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Wisconsin · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Washington County, Wisconsin

Washington County had 14 maple operations and 464 taps in the 2022 Census. Around West Bend, sap usually runs from March 10 to April 2. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 155 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 10
typical year
Season ends
Apr 2
about 3 weeks
Sap days / season
34.9
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
464
#49 of 60 in WI

Sap-flow outlook at West Bend right now

Full Wisconsin forecast →

Forecast for West Bend, WI

Updated Oct 6, 10:31 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Washington County's season usually opens around March 10, which is 155 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    54° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

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

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    40° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    49° / 74°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    57° / 77°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    52° / 67°
    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 West Bend

Freeze-thaw weather at West Bend peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Apr 6, which hold about 46% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 10 – Apr 20246Week of Dec 1: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.0 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: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.8 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: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.4 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: 0.2 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 10
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at West Bend, 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 7; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 28 and Mar 12. Earliest Feb 8 (2024), latest Mar 23 (2013).
Closing signal
Median Apr 5; middle half between Mar 31 and Apr 13. Earliest Mar 7 (2000), latest Apr 26 (2018).
Sap days by month
Dec18%Jan10%Feb17%Mar35%Apr19%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Washington County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at West Bend was 2018 with 54 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2011 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: Feb 19 – Mar 24, 35 sap days3520252025: Feb 26 – Apr 2, 45 sap days4520242024: Feb 8 – Mar 12, 37 sap days3720232023: Mar 8 – Apr 8, 43 sap days4320222022: Mar 15 – Apr 17, 31 sap days3120212021: Mar 1 – Apr 3, 41 sap days4120202020: Mar 5 – Apr 7, 52 sap days5220192019: Mar 13 – Apr 16, 32 sap days3220182018: Mar 23 – Apr 26, 54 sap days5420172017: Feb 22 – Mar 29, 25 sap days2520162016: Feb 23 – Mar 30, 28 sap days2820152015: Mar 7 – Apr 6, 28 sap days2820142014: Mar 18 – Apr 17, 29 sap days2920132013: Mar 23 – Apr 21, 33 sap days3320122012: Feb 12 – Mar 12, 48 sap days4820112011: Mar 9 – Apr 1, 21 sap days2120102010: Mar 4 – Mar 31, 28 sap days2820092009: Mar 11 – Apr 13, 39 sap days3920082008: Mar 19 – Apr 16, 23 sap days2320072007: Feb 21 – Mar 21, 30 sap days3020062006: Mar 7 – Apr 9, 29 sap days2920052005: Mar 4 – Apr 4, 31 sap days3120042004: Feb 28 – Apr 4, 43 sap days4320032003: Mar 6 – Apr 10, 32 sap days3220022002: Mar 7 – Apr 7, 43 sap days4320012001: Mar 11 – Apr 4, 27 sap days2720002000: Mar 3 – Mar 7, 37 sap days3719991999: Feb 27 – Mar 28, 38 sap days3819981998: Feb 22 – Mar 25, 26 sap days2619971997: Mar 2 – Apr 1, 27 sap days2719961996: Mar 16 – Apr 18, 38 sap days3819951995: Mar 7 – Apr 10, 35 sap days3519941994: Mar 11 – Apr 8, 37 sap days3719931993: Mar 21 – Apr 22, 36 sap days3619921992: Mar 15 – Apr 13, 38 sap days3819911991: Mar 1 – Apr 3, 37 sap days37
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at West Bend. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Washington County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Washington County the 2022 Census found 14 farms making syrup (+100% since 2017). That works out to about 0.14 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022. Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Washington County ranks 319 by taps.

Washington County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202214464660.14
20177withheld93—

“Withheld” means USDA suppressed the figure to avoid disclosing data for individual operations; the farm count is still published.

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 West Bend (886ft), 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

Washington County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Washington County, Wisconsin?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 10 near West Bend and the season winds down around April 2. 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 23.
How much maple syrup does Washington County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 14 maple operations in Washington County with 464 taps producing 66 gallons of syrup, ranking 49 of 60 Wisconsin's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Washington County get in a season?
On average 34.9 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at West Bend, of which about 12.3 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2018 (54 sap days); the leanest was 2011 (21).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at West Bend (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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