually runs from February 21 to March 29. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 138 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 21
typical year
Season ends
Mar 29
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
39.3
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
29,767
#5 of 63 in OH

Sap-flow outlook at Ravenna right now

Full Ohio forecast →

Forecast for Ravenna, OH

Updated Oct 6, 3:46 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Portage County's season usually opens around February 21, which is 138 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    44° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    50° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    43° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    43° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    51° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    53° / 73°
    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 Ravenna

Freeze-thaw weather at Ravenna peaks in the weeks of Jan 26 to Apr 6, which hold about 63% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 21 – Mar 290246Week of Dec 1: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.0 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 ~Feb 21
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Ravenna, 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 Feb 16; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 5 and Feb 24. Earliest Jan 19 (2017), latest Mar 6 (2014).
Closing signal
Median Mar 19; middle half between Mar 8 and Mar 29. Earliest Feb 18 (2017), latest Apr 6 (2013).
Sap days by month
Dec21%Jan16%Feb21%Mar29%Apr12%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Portage County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Ravenna was 2018 with 54 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2011 with 20. 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 10 – Mar 3, 33 sap days3320252025: Feb 13 – Mar 18, 39 sap days3920242024: Feb 3 – Mar 3, 40 sap days4020232023: Jan 19 – Feb 22, 54 sap days5420222022: Feb 14 – Mar 14, 51 sap days5120212021: Feb 17 – Mar 21, 36 sap days3620202020: Feb 7 – Mar 13, 49 sap days4920192019: Feb 22 – Mar 28, 45 sap days4520182018: Jan 26 – Feb 28, 54 sap days5420172017: Jan 19 – Feb 18, 31 sap days3120162016: Feb 6 – Mar 13, 50 sap days5020152015: Mar 4 – Apr 2, 30 sap days3020142014: Mar 6 – Apr 6, 30 sap days3020132013: Mar 4 – Apr 6, 36 sap days3620122012: Feb 7 – Mar 12, 49 sap days4920112011: Feb 28 – Apr 3, 20 sap days2020102010: Feb 20 – Mar 17, 21 sap days2120092009: Feb 18 – Mar 25, 40 sap days4020082008: Mar 1 – Apr 4, 31 sap days3120072007: Feb 17 – Mar 22, 34 sap days3420062006: Feb 3 – Mar 8, 38 sap days3820052005: Feb 23 – Mar 27, 29 sap days2920042004: Feb 21 – Mar 25, 35 sap days3520032003: Feb 21 – Mar 15, 27 sap days2720022002: Feb 1 – Mar 6, 42 sap days4220012001: Mar 3 – Apr 4, 38 sap days3820002000: Jan 31 – Mar 7, 42 sap days4219991999: Feb 24 – Mar 28, 50 sap days5019981998: Jan 24 – Feb 26, 42 sap days4219971997: Feb 14 – Mar 20, 49 sap days4919961996: Feb 24 – Mar 31, 43 sap days4319951995: Feb 15 – Mar 11, 41 sap days4119941994: Feb 27 – Apr 1, 41 sap days4119931993: Mar 1 – Apr 5, 36 sap days3619921992: Feb 1 – Mar 5, 47 sap days4719911991: Feb 15 – Mar 20, 43 sap days43
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Ravenna. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Portage County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Portage County the 2022 Census found 33 farms making syrup (+57% since 2017), with taps +62% and syrup output +36% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.26 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.31 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Portage County ranks 76 by taps.

Portage County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20223329,7677,8190.26
20172118,4315,7390.31

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 Ravenna (1,106ft), 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 Ohio's USDA record (8 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 — Ohio, 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

Portage County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Portage County, Ohio?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 21 near Ravenna and the season winds down around March 29. 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 Jan 19 and as late as Mar 6.
How much maple syrup does Portage County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 33 maple operations in Portage County with 29,767 taps producing 7,819 gallons of syrup, ranking 5 of 63 Ohio's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Portage County get in a season?
On average 39.3 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Ravenna, of which about 14.4 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2018 (54 sap days); the leanest was 2011 (20).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Ravenna (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for Ohio. 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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