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Wisconsin · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin

Eau Claire County had 23 maple operations and 7,523 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Eau Claire, sap usually runs from March 14 to April 6. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 159 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 14
typical year
Season ends
Apr 6
about 3 weeks
Sap days / season
34.4
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
7,523
#22 of 60 in WI

Sap-flow outlook at Eau Claire right now

Full Wisconsin forecast →

Forecast for Eau Claire, WI

Updated Oct 6, 6:44 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Eau Claire County's season usually opens around March 14, which is 159 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    50° / 73°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    46° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    43° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    54° / 78°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    62° / 76°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    55° / 63°
    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 Eau Claire

Freeze-thaw weather at Eau Claire 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 14 – Apr 60246Week of Dec 1: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 0.9 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: 0.7 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: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.4 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: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.3 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 14
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Eau Claire, 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 11; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 27 and Mar 17. Earliest Feb 13 (2012), latest Mar 30 (2013).
Closing signal
Median Apr 9; middle half between Apr 1 and Apr 18. Earliest Mar 11 (2012), latest Apr 29 (2018).
Sap days by month
Dec14%Jan7%Feb15%Mar38%Apr23%May2%

36 seasons of sap weather

Eau Claire County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Eau Claire was 2024 with 54 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2015 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 24 – Mar 29, 39 sap days3920252025: Feb 27 – Apr 2, 44 sap days4420242024: Feb 13 – Mar 20, 54 sap days5420232023: Mar 10 – Apr 8, 45 sap days4520222022: Mar 19 – Apr 19, 36 sap days3620212021: Feb 27 – Apr 3, 42 sap days4220202020: Mar 15 – Apr 18, 37 sap days3720192019: Mar 17 – Apr 20, 35 sap days3520182018: Mar 27 – Apr 29, 44 sap days4420172017: Mar 1 – Apr 1, 32 sap days3220162016: Feb 21 – Mar 27, 29 sap days2920152015: Mar 2 – Apr 4, 20 sap days2020142014: Mar 17 – Apr 19, 28 sap days2820132013: Mar 30 – Apr 24, 25 sap days2520122012: Feb 13 – Mar 11, 35 sap days3520112011: Mar 10 – Apr 5, 26 sap days2620102010: Feb 27 – Mar 30, 25 sap days2520092009: Mar 12 – Apr 15, 37 sap days3720082008: Mar 19 – Apr 16, 27 sap days2720072007: Feb 26 – Mar 21, 36 sap days3620062006: Mar 7 – Apr 9, 27 sap days2720052005: Mar 4 – Apr 3, 30 sap days3020042004: Mar 11 – Apr 15, 40 sap days4020032003: Mar 23 – Apr 10, 27 sap days2720022002: Mar 12 – Apr 9, 45 sap days4520012001: Mar 17 – Apr 18, 21 sap days2120002000: Feb 21 – Mar 18, 42 sap days4219991999: Mar 3 – Mar 30, 40 sap days4019981998: Feb 27 – Mar 25, 28 sap days2819971997: Mar 15 – Apr 18, 32 sap days3219961996: Mar 22 – Apr 25, 43 sap days4319951995: Mar 11 – Apr 14, 33 sap days3319941994: Mar 13 – Apr 11, 34 sap days3419931993: Mar 19 – Apr 21, 28 sap days2819921992: Mar 17 – Apr 15, 34 sap days3419911991: Mar 2 – Apr 2, 38 sap days38
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Eau Claire. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Eau Claire County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Eau Claire County the 2022 Census found 23 farms making syrup (+44% since 2017), with taps +93% and syrup output +158% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.18 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.14 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Eau Claire County ranks 158 by taps.

Eau Claire County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022237,5231,3540.18
2017163,8915250.14

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 Eau Claire (814ft), 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

Eau Claire County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 14 near Eau Claire and the season winds down around April 6. 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 30.
How much maple syrup does Eau Claire County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 23 maple operations in Eau Claire County with 7,523 taps producing 1,354 gallons of syrup, ranking 22 of 60 Wisconsin's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Eau Claire County get in a season?
On average 34.4 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Eau Claire, of which about 9.9 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2024 (54 sap days); the leanest was 2015 (20).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Eau Claire (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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