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Wisconsin · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Columbia County, Wisconsin

Columbia County had 10 maple operations and 2,575 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Portage, sap usually runs from March 7 to April 1. 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 1
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
37.4
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
2,575
#34 of 60 in WI

Sap-flow outlook at Portage right now

Full Wisconsin forecast →

Forecast for Portage, WI

Updated Oct 6, 10:31 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Columbia 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
    53° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    45° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    41° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    50° / 74°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    57° / 76°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    54° / 67°
    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 Portage

Freeze-thaw weather at Portage peaks in the weeks of Feb 23 to Apr 6, which hold about 53% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 7 – Apr 10246Week of Dec 1: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.2 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 Portage, 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 4; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 24 and Mar 8. Earliest Feb 7 (2024), latest Mar 23 (2013).
Closing signal
Median Apr 4; middle half between Mar 27 and Apr 9. Earliest Mar 11 (2012), latest Apr 21 (1993).
Sap days by month
Dec17%Jan11%Feb18%Mar36%Apr17%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Columbia County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Portage was 2018 with 57 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2015 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: Feb 17 – Mar 24, 42 sap days4220252025: Feb 21 – Mar 26, 46 sap days4620242024: Feb 7 – Mar 14, 55 sap days5520232023: Mar 7 – Apr 8, 47 sap days4720222022: Mar 9 – Apr 10, 45 sap days4520212021: Feb 27 – Apr 3, 35 sap days3520202020: Mar 3 – Apr 7, 55 sap days5520192019: Mar 5 – Apr 1, 36 sap days3620182018: Mar 22 – Apr 21, 57 sap days5720172017: Feb 20 – Mar 24, 24 sap days2420162016: Feb 16 – Mar 23, 36 sap days3620152015: Mar 7 – Apr 6, 22 sap days2220142014: Mar 16 – Apr 18, 30 sap days3020132013: Mar 23 – Apr 21, 35 sap days3520122012: Feb 11 – Mar 11, 44 sap days4420112011: Mar 8 – Apr 5, 27 sap days2720102010: Feb 27 – Mar 30, 31 sap days3120092009: Mar 7 – Apr 11, 41 sap days4120082008: Mar 15 – Apr 16, 30 sap days3020072007: Feb 21 – Mar 23, 38 sap days3820062006: Mar 6 – Apr 9, 37 sap days3720052005: Mar 2 – Apr 1, 35 sap days3520042004: Feb 28 – Apr 3, 41 sap days4120032003: Mar 6 – Apr 10, 29 sap days2920022002: Mar 7 – Apr 7, 48 sap days4820012001: Mar 10 – Apr 4, 31 sap days3120002000: Feb 15 – Mar 15, 42 sap days4219991999: Feb 25 – Mar 27, 43 sap days4319981998: Feb 22 – Mar 24, 23 sap days2319971997: Mar 1 – Mar 31, 28 sap days2819961996: Mar 16 – Apr 18, 40 sap days4019951995: Feb 27 – Apr 3, 35 sap days3519941994: Mar 8 – Apr 7, 33 sap days3319931993: Mar 19 – Apr 21, 29 sap days2919921992: Mar 7 – Apr 9, 41 sap days4119911991: Mar 1 – Apr 2, 37 sap days37
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Portage. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Columbia County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Columbia County the 2022 Census found 10 farms making syrup (+43% since 2017), with taps +180% and syrup output +421% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.22 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.12 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Columbia County ranks 235 by taps.

Columbia County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022102,5755570.22
201779191070.12

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 Portage (791ft), 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 Wisconsin's USDA record (12 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 — Wisconsin, 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

Columbia County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Columbia County, Wisconsin?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 7 near Portage and the season winds down around April 1. 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 7 and as late as Mar 23.
How much maple syrup does Columbia County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 10 maple operations in Columbia County with 2,575 taps producing 557 gallons of syrup, ranking 34 of 60 Wisconsin's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Columbia County get in a season?
On average 37.4 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Portage, of which about 11.4 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2018 (57 sap days); the leanest was 2015 (22).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Portage (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for Wisconsin. 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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