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Wisconsin · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Douglas County, Wisconsin

Douglas County had 6 maple operations and 1,100 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Superior, sap usually runs from March 29 to April 18. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 174 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 29
typical year
Season ends
Apr 18
about 3 weeks
Sap days / season
25.8
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
1,100
#40 of 60 in WI

Sap-flow outlook at Superior right now

Full Wisconsin forecast →

Forecast for Superior, WI

Updated Oct 6, 10:51 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Douglas County's season usually opens around March 29, which is 174 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    48° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    43° / 61°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    42° / 62°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    51° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    58° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    49° / 52°
    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 Superior

Freeze-thaw weather at Superior peaks in the weeks of Mar 9 to Apr 13, which hold about 49% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 29 – Apr 180246Week of Dec 1: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 1.0 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: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 29
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Superior, 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 26; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 20 and Mar 31. Earliest Feb 21 (2012), latest Apr 14 (1996).
Closing signal
Median Apr 21; middle half between Apr 13 and Apr 30. Earliest Mar 28 (2012), latest May 13 (1996).
Sap days by month
Dec12%Jan7%Feb15%Mar35%Apr28%May4%

36 seasons of sap weather

Douglas County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Superior was 2002 with 39 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2011 with 17. 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 24 – Apr 21, 39 sap days3920252025: Mar 22 – Apr 20, 32 sap days3220242024: Mar 11 – Apr 7, 35 sap days3520232023: Apr 3 – Apr 27, 28 sap days2820222022: Apr 7 – May 4, 20 sap days2020212021: Mar 12 – Apr 2, 24 sap days2420202020: Mar 30 – Apr 23, 39 sap days3920192019: Mar 30 – May 3, 25 sap days2520182018: Apr 1 – Apr 29, 30 sap days3020172017: Mar 12 – Apr 13, 28 sap days2820162016: Mar 28 – Apr 14, 23 sap days2320152015: Mar 11 – Apr 10, 18 sap days1820142014: Apr 9 – Apr 23, 17 sap days1720132013: Apr 10 – Apr 25, 19 sap days1920122012: Feb 21 – Mar 28, 24 sap days2420112011: Mar 26 – Apr 17, 17 sap days1720102010: Mar 3 – Mar 30, 21 sap days2120092009: Mar 26 – Apr 15, 18 sap days1820082008: Mar 31 – May 1, 24 sap days2420072007: Mar 20 – Apr 18, 29 sap days2920062006: Mar 12 – Apr 9, 23 sap days2320052005: Mar 22 – Apr 4, 19 sap days1920042004: Mar 22 – Apr 15, 34 sap days3420032003: Mar 31 – May 3, 31 sap days3120022002: Apr 5 – May 5, 39 sap days3920012001: Mar 28 – Apr 19, 18 sap days1820002000: Mar 19 – Apr 23, 32 sap days3219991999: Mar 21 – Apr 24, 31 sap days3119981998: Mar 22 – Apr 11, 18 sap days1819971997: Mar 31 – May 1, 23 sap days2319961996: Apr 14 – May 13, 25 sap days2519951995: Apr 4 – May 1, 22 sap days2219941994: Mar 19 – Apr 12, 31 sap days3119931993: Mar 31 – Apr 26, 24 sap days2419921992: Apr 2 – May 6, 25 sap days2519911991: Mar 20 – Apr 21, 25 sap days25
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Superior. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Douglas County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Douglas County the 2022 Census found 6 farms making syrup (-45% since 2017), with taps -54% and syrup output -38% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.16 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.12 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Douglas County ranks 278 by taps.

Douglas County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202261,1001790.16
2017112,4102880.12

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 Superior (653ft), 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

Douglas County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Douglas County, Wisconsin?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 29 near Superior and the season winds down around April 18. 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 21 and as late as Apr 14.
How much maple syrup does Douglas County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 6 maple operations in Douglas County with 1,100 taps producing 179 gallons of syrup, ranking 40 of 60 Wisconsin's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Douglas County get in a season?
On average 25.8 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Superior, of which about 9.7 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2002 (39 sap days); the leanest was 2011 (17).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Superior (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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