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Wisconsin · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Pierce County, Wisconsin

Pierce County had 42 maple operations and 43,204 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Ellsworth, sap usually runs from March 16 to April 9. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 161 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 16
typical year
Season ends
Apr 9
about 3 weeks
Sap days / season
36.5
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
43,204
#13 of 60 in WI

Sap-flow outlook at Ellsworth right now

Full Wisconsin forecast →

Forecast for Ellsworth, WI

Updated Oct 6, 6:44 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Pierce County's season usually opens around March 16, which is 161 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    50° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

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

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    44° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    54° / 76°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    61° / 73°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    53° / 60°
    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 Ellsworth

Freeze-thaw weather at Ellsworth peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Apr 20, which hold about 63% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 16 – Apr 90246Week of Dec 1: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.3 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: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 16
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Ellsworth, 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 13; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 5 and Mar 19. Earliest Feb 14 (2012), latest Apr 2 (2013).
Closing signal
Median Apr 12; middle half between Apr 8 and Apr 19. Earliest Mar 11 (2012), latest May 4 (2013).
Sap days by month
Dec11%Jan5%Feb13%Mar35%Apr31%May4%

36 seasons of sap weather

Pierce County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Ellsworth was 2024 with 51 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2023 with 21. 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: Mar 5 – Apr 8, 44 sap days4420252025: Mar 9 – Apr 12, 47 sap days4720242024: Mar 5 – Apr 7, 51 sap days5120232023: Mar 15 – Apr 19, 21 sap days2120222022: Mar 26 – Apr 28, 37 sap days3720212021: Mar 1 – Apr 3, 50 sap days5020202020: Mar 19 – Apr 23, 45 sap days4520192019: Mar 19 – Apr 20, 33 sap days3320182018: Mar 29 – Apr 30, 48 sap days4820172017: Mar 4 – Apr 8, 33 sap days3320162016: Mar 7 – Apr 11, 37 sap days3720152015: Mar 7 – Apr 11, 29 sap days2920142014: Mar 25 – Apr 26, 29 sap days2920132013: Apr 2 – May 4, 29 sap days2920122012: Feb 14 – Mar 11, 31 sap days3120112011: Mar 15 – Apr 18, 34 sap days3420102010: Mar 2 – Mar 30, 26 sap days2620092009: Mar 13 – Apr 16, 41 sap days4120082008: Mar 20 – Apr 16, 28 sap days2820072007: Feb 27 – Mar 24, 33 sap days3320062006: Mar 8 – Apr 9, 31 sap days3120052005: Mar 4 – Apr 8, 38 sap days3820042004: Mar 11 – Apr 15, 39 sap days3920032003: Mar 23 – Apr 12, 28 sap days2820022002: Mar 12 – Apr 10, 49 sap days4920012001: Mar 18 – Apr 19, 23 sap days2320002000: Feb 21 – Mar 18, 42 sap days4219991999: Mar 5 – Mar 27, 41 sap days4119981998: Mar 17 – Apr 5, 32 sap days3219971997: Mar 20 – Apr 24, 45 sap days4519961996: Mar 25 – Apr 29, 44 sap days4419951995: Mar 12 – Apr 14, 31 sap days3119941994: Mar 13 – Apr 11, 40 sap days4019931993: Mar 20 – Apr 21, 29 sap days2919921992: Mar 17 – Apr 18, 39 sap days3919911991: Mar 2 – Apr 1, 36 sap days36
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Ellsworth. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Pierce County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Pierce County the 2022 Census found 42 farms making syrup (+8% since 2017), with taps +78% and syrup output +32% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.20 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.28 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Pierce County ranks 63 by taps.

Pierce County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20224243,2048,8690.20
20173924,2936,7340.28

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 Ellsworth (1,184ft), 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

Pierce County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Pierce County, Wisconsin?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 16 near Ellsworth and the season winds down around April 9. 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 2.
How much maple syrup does Pierce County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 42 maple operations in Pierce County with 43,204 taps producing 8,869 gallons of syrup, ranking 13 of 60 Wisconsin's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Pierce County get in a season?
On average 36.5 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Ellsworth, of which about 9.2 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2024 (51 sap days); the leanest was 2023 (21).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Ellsworth (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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