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Wisconsin · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Outagamie County, Wisconsin

Outagamie County had 9 maple operations and 1,925 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Appleton, sap usually runs from March 13 to April 6. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 158 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 13
typical year
Season ends
Apr 6
about 3 weeks
Sap days / season
31.5
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
1,925
#37 of 60 in WI

Sap-flow outlook at Appleton right now

Full Wisconsin forecast →

Forecast for Appleton, WI

Updated Oct 6, 9:36 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Outagamie County's season usually opens around March 13, which is 158 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    52° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    45° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    42° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    51° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    60° / 74°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    55° / 65°
    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 Appleton

Freeze-thaw weather at Appleton peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Apr 6, which hold about 49% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 13 – Apr 60246Week of Dec 1: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.6 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: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.4 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 13
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Appleton, 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 10; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 1 and Mar 17. Earliest Feb 8 (2024), latest Mar 27 (2018).
Closing signal
Median Apr 9; middle half between Apr 2 and Apr 17. Earliest Mar 11 (2012), latest Apr 29 (2018).
Sap days by month
Dec16%Jan9%Feb16%Mar38%Apr20%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Outagamie County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Appleton was 2018 with 48 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2017 with 19. 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, 30 sap days3020252025: Mar 5 – Apr 9, 35 sap days3520242024: Feb 8 – Mar 12, 43 sap days4320232023: Mar 9 – Apr 8, 42 sap days4220222022: Mar 18 – Apr 17, 35 sap days3520212021: Mar 1 – Apr 3, 37 sap days3720202020: Mar 14 – Apr 18, 36 sap days3620192019: Mar 15 – Apr 16, 35 sap days3520182018: Mar 27 – Apr 29, 48 sap days4820172017: Feb 28 – Apr 1, 19 sap days1920162016: Mar 7 – Apr 11, 27 sap days2720152015: Mar 8 – Apr 4, 25 sap days2520142014: Mar 21 – Apr 23, 25 sap days2520132013: Mar 25 – Apr 21, 30 sap days3020122012: Feb 13 – Mar 11, 40 sap days4020112011: Mar 19 – Apr 22, 26 sap days2620102010: Feb 26 – Mar 30, 33 sap days3320092009: Mar 12 – Apr 12, 28 sap days2820082008: Mar 19 – Apr 16, 22 sap days2220072007: Feb 24 – Mar 21, 30 sap days3020062006: Mar 8 – Apr 9, 26 sap days2620052005: Mar 6 – Apr 3, 27 sap days2720042004: Mar 10 – Apr 14, 38 sap days3820032003: Mar 11 – Apr 13, 28 sap days2820022002: Mar 12 – Apr 7, 46 sap days4620012001: Mar 13 – Apr 17, 22 sap days2220002000: Feb 28 – Mar 15, 31 sap days3119991999: Feb 28 – Mar 27, 34 sap days3419981998: Feb 28 – Mar 25, 22 sap days2219971997: Mar 16 – Apr 18, 26 sap days2619961996: Mar 20 – Apr 24, 38 sap days3819951995: Mar 10 – Apr 14, 34 sap days3419941994: Mar 13 – Apr 8, 30 sap days3019931993: Mar 21 – Apr 22, 29 sap days2919921992: Mar 18 – Apr 6, 29 sap days2919911991: Mar 3 – Apr 2, 29 sap days29
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Appleton. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Outagamie County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Outagamie County the 2022 Census found 9 farms making syrup (+50% since 2017), with taps +178% and syrup output +327% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.25 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.16 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Outagamie County ranks 253 by taps.

Outagamie County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202291,9254740.25
201766921110.16

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 Appleton (751ft), 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

Outagamie County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Outagamie County, Wisconsin?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 13 near Appleton 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 8 and as late as Mar 27.
How much maple syrup does Outagamie County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 9 maple operations in Outagamie County with 1,925 taps producing 474 gallons of syrup, ranking 37 of 60 Wisconsin's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Outagamie County get in a season?
On average 31.5 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Appleton, of which about 11.9 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2018 (48 sap days); the leanest was 2017 (19).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Appleton (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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