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Wisconsin · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Pepin County, Wisconsin

Pepin County had 32 maple operations and 57,550 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Durand, sap usually runs from March 11 to April 6. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 156 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 11
typical year
Season ends
Apr 6
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
36.5
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
57,550
#8 of 60 in WI

Sap-flow outlook at Durand right now

Full Wisconsin forecast →

Forecast for Durand, WI

Updated Oct 6, 6:44 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Pepin County's season usually opens around March 11, which is 156 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    51° / 73°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    45° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    44° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    54° / 79°

    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 Durand

Freeze-thaw weather at Durand 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 11 – Apr 60246Week of Dec 1: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.0 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: 0.9 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: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.2 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 11
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Durand, 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 8; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 27 and Mar 15. Earliest Feb 13 (2012), latest Mar 30 (2013).
Closing signal
Median Apr 9; middle half between Apr 1 and Apr 17. Earliest Mar 11 (2012), latest Apr 29 (2018).
Sap days by month
Dec15%Jan8%Feb16%Mar39%Apr22%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Pepin County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Durand was 2024 with 57 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 23 – Mar 29, 38 sap days3820252025: Feb 22 – Mar 27, 45 sap days4520242024: Feb 25 – Apr 1, 57 sap days5720232023: Mar 10 – Apr 8, 42 sap days4220222022: Mar 20 – Apr 20, 41 sap days4120212021: Feb 27 – Apr 2, 47 sap days4720202020: Mar 9 – Apr 13, 47 sap days4720192019: Mar 16 – Apr 20, 37 sap days3720182018: Mar 27 – Apr 29, 54 sap days5420172017: Feb 28 – Apr 2, 32 sap days3220162016: Feb 22 – Mar 29, 38 sap days3820152015: Mar 7 – Apr 4, 23 sap days2320142014: Mar 20 – Apr 19, 28 sap days2820132013: Mar 30 – Apr 24, 29 sap days2920122012: Feb 13 – Mar 11, 37 sap days3720112011: Mar 9 – Apr 7, 25 sap days2520102010: Feb 27 – Mar 30, 24 sap days2420092009: Mar 12 – Apr 15, 37 sap days3720082008: Mar 19 – Apr 16, 30 sap days3020072007: Feb 26 – Mar 21, 40 sap days4020062006: Mar 7 – Apr 9, 31 sap days3120052005: Mar 4 – Apr 3, 33 sap days3320042004: Mar 6 – Apr 10, 40 sap days4020032003: Mar 6 – Apr 10, 33 sap days3320022002: Mar 12 – Apr 9, 49 sap days4920012001: Mar 17 – Apr 18, 22 sap days2220002000: Feb 21 – Mar 18, 44 sap days4419991999: Mar 2 – Mar 27, 37 sap days3719981998: Feb 27 – Mar 25, 25 sap days2519971997: Mar 15 – Apr 18, 32 sap days3219961996: Mar 20 – Apr 24, 44 sap days4419951995: Mar 9 – Apr 10, 33 sap days3319941994: Mar 11 – Apr 11, 34 sap days3419931993: Mar 19 – Apr 21, 27 sap days2719921992: Mar 15 – Apr 15, 40 sap days4019911991: Mar 1 – Apr 1, 39 sap days39
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Durand. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Pepin County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Pepin County the 2022 Census found 32 farms making syrup (-9% since 2017), with taps +60% and syrup output +80% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.29 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.26 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Pepin County ranks 49 by taps.

Pepin County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20223257,55016,7350.29
20173536,0759,3100.26

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 Durand (807ft), 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

Pepin County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Pepin County, Wisconsin?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 11 near Durand 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 Pepin County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 32 maple operations in Pepin County with 57,550 taps producing 16,735 gallons of syrup, ranking 8 of 60 Wisconsin's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Pepin County get in a season?
On average 36.5 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Durand, of which about 10.2 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2024 (57 sap days); the leanest was 2001 (22).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Durand (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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