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Wisconsin · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Dunn County, Wisconsin

Dunn County had 59 maple operations and 97,224 taps in the 2022 Census, number 4 in Wisconsin. Around Menomonie, sap usually runs from March 15 to April 8. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 160 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 15
typical year
Season ends
Apr 8
about 3 weeks
Sap days / season
36.1
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
97,224
#4 of 60 in WI

Sap-flow outlook at Menomonie right now

Full Wisconsin forecast →

Forecast for Menomonie, WI

Updated Oct 6, 6:44 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Dunn County's season usually opens around March 15, which is 160 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
    43° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    53° / 78°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    61° / 75°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    54° / 62°
    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 Menomonie

Freeze-thaw weather at Menomonie 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: Mar 15 – Apr 80246Week of Dec 1: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.5 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: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.3 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 15
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Menomonie, 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 12; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 1 and Mar 17. Earliest Feb 14 (2012), latest Apr 1 (2013).
Closing signal
Median Apr 11; middle half between Apr 2 and Apr 18. Earliest Mar 11 (2012), latest Apr 29 (2018).
Sap days by month
Dec13%Jan7%Feb15%Mar38%Apr24%May2%

36 seasons of sap weather

Dunn County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Menomonie was 2024 with 59 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2001 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 27 – Mar 29, 42 sap days4220252025: Mar 6 – Apr 9, 47 sap days4720242024: Mar 1 – Apr 2, 59 sap days5920232023: Mar 12 – Apr 8, 46 sap days4620222022: Mar 19 – Apr 20, 34 sap days3420212021: Mar 1 – Apr 3, 46 sap days4620202020: Mar 17 – Apr 21, 44 sap days4420192019: Mar 18 – Apr 20, 37 sap days3720182018: Mar 28 – Apr 29, 48 sap days4820172017: Mar 1 – Apr 2, 34 sap days3420162016: Feb 24 – Mar 30, 34 sap days3420152015: Mar 7 – Apr 11, 29 sap days2920142014: Mar 23 – Apr 19, 27 sap days2720132013: Apr 1 – Apr 25, 30 sap days3020122012: Feb 14 – Mar 11, 34 sap days3420112011: Mar 15 – Apr 18, 29 sap days2920102010: Feb 27 – Mar 30, 22 sap days2220092009: Mar 13 – Apr 15, 36 sap days3620082008: Mar 20 – Apr 16, 26 sap days2620072007: Feb 27 – Mar 21, 35 sap days3520062006: Mar 6 – Apr 9, 29 sap days2920052005: Mar 5 – Apr 3, 30 sap days3020042004: Mar 12 – Apr 15, 40 sap days4020032003: Mar 7 – Apr 10, 30 sap days3020022002: Mar 12 – Apr 9, 50 sap days5020012001: Mar 17 – Apr 18, 22 sap days2220002000: Feb 21 – Mar 18, 41 sap days4119991999: Mar 3 – Mar 30, 38 sap days3819981998: Feb 28 – Apr 4, 27 sap days2719971997: Mar 16 – Apr 18, 33 sap days3319961996: Mar 22 – Apr 25, 46 sap days4619951995: Mar 11 – Apr 14, 32 sap days3219941994: Mar 12 – Apr 11, 37 sap days3719931993: Mar 19 – Apr 22, 29 sap days2919921992: Mar 16 – Apr 15, 36 sap days3619911991: Mar 2 – Apr 2, 39 sap days39
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Menomonie. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Dunn County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Dunn County the 2022 Census found 59 farms making syrup (+51% since 2017), with taps +93% and syrup output +129% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.28 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.23 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Dunn County ranks 31 by taps.

Dunn County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20225997,22427,0580.28
20173950,29911,8060.23

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 Menomonie (853ft), 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

Dunn County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Dunn County, Wisconsin?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 15 near Menomonie and the season winds down around April 8. 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 14 and as late as Apr 1.
How much maple syrup does Dunn County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 59 maple operations in Dunn County with 97,224 taps producing 27,058 gallons of syrup, ranking 4 of 60 Wisconsin's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Dunn County get in a season?
On average 36.1 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Menomonie, of which about 10.1 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2024 (59 sap days); the leanest was 2001 (22).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Menomonie (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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