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Wisconsin · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Jefferson County, Wisconsin

Jefferson County had 9 maple operations and 147 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Jefferson, sap usually runs from March 5 to March 30. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 150 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 5
typical year
Season ends
Mar 30
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
36.4
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
147
#55 of 60 in WI

Sap-flow outlook at Jefferson right now

Full Wisconsin forecast →

Forecast for Jefferson, WI

Updated Oct 6, 10:31 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Jefferson County's season usually opens around March 5, which is 150 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    53° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    46° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    41° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

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

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    56° / 76°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    54° / 69°
    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 Jefferson

Freeze-thaw weather at Jefferson peaks in the weeks of Feb 23 to Mar 30, which hold about 46% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 5 – Mar 300246Week of Dec 1: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.1 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: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 5
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Jefferson, 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 2; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 24 and Mar 7. Earliest Feb 6 (2024), latest Mar 22 (2018).
Closing signal
Median Apr 2; middle half between Mar 27 and Apr 7. Earliest Mar 5 (2000), latest Apr 21 (1993).
Sap days by month
Dec18%Jan12%Feb18%Mar36%Apr15%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Jefferson County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Jefferson was 2018 with 59 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2010 with 18. 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 14 – Mar 19, 38 sap days3820252025: Feb 21 – Mar 27, 50 sap days5020242024: Feb 6 – Mar 12, 42 sap days4220232023: Mar 6 – Apr 7, 50 sap days5020222022: Mar 8 – Apr 11, 45 sap days4520212021: Feb 27 – Apr 3, 36 sap days3620202020: Mar 2 – Apr 6, 43 sap days4320192019: Mar 5 – Apr 2, 35 sap days3520182018: Mar 22 – Apr 21, 59 sap days5920172017: Feb 17 – Mar 23, 26 sap days2620162016: Feb 14 – Mar 21, 31 sap days3120152015: Mar 7 – Apr 5, 22 sap days2220142014: Mar 16 – Apr 17, 31 sap days3120132013: Mar 19 – Apr 21, 32 sap days3220122012: Feb 11 – Mar 12, 40 sap days4020112011: Mar 7 – Apr 1, 24 sap days2420102010: Mar 4 – Mar 30, 18 sap days1820092009: Mar 2 – Apr 4, 37 sap days3720082008: Mar 13 – Apr 15, 26 sap days2620072007: Feb 20 – Mar 21, 34 sap days3420062006: Mar 2 – Apr 5, 38 sap days3820052005: Mar 2 – Apr 3, 34 sap days3420042004: Feb 24 – Mar 24, 44 sap days4420032003: Feb 26 – Apr 1, 35 sap days3520022002: Mar 5 – Apr 7, 51 sap days5120012001: Mar 7 – Apr 2, 30 sap days3020002000: Feb 28 – Mar 5, 38 sap days3819991999: Feb 25 – Mar 27, 41 sap days4119981998: Feb 21 – Mar 25, 26 sap days2619971997: Feb 28 – Apr 1, 34 sap days3419961996: Mar 13 – Apr 15, 39 sap days3919951995: Feb 24 – Mar 30, 34 sap days3419941994: Mar 7 – Apr 8, 36 sap days3619931993: Mar 17 – Apr 21, 35 sap days3519921992: Mar 4 – Apr 7, 42 sap days4219911991: Feb 28 – Apr 2, 34 sap days34
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Jefferson. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Jefferson County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Jefferson County the 2022 Census found 9 farms making syrup (+29% since 2017), with taps -81% and syrup output -73% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.18 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.13 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Jefferson County ranks 356 by taps.

Jefferson County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20229147270.18
201777601000.13

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 Jefferson (833ft), 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

Jefferson County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Jefferson County, Wisconsin?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 5 near Jefferson and the season winds down around March 30. 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 6 and as late as Mar 22.
How much maple syrup does Jefferson County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 9 maple operations in Jefferson County with 147 taps producing 27 gallons of syrup, ranking 55 of 60 Wisconsin's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Jefferson County get in a season?
On average 36.4 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Jefferson, of which about 12.2 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2018 (59 sap days); the leanest was 2010 (18).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Jefferson (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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